New diesel locomotive unveiled in Cape Town

Capetown-15012- a Joint Shosholoza and Premier class couches which were pulled by the new AFRO 4000 disiel series. where minister of transport Dipuo Peters was joint by few Members of Parliament and Western cape legislatuter on short trip to Spier stationPicture by BHEKI RADEBE

Capetown-15012- a Joint Shosholoza and Premier class couches which were pulled by the new AFRO 4000 disiel series. where minister of transport Dipuo Peters was joint by few Members of Parliament and Western cape legislatuter on short trip to Spier stationPicture by BHEKI RADEBE

Published Jan 13, 2015

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Cape Town - The Department of Transport and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) unveiled the new 4000 AFRO diesel series locomotive in Cape Town on Monday.

This marks another step in the government’s plans to modernise the country’s rail transport service.

About R172 billion is being invested over the next 10 years.

Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said R51bn had already been invested in the manufacture of 3 600 passenger coaches, plus R3.5bn for the manufacture of reliable locomotives like the new 4000 AFRO diesel series.

“This will change long distance passenger travel as well as provide high quality passenger services for commuters in the major cities and towns.

“One of the key priorities is to consider the length of time spent on a train. In this day and age, is it correct for people to travel 25 hours from Cape Town to Johannesburg or Pretoria?” she asked.

Peters added that Prasa should conduct a feasibility study for a high-speed train service between Gauteng and Cape Town, and other routes. This would help ensure such rail transportation was accessible and reliable, while providing a high quality service for commuters.

Amid the buzz and the excitement as the new locomotive pulled a handful of premier class coaches from Cape Town station to Stellenbosch, many Metrorail passengers were seen stranded at train stations along the northern route.

A Prasa subsidiary, Metrorail has been plagued by breakdowns and delays.

At Cape Town station, trains were delayed for as long as 40 minutes on the first day most commuters returned to work after the festive season.

Peters said the department and Prasa were aware of the problems in the railway transport system in the Western Cape and that they were dealing with the situation.

“When it comes to trains being delayed, many factors are to blame including cable theft. We want to enhance the situation on the railway lines and that is why government has invested R51bn for 600 new trains,” she said.

Prasa chief executive Lucky Montana said today’s infrastructure problem was the price paid for 30 years of under-investment in South Africa’s railway system.

“We are looking at a short-term solution focused on delays, infrastructure, safety and train speed. The old system currently used is not flexible and for this reason issues like cable theft will delay the whole system.

“We know that commuters travelling from Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha are among the areas being affected the most,” he said.

In the long term, Prasa has invested R7bn to ensure national trains’ signalling system work effectively.

R2.8bn of this money would be used in the Western Cape, he said.

“We know that Metrorail is the transport used by 60 percent of the province’s work force and we have an obligation to ensure the economy is improved through this upgrade,” Montana said.

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Cape Times

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