The implementation of the national passenger rail plan on priority corridors

Abstract

The National Rail Passenger Plan was approved by the Cabinet of South Africa in 2006, as a blueprint to arrest the decline of passenger rail in the country. This was developed at the backdrop of the consolidation of the rail entities where passenger and freight rail will be separately managed. South Africa’s passenger rail system was underpinned by years of underinvestment. South Africa has experienced the terminal decline pertaining to the market share in passenger rail. The entire rail assets i.e. both above rail and below rail were in a state of collapse and as such the national passenger rail plan was therefore a right intervention. The approach of the plan was to position rail transport as one of the key mode for public transport solutions. The Priority Corridors strategy was introduced as method to target the focused implementation methodology. The strategy approach was to look at corridors with high ridership in order to have an impact. Around 2.2 million, mainly low income, working people use the commuter network everyday to access employment opportunities. The focus of the research study was to understand the progress which has been made with regard to this strategic intervention. Critical is to understand what are the shortcomings that impede the implementation of national passenger rail plan in South Africa. To answer this question, the study focused on the documentary analysis and interviews as part of the data collection methodology. The findings of the study were able to demonstrate on which aspect of the strategic infrastructure investments projects were implemented in priority corridors. Some of the aspects which have been implemented include track rehabilitation, new signal equipment and station upgrades in priority corridors. However, there were challenges that were experienced during the implementation. The study findings revealed that funding of the programme implementation is one of shortcomings that delayed the implementation of the national rail plan. Other findings include the lack of capacity and technical skills; and lack of leadership in implementing the strategic projects in the priority corridors. The study recommends that for sustainable rail operations, funding should be mobilised, Prasa structure should be realigned and the rail regulatory framework should be finalised.