Staff Reporter

Journalist and political analyst Hopewell Chin’ono has sharply criticized opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s push for a bullet train system, dismissing the proposal as a misguided “wet dream” disconnected from the country’s urgent economic and infrastructural realities.  

In a scathing critique on Facebook yesterday, Chin’onolikened Chamisa’s ambition to construct a high-speed rail network to an “Alice in Wonderland” fantasy, citing astronomical costs and misplaced priorities.

He revealed that building a bullet train in Zimbabwe would cost approximately $160 million per kilometer, with a Harare-to-Bulawayo line alone requiring $74 billion—a figure he called “economically ludicrous” for a nation grappling with collapsed public services, rampant corruption, and widespread poverty.  

“Even South Africa, three times Zimbabwe’s size and wealthier, doesn’t have a bullet train. Yet some here want to skip basic necessities for a vanity project,” Chin’ono stated, emphasizing that only 15 countries globally operate high-speed rail systems.

He questioned the logic of prioritizing such projects when Zimbabwe’s 97,267-kilometer road network remains largely unpaved, hospitals lack some medicines and some schools were operating without adequate textbooks.

Chamisa, who formerly led Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), has framed the bullet train as part of a modernization agenda.

However, critics argue it exemplifies a leadership disconnect.

“How do you fix sewage-clogged streets and water shortages with a train costing billions?” Chin’onoasked, urging leaders to first address Zimbabwe’s “hierarchy of needs,” including healthcare, education, and ordinary rail rehabilitation.  

The analyst also tied Chamisa’s proposal to broader political theater, suggesting it signals “presidential ambitions without understanding the task ahead.”

He warned that no Zimbabwean over 30 would live to see such a project materialize, not solely due to cost, but because foundational crises demand immediate attention.