Breaking journey is cheaper

The price war among bus operators has resulted in one of the most glaring anomalies in bus fares. It is now cheaper to break your journey if you use the so-called country buses. A typical Harare- Bulawayo journey costs $30,00. But if you break the journey say with a stop over in Gweru and then from Gweru to Bulawayo or vice-versa, you can end up paying as little at $24.

This is largely due to the fact that there is a strong competition for passengers to Gweru since most of the buses from Harare to Bulawayo, or Harare to Zvishavane, or Harare to Shurugwi or Harare to Mberengwa pass through Gweru. Then there are also buses which end in Gweru.

Since buses to Gweru charge as little as $14,00 buses that go beyond that city have been forced to reduce their fare from an average of $19,00 to that charged by Gweru buses.

The same applies to buses from Gweru to Bulawayo. Because of the competition buses tend to charge the same fare as charged by buses that travel between the two cities. Most of these buses charge $10.0 but one company at times charges $7.00 which can further reduce the total fare from Harare to Bulawayo or vice-versa to $21.00 which will be the same as the economy class train fare.

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