PUBLIC TRANSPORT
While vandalism and cable theft continue, Prasa makes progress in restoring rail services
Prasa says the recovery of its rail network has gained momentum, with more than half of the rail corridors recovered and 80% scheduled to be restored by the end of the financial year.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) says it has spent R4.6-billion and created 6,000 jobs in the process of recovering its rail network, which was largely destroyed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The recovery of the rail infrastructure has gained momentum, with 27 corridors (out of 40) recovered to date,” said Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda.
In October, Prasa said R50-billion would be spent over the next three years to modernise the passenger rail network.
Walker Station in Pretoria is refurbished on 15 December 2022 after years of closure. (Photo: Gallo Images / OJ Koloti)
The money will cover rolling stock and infrastructure investments as well as depot modernisation, walling, station modernisation, electrical infrastructure, signalling telecommunications and digitisation.
Theft and vandalism
Much of Prasa’s infrastructure came under siege from criminals searching for scrap materials during the pandemic lockdown when the agency’s services were suspended.
According to the Railway Safety Regulator’s State of Safety Report 2022/23, an astonishing 8,643 security-related incidents were reported in the past year, 97% of which were theft and vandalism.
Theft and vandalism have been among Prasa’s biggest challenges. The cancellation of Prasa’s security contracts was blamed for the scourge.
On 18 August, Prasa oversaw the swearing-in of 286 protection services officers, who have the same powers as police officers. The agency said the employment of the guards would bolster the fight against the theft and vandalism of rail infrastructure.
Train stations
Coming out of the Covid lockdowns, Prasa undertook to refurbish and rebuild train stations across SA that were either in an alarming state of disrepair or destroyed.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Stripped bare: Looting till there is nothing left of Gauteng’s rail network
“Two hundred and thirty train stations have been refurbished to basic functionality across the country,” said Prasa’s Makanda.
The Metrorail system has more than 450 train stations.
In early November, Prasa said it had begun rehabilitating badly vandalised substations on the Randfontein-Johannesburg line.
It said it would run the new X’Trapolis Mega electric trains on most of its recovered lines.
“The diesel locomotives are old and experiencing challenges related to wear and tear,” Makanda said, adding that the electric trains were cheaper to run than diesel locomotives.
Last week, Prasa said it had transported just over 60 million passengers since the corridors’ recovery began in 2021.
Corridors
The agency told Daily Maverick it had recovered 27 out of South Africa’s 40 rail corridors.
In Gauteng, it had recovered seven commuter rail lines: Mabopane-Pretoria, De Wildt-Pretoria, Pienaarspoort-Pretoria, Pretoria-Kaalfontein, Leralla-Germiston, Germiston-Johannesburg and Naledi-Johannesburg.
It aims to restore 80% of the corridors by the end of this financial year, which means about 32 corridors by the end of February 2024.
Towards the end of August 2023, Prasa executives, with Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, opened the Leralla-Germiston line. In September, Chikunga launched train services between KwaMashu and Durban.
On 1 December 2023, Prasa announced it had resumed the Johannesburg-Durban-Cape Town operations of the Shosholoza Meyl rail services. The services were suspended in 2021 amid operational and network infrastructure challenges.
Parliament’s transport portfolio committee wants Prasa’s management to account for the challenges affecting the return of the Shosholoza Meyl.
“Prasa has a primary mandate to provide passenger rail transport services in urban areas and for long-distance,” Makanda said.
She said it was planned to resume the Durban to Pinetown and De Wildt to Belle Ombre routes before the end of this financial year.
“The temporary relocation of just under 900 households currently occupying the Central Line in the Western Cape will allow for Prasa to recover the rest of the Central Line from Nyanga to Chris Hani and Kapteinsklip within this financial year,” Makanda said. DM
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Unfortunately unbelievable iro timings and costs. Hopefully the new electric trains are not Chinese ( but probably are), while the carriages are too few and antiquated
PRASA claims 80% of the rail corridors will be restored by the end of the financial year. Okay lets hold them to it. But not to claims like these which cannot be substantiated and which really mean nothing. Show us the stats monthly on rail kms running, numbers of trains, and numbers of passengers.
and pigs might fly
Informative. Thank you.
Nice to hear some good news about Prasa! and Yes, I have been delighted to see the new trains around Cape Town, and my son reports that he often enjoys commuting in one from Retreat to CT central.
Caption on the photo:
“Look, copper cable!”
Some good news at last – hope the momentum can be maintained.
I find it amazing that they are blaming the lack of inftrastructure etc on Covid. In the 197o’ and 80’s I travelled extensively by train both local and national. I made my last trip in 1994 when, for the first time I felt unsafe and the overnight bedding packs smelt awful. I have wathed the lines, especially in the Eastern Cape been taken up and sold to scrap merchants, the trucks and even engines standing in sidings rusting away. Bridges over railways lines were vandalised and the couches became steadily dirtier. The once large goods sheds were empty and were left to fall apart. Amazingly, the trucking companies took up the slack very quickly and that has been a large contributor to the deterioration of our road system.
Read the Sunday times article on the Jhbg Durban trip !!
Do electric trains run during load shedding, maybe a stupid question as I do not understand their design
Anyone who believes PRASA’s promises has been sleeping for the last decade or two.
What boggles the mind is that they keep on doing the same things whilst expecting different outcomes. If overhead lines are stolen they will be stolen again as soon as they are replaced. Surely there is someone with enough intellectual capacity to realise that independent traction units do not require overhead lines and in fact given SA’s abundance of PGMs can be built to run on fuel cells as some of the mines are already doing.
It’s about GREED and MONEY!
The trains and buses took passenger money away from …
TAXIS!
Who burnt, looted and sabotaged the trains and buses ….? … for more money?
Answer:
T.X.S!
Let’s face it!