Accidents and arson have highlighted the urgency of updating South Africa’s railways
Jaspreet Kindra and Glenda Daniels
At least six metropolitan councils in South Africa will be given responsibility for developing and planning Metrorail routes in the near future. Provinces will also have these powers.
Transport authorities representing provinces and municipalities will plan and develop the infrastructure of South Africa’s entire rail network.
Minister of Transport Abdullah Omar says the immediate concern is to strengthen the infrastructure replace the old carriages, the outdated signalling system, improve railway stations and establish a rail safety regulator.
Recently, there has been a spate of accidents on the East Rand Metrorail route that have left four people dead and several hundred injured.
Omar says the government has put the idea of concessioning contracting out routes for a defined period on hold. The Department of Transport planned to privatise part of the East Rand rail route as a pilot privatisation project, but this has been postponed.
However, Metrorail chief executive officer Honey Mateya says the accidents have made a stronger case for concessioning, which he says will bring in much-needed finance to refurbish the more than 30-year-old equipment currently in use.
Omar says his department has already drafted a plan to fund the refurbishment of the network. The Department of Finance has taken over the loan obligations about R2,2-billion of the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC), which owns the rail assets run by Metrorail. Omar says the interest the department will thus save will be used to strengthen rail infrastructure.
Other senior government sources say the first issue to tackle is the anomaly Metrorail is currently saddled with operation and infrastructure maintenance do not fall under the same body. SARCC owns the rail assets while Metrorail belongs to Spoornet a business unit of Transnet operates it. As a result there is no accountability for any mishaps that occur.
There has been mounting public displeasure about service delivery commuters last month burned down Pretoria’s station, causing about R30-million damage because a train arrived late. Two weeks ago arsonists set two coaches alight at the Kempton Park railway station.
Metrorail accounts for about 19% of public transport in South Africa, transporting about two million people a day. The railway serves 473 stations with 2?400 trains in service.
Omar says the National Land Transport Transition Act, which was passed last year, provides guidelines for transforming and restructuring the transport system, but does not deal with the railways.
Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Ekurhuleni (East Rand) and Port Elizabeth have an existing Metrorail network and will be in a position to establish rail transport authorities, Omar says.
The Gauteng government’s Rapid Speed Train project, which will link Pretoria and Johannesburg, has taken advantage of the Act, which places an obligation on all spheres of government to actively promote public transport.
Parliament’s transport portfolio committee chair Jeremy Cronin adds that the failure of rail concessioning in Britain has heightened the need to establish a rail safety regulator. South Africa should not split up one route between a number of operators, as had been the case in Britain.
Cronin argues that to make a case for concessioning, a route has to be lucrative to lure investors and to ensure private contractors are committed to expanding the network.
Omar says his department and Minister of Public Enterprises Jeff Radebe are considering “all the options”. He says they have yet to come up with time frames, but will be doing so soon.
Among the proposals that could be in the pipeline are the consolidation of the responsibilities of ownership and operation of Metrorail, as in the case of Spoornet. The restructuring plans for Spoornet to be announced next month will provide a good indication of the course Metrorail will follow.
Indications are that the state will want to play a direct role in the provision of main-line passenger rail service. Sivi Gounden, Director General of the Department of Public Enterprises, which is busy with the restructuring plans for Spoornet, says the railways have been identified as a strategic asset.
The restructuring is guided by that principle there has to be a development of the much-needed transport network for passengers and the general freight business to enhance the manufacturing capability of the country. This will result in strategic partnerships with the manufacturing sector and the rail freight network.
The Gauteng government’s rapid train service, for which construction commences in 2003, will connect Johannesburg International airport with the city’s central business district and Pretoria. It is also based on the principle of developing the province.
Omar says there will be more stringent measures to discourage heavy tonnage on roads and encourage business to use rail freight services.
New National Party representative Tino Volker cautions against this, saying businesses has invested substantial amounts of money on vehicles which ferry goods across the country.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) says the state has the money to keep Metrorail in state hands. The union’s Jane Barrett says that there are many advantages for the country not to concession off railways.
The government has to explore labour’s proposal and not take a narrow view of profitability and loss. General freight is not profitable anywhere in the world, Barrett says.
“They should be looking at savings that could be made to wear and tear on roads, and to saving the environment, if more investment was put into rail. It seems as they are not looking at such external factors when they consider concessioning.”
Satawu says a time bomb is waiting to explode over the bus tendering system in Cape Town. Barrett says while subsidies have been slashed, the number of passengers remains constant. The reduction of subsidies to bus companies will have a serious effect on passenger services and on the fraught relationship between taxi and bus owners, she says.
“The amount of money has been reduced in real terms and there are now half the number of routes from in the past. The government can’t invite tenders, because it cannot afford them. The big question is what is going to happen to passengers we see another war on the horizon,” Barrett warns. She says the regulation of taxis is being implemented but very slowly.