Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is on track towards restoring commuter rail service in all the 10 identified priority corridors.
On Wednesday, Mbalula and Prasa board & management took a train ride on the Saulsville line to Pretoria as part of Prasa’s service recovery programme.
The Saulsville to Pretoria line has now introduced a full commercial service of the new Electric Motor Units (EMUs) as part of monitoring progress made by Prasa in bridging train services.
The Minister of Transport Mr. Fikile Mbalula is joined by PRASA are taking a train ride on the Saulville Line to Pretoria line as part of monitoring progress made by PRASA in bringing train service back on line. https://t.co/j7GyPWVvhu
— FIKILE MBALULA | MR FIX (@MbalulaFikile) April 13, 2022
This line had been closed for rehabilitation in preparation to run the new train sets. Before then, Metrorail operated a service utilizing the old electric traction trains instead of diesel locomotives, as in Mabopane and Mamelodi. Currently, no weekend train service is provided due to ongoing rehabilitation works on infrastructure.
This line is the third of the five lines in Tshwane to be brought back to service.
Mbalule said the recovery of this service forms part of Prasa’s service recovery program aimed at recovering and restoring the commuter rail network while fast-tracking the roll-out of the new modern electric trains.
“We are well on track on recovering the 10 priority corridors,” said Mbalula.
Corridors recovered to date, with the deployment of the new trains include:
Mabopane Corridor in Tshwane
Southern Line in Cape Town
Saulsville line in Tshwane
Limited service has also been introduced on the following corridors, still operating the old Metrorail trains:
Central Line between Cape Town and Langa
Northern Line between Cape Town and Bellville via Goodwood
Durban–Umlazi corridor
Pienaarspoort–Pretoria corridor operating a diesel Service
Naledi–Johannesburg corridor, operating a diesel service
Leralla–Elandsfontein corridor, operating a diesel service
“Prasa has prioritized the recovery of the Naledi and Pienaarspoort corridors to reintroduce the electrical train services. Appointment of contractors is underway for the critical electrical projects that will see these services recovered during the course of this calendar year,” Mbalula said.
He said this will also include the Pretoria–Kaalfontein and Leralla corridors. Sections on central line in Cape Town and the KwaMashu corridors in Durban also earmarked for recovery this year.
On 15 February 2022, a new commercial service was introduced when the new People’s train was introduced following approval to safely operate by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) on this corridor.
Mbalula said to ensure that communities have access to economic opportunities, the train service caters for all home stations and a fifth industrial stopping station, Pretoria West Halt, was also added to address commuter needs.
“Since the introduction of the new trains average on-time performance stands at 95%. The current service consists of 26 train trips per day on a single line. Once the second line has been electrified and the signal system repaired at Pretoria West, the daily train trips will increase to 59%. The service currently transports an average of 4.646 commuters daily,” he said.
Mbalula Said in line with their commitment to secure both the people utilizing their trains and the infrastructure, they have deployed 11 protection officials, 9 armed response guards and 4 security guards on board.
The recovery of this service forms part of PRASA’s service recovery program aimed at recovering and restoring the commuter rail network while fast-tracking the roll-out of the new modern electric trains. pic.twitter.com/mqQg76jAtO
“These are complemented by 11 contracted security personnel, reinforcing security of stations, infrastructure and people on board the trains.
“In the rehabilitation and recovery of this line, Praasa has already spent about R9 604 772 on the electrification of the single line,” Mbalula said.
He said Prasa has plans at an advanced stage for additional work forming part of the rehabilitation programme, which will be implemented to the tune of R214 420 486 for the following works:
Overhead Traction Equipment (OHTE) rehabilitation and traction substation rehabilitation
Signalling rehabilitation
Telecommunications rehabilitation