Abstract
Railway accidents have always been a topic of great concern since the rehabilitation and construction of the new sections of the Nacala Corridor. In fact, there has been huge efforts from all stakeholders to avoid deaths on the two lines through information and sensitisation campaigns. However, the number of accidents involving community members keeps on rising. Thus, the present study is interested to explore the full potential of community members to reflect, make judgements of what is best and then propose solutions to the problem of railroad accidents along the Nacala Corridor.
Considering that this study seeks to understand what is behind some of the original thoughts and behaviour of community members regarding railway safety, a qualitative research approach was used. For data collection, the study uses two of the most common qualitative methods, namely in-depth semi-structured in-person interviews and focus group discussions. Data is analysed using thematic analysis, regarded as important for “identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns (themes) within data” in qualitative research (Braun and Clarke, 2006).
From the collected data along the Nacala Corridor, both in the green field and brown field (old rehabilitated line and the new line), there are no differences in terms of the communication approach used to share railway safety messages, which, primarily, consists of top-down communication, relying on information transfer from the Corridor operators to the community members, through roadshows, household visits by safety officers, distribution of pamphlets, radio services.
Bearing in mind that the present research study deals with information that is critical for the reputation of the Corridor operating companies, a great limitation was the willingness, availability, and acceptance to share information that is considered to be classified, for example, the project’s budget for Corporate Social Responsibility, the amount stipulated in the budget for Social Monitors, the documentation related to social inclusion in the Project, detailed reports of the accidents. Future studies must consider a greater engagement with the operators and governmental authorities, showing that research is meant for their benefit and not to cause harm.