by Daylin Mitchell
The passenger rail passenger rail system in Cape Town is in crisis. What was once the backbone of the transport system, carrying over 600000 passengers a day, is now transporting a small fraction of this number, estimated to be fewer than 50000 passengers a day.
Today, passengers avoid using rail because it has become so unreliable. The service will be operating one day and absent the next. Passengers simply cannot depend on rail.
While the system was already in crisis prior to the Covid-19 lockdown, the situation deteriorated further during this period, with rampant vandalism and theft of rail assets, including the unprecedented stripping of stations. This left the rail service in its worst state to date.
While we commend Prasa for restoring some of these services, including the recent partial reintroduction of services on the Central Line, it is imperative that all necessary action is taken to fully restore rail services to their position as the backbone of transport and improve the quality of these services over time.
The Western Cape Government stands ready to work with the government, Prasa, the City of Cape Town and other stakeholders to support what should be a collective and urgent effort.
To date, our offer to assist and support this effort has fallen on deaf ears, but we will not stop trying.
We urge the national government to make sufficient resources available to expedite the restoration of the Central Line and the broader network so that it can, once again, provide affordable access to opportunities for the people of Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain.
A functional and effective rail service is critical if we are serious about providing reliable, affordable, safe and dignified public transport for our people. It is also critical in addressing the challenge of economic growth for job creation and ultimately improving the lives of people.
People need real options to go about their lives – to go to work, look for work, get to school, and visit friends and family.
Every day that the province goes without such a service, it is costing us millions in missed opportunities and constraining economic progress and job creation. This situation cannot continue and must be improved with urgency.
The damage to infrastructure is so profound that merely fixing what is there will be throwing good money after bad. Society, technology and the economy have moved on during this time, and we must be critical as to how we design and implement the restoration project. What we have now is an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild in a way which modernises the network, leveraging the latest technologies where feasible to do so.
I call for bringing together all relevant stakeholders and pooling resources to achieve a well-researched, innovative plan to rebuild our rail capacity. If the national government is unwilling to take the above steps, we are.
That’s why I welcome the recent publication of the White Paper on National Rail Policy. It has been in development for many years, and I am pleased that it has finally been released and is bringing some much-needed direction and clarity to the sector. In it, devolution was confirmed as national policy, which is something the Western Cape Government called for.
I strongly support the need to devolve responsibility for rail to sub-national government. Devolution is in line with international best practices and is key to integrating and improving public transport.
Given the state of rail, it is critical for devolution to proceed as quickly as possible. I therefore call on the Minister of Transport and the Department of Transport to expedite the finalisation of the devolution strategy described in the White Paper so that devolution can proceed.
I also support the White Paper’s policy on private sector participation in the provision of passenger rail services, including the statement that the “introduction of competition for services rendered by Prasa must be considered.”
If the policies articulated in the White Paper are successfully implemented, they have the potential to fundamentally reshape the rail sector in South Africa. This includes the proposed institutional restructuring to create separate infrastructure owners, infrastructure managers and train operators, in line with international best practices.
For all interventions, we need to act urgently to speed up the pace of reform, investment and restoration. Without sound, consistent and clear management, the restoration of rail, and the policy laid out in the White Paper, is unlikely to see the light of day.
We cannot allow that to happen. We need to fix rail transport. I will not rest until rail transport is restored and fully functional in the Western Cape, even if it means we need to take this on ourselves.
* Daylin Mitchell is the Western Cape’s Mobility MEC.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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