str.split takes a fixed separator. re.split splits on a pattern — useful when the delimiter varies.

Goal

Split messy kiosk rows on mixed separators.

import re
print("Nairobi,12,10.5".split(","))
print(re.split(r"[,;|]", "Nairobi;12;10.5"))

import re
print(re.split(r"\s+", "Nairobi   12  10.5"))

import re
print(re.split(r"\d+", "Nairobi12Mombasa9") )

import re
row = "Kisumu | 2 | 31.0"
print([p.strip() for p in re.split(r"[|;,]", row)])