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The Harare-Chitungwiza rail link, which includes a branch line to Highfield, Glen Norah and Glen View, proposed in the late 1980s by the then Transport Minister Enos Chikowore before being forgotten, is now back on the planning agenda with possible Chinese investment.

The need for the double link, even with the rapid growth in motor vehicle ownership, is still necessary and urgent, more so than when first proposed with the rise in house and flat building in the areas it would serve, and the need for people to get to and from work.

But an isolated link does not make much sense unless it is part of major revamp of the whole public transport system of Harare Metropolitan.

The rail grid for this system would include the major east-west line cutting across the province and connecting Ruwa with Norton, and the northern branch line leading across the new western suburbs surrounding Tynwald into Mount Hampden junction.

This basic rail grid would mean that a substantial majority of the population of the province would be living less than 2km from the railway, and probably a majority within 1km. So we are talking serious numbers.

The use of the mainline tracks in the province would require making these double track, but railway planners decades ago ensured that the railway reserve was not just wide enough, but that the civil engineering works of cuttings, embankments and road over rail bridging took into account that one day the track would be doubled.

This reduces the costs considerably, since all that is really needed is just laying the second set of tracks, unlike the Chitungwiza and south west line where there is a lot of earth moving and a fair amount of bridging.

But the new railways and the upgrading of the track of the existing lines as they pass through Harare Metropolitan is just the start.

A proper passenger service will require a fair amount of infrastructure in the way of railway stations that can handle the large number of people that will be using the trains, getting on and getting off.

For a start the old central railway station in Harare city centre will need to be either rebuilt or dramatically extended, and it would make sense for the whole city centre railway reserve to be dedicated to the central public transport terminuses for bus travel as well as train travel.

There is enough land once the planners are allowed to demolish all sorts of low-grade and scrappy railway property, now often rented out to little businesses or covered in abandoned sheds or used for a small staff village.

Giving the railways more land at Aspindale, or any other suitable location, for workshops and other pure railway functions would allow passenger-service land to be released in the city centre.

The core of the present station is an historical building, but was only really decent looking by the section of the platform where first-class and second-class carriages were loaded.

The platform for fourth class was pretty awful. So it would be possible to retain that single old building as part of the new complex when everything else is flattened.

The new station would look far more like the multi-platform stations seen in other large cities, and since it is in the middle of the line this would require some pedestrian bridging.

A fair slice of the passengers would be changing trains, perhaps getting off the Chitungwiza train to catch the Ruwa train, and that needs to be easy to do.

The rebuilding of the railway station would also be a major opportunity to give Harare a single central bus terminus that it so desperately needs, rather than retaining the collection of mostly small and inadequate terminuses, and one larger one on the extreme eastern edge of the city centre where it is less convenient for most passengers.

Having what amounts to a single terminus complex for all bus and train services is common in well-planned cities and in older cities where planners have managed to get hold of a decent block of land, as is possible in central Harare.

A double storey railway and bus station would also allow the vendor problem to be solved forever, with very large market included in the complex, at least 200 small market stalls and perhaps more.

The vendors would be next to the largest group of their customers, who could just step over to shop, but would not be anyone’s way. The vendors could even be charged a small stall rent that would include a tax component.

The whole complex could be made very secure, with added patrols by police, municipal and railway police. But even low level patrolling, in a secured environment, would be extremely effective, so the cost of decent security would be low, especially if modern technologies like CCTV were employed.

But stations also need to be set up along the lines, rather than trains just stopping. The suburban stations need not be fancy.

A platform so it is easy to get on and off the train, a roof over that platform, and a ticket office and public convenience. The stations need not be fancy; the structure over the platform does not even need walls.

There would also be need for a pedestrian bridge over the track, and thought perhaps given to having a platform each side.

The important factor would be to have a lot of these suburban stations. They might even need to be every kilometre, certainly in areas where there is a lot of traffic.

Then comes the rolling stock. This again needs to be thought out, and probably using the sort of rolling stock designed for stop-start urban services. A lot of this, these days, is electric although there must be diesel-electric options, since these only require a large diesel engine and generator added.

Because the authorities have been able to designate rail reserves before building starts, and were able to set aside a huge central rail station reserve, and illegal buildings in the reserves can be removed, it is a simple matter from the planning and engineering point of view to put in the new system. So we need to start the planning.