By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) group CEO Hishaam Emeran has been elected as the new president of the Southern Africa Railway Association (SARA).
SARA on Thursday briefed the media on future plans for the railway sector in the Southern African region.
Emeran has called on the railway transport sector in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region to continue to invest in the development, upgrade and maintenance of rail infrastructure.
“We need to collaborate to solve shared challenges because rail transport provides both an efficient and the most affordable mode of transport for passengers and goods, stated Emeran.
He made these comments during his acceptance speech as the newly elected President of the Southern African Railways Association (SARA), which is an organisation dedicated to promoting and enhancing rail transport services across the SADC region.
He said that during a meeting with other SARA board leaders, including Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) CEO Russell Baatjies, Railway Safety Regulator of South Africa acting CEO Mmuso Selaledi and the executive director of SARA, Babe Botana, they discussed a strategic plan for SARA which is in the process of developing an implementation plan to address the improvements from a railway freight and passenger perspective in the region.
“We all are very aware of the importance of railways to the region; we had an important discussion about being more proactive and ensuring that there are some tangible outcomes in terms of achieving these goals.”
“We are also tracking and having oversight on the current volumes that we see being transported in the various regions. The implementation plan that the board will have oversight on will address the important challenges,” said Emeran.
Emeran said that they hope they can export to Africa and the world.
“Prasa is going through an exciting modernisation phase including modern signalling systems, telecommunication systems which we are sharing and collaborating along with our colleagues [present with us,]” said Emeran.
He stated during his 10-year presidency he will make an effort to understand the railway systems operations and challenges in various member states which will require him to engage and visit leaders and look at areas of co-operation and agreement.