By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says Prasa was on track with its plans to revive 10 key rail corridors across the country and invest in new trains to service passengers.
The embattled state-owned company remains hard hit by vandalism to key infrastructure, disrupting operations in parts of the country.
He said “a lot of revelations” will be announced “in the coming weeks” regarding the work being done at Prasa.
Mbalula launched the October Transport Month campaign on Monday morning, where he showcased the revitalisation of some rail lines.
With the successful resumption of services on the Pretoria-Pienaarspoort line, Mbalula, has assured the public that work to recover rail services is ongoing in all the rail corridors in the country.
The resumption of services will ensure that South Africans, who have been severely impacted by the suspension of commuter rail services have access to a safe and reliable public transport system.
As part of this year’s October Transport Month (OTM) campaign launch, the Minister boarded a new train from Pienaarspoort in Mamelodi to Pretoria A Station.
The Pretoria-Pienaarspoort line alone has undergone major reconstruction, with the introduction of advanced signalling technology, modernised high-speed circuit breakers, and the use of aluminium wires to counter copper theft.
The service officially resumed with the new trains on 26 September 2022, following approval by the Railway Safety Regulator.
“This is in line with our commitment to return to service this year 10 priority corridors. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is on track to rebuild and recovere these commuter rail corridors, three of which are in Gauteng, with an allocated budget of R2.7 billion,” the Minister said.
In December 2019, PRASA in Gauteng had to suspend the majority of its electrified train services in the Gauteng North and South regions due to extensive theft and vandalism of the power supply system and other railway infrastructure assets.
This suspension affected in excess of 200 000 commuters that rely on the commuter rail service for their livelihoods.
In April 2021, a programme was designed to recover train services and train Corridor Recovery Programme between:
- Pretoria to Pienaarspoort,
- Pretoria to Kaalfontein,
- Leralla to Johannesburg, and
- Naledi to Johannesburg
A diesel service was introduced on the Pretoria to Pienaarspoort corridor before it was closed in May 2022 for major rehabilitation works that included refurbishment of substations.
“Our work of recovering rail services is ongoing in all the rail corridors in the country. This includes lines such as the Naledi to Johannesburg. Work is being accelerated to achieve the limited electrified train service in the area,” Mbalula said.
The eight stations, which are being revamped in preparation for service resumption, are New Canada; Mlamulankunzi, Orlando, Nancefield, Kliptown, Midway, Lenz and Tshiawelo.
“Work is currently underway to recover rail services on the Cape Town central line. This entails the relocation of the illegal settlements that are currently on the rail track and reserve.
“We have recently signed a social compact with all the parties that are involved and affected by the situation on the central line, outlining the roles and responsibilities of each party,” the Minister said.
Mbalula further said his department would visit KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) this week, to assess the progress on rehabilitating rail and road infrastructure destroyed by the floods in April.
“This will include rail and road infrastructure because people say we went to KwaZulu-Natal, [made promises] and left them.
“So we will go back to KwaZulu-Natal to again give a report and showcase the work that has been done to recover the infrastructure that has collapsed,” he added.