Johannesburg - South Africa's passenger train system is to receive a R25bn boost over the next five years.
The announcement was made at the launch of the new public transport company, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), which will replace the existing SA Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC).
Prasa will in future manage all South African state-owned passenger trains other than the Blue Train.
The new body comprises the four divisions, namely Metrorail, Shosholoza Meyl, Intersite Property Group and Autopax, the long-distance bus service.
Lucky Montana, the chief executive of the former SARCC, becomes the chief executive of the new entity.
"Staff Africa's passenger rail services infrastructure has reached the end of its life. In some cases we are using 40-year-old technology. Investing in rail networks is therefore critically important," said Montana.
Transport Minister Jeff Radebe, who launched Prasa, said the government is committed to having a public transport system that will benefit all South Africans. "The government is committed to improving our existing rail services."
According to Montana, the areas in which most work will be done are on the trains themselves, as well as on the 480 railway stations operated by Metrorail.
The new group will transport about 2.6m passengers a day, 70% being commuting workers.
The handover of Transnet's Shosholoza Meyl to Prasa will also, says Radebe, be according to plan.
"There is some concern about Transnet's failure fully to involve the workers in the negotiation process. But one thing is certain: Shosholoza Meyl will belong to Prasa from April 1."
Transnet and Prasa are actively engaged in negotiating with unions to ensure that the handover of the train takes place as planned.
Chris de Vos of the Utatu union told Sake24 some time ago that the number of Transnet workers being transferred to Prasa were far more than originally agreed upon, and the unions were concerned about job losses at the new entity.
Montana says workers' jobs will be safe for at least 18 months, and there is no reason to expect that retrenchments will take place after that.
He reckons that over the past four years SARCC has managed to improve turnover by 10% and increase the number of train journeys from 500m a year to the more acceptable level of 640m a year.
"Security has been dramatically improved since the railway police were reintroduced, with crime levels falling 39% over the past year."
He adds that over the next three years Prasa will ensure that the passenger rail infrastructure is upgraded to satisfy rail service requirements for the next 30 years.
- Sake24.com
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