President Cyril Ramaphosa will unveil the new trains at Cape Town Station on Tuesday and will also be briefed on the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa’s) efforts to improve commuter services, and to stimulate economic activity through its modernisation programme.
Ramaphosa will observe the testing of Prasa’s new train sets before the new fleet’s complete roll-out.
His visit follows his recent personal experience of commuter frustration and technical problems with rolling stock between Mabopane and Bosman stations in Pretoria.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Khusela Diko, said Prasa would take Ramaphosa through the passenger rail sector’s 20-year modernisation programme.
“The programme aims to revitalise the rail industry through the local manufacture of parts, maintenance, the establishment of training facilities, the achievement of 65% local content, and training and skills development for Prasa employees and young people interested in the rail industry.
“The government’s commitment to providing safe and sufficient passenger rail services that will benefit commuters and the economy is reflected in its investment of more than R170billion to ensure that passenger rail services offer modern, safe and reliable trains for commuters, faster trains that will increase the capacity of the network, improved overall safety of trains and reduced energy costs and improved, predictable and reliable services to passengers,” Diko said.
Diko said that during his visit to Cape Town Station, Ramaphosa would view two new trains that had been manufactured locally and that would be deployed on upgraded infrastructure, as part of the Prasa Rolling Stock Fleet Renewal Programme that would see the manufacturing of more than 7000 new trains over a period of 20 years, or close to 30 a month.
United National Transport Union spokesperson Sonja Carstens said the news was exciting and they were glad to hear the new stock would be deployed in the Western Cape.
But she said they doubted the trains would be deployed, “because currently the trains are only operating in Pretoria as a pilot project”.
Carstens said the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) was not allowing the new trains to run anywhere else in the country because of safety aspects.
“For the trains to operate properly they need to secure the railway lines, because the new trains pick up speed faster than the normal yellow trains,” Carstens said. “We do not believe Prasa is ready to roll out the new trains.
“The fact is that the RSR confirmed a week ago that Prasa is still operating under a court order,” she said.
United Commuters Voice spokesperson Joao Jardim said they hoped that the launch would bring relief to commuters.
Cape Argus
