City’s proposal to take over train service ‘a cheap ploy’

THE City’s intention to take over management of the ailing commuter rail service in Cape Town has been slapped as a cheap political ploy.

The national Department of Transport’s White Paper on transport policy however is shifting towards a single transport authority either at provincial government or “at the lowest level of government”.

Brett Herron‚ mayoral committee member for transport and urban development, yesterday said: “Commuter rail, the backbone of public transport in Cape Town, is on the brink of total collapse.”

Some 54% of commuter journeys are made by passenger rail in the city.

Herron said the City will ask the department to expedite the assignment of the urban rail function from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to the City‚ pending approval by the council.

Herron said that passenger rail numbers in Cape Town had fallen by 30% from 2015/16 to 2016/17. According to the latest data received from Metrorail‚ there were on average 2.7 million fewer rail journeys in Cape Town per month in 2016/17 when compared with 2015/16.

However, Metrorail’s data confirms that thousands of commuters have been displaced to road-based transport over the past two years, he said.

“We are facing a real risk that passenger rail in Cape Town could effectively collapse before the National Rail Policy (draft White Paper) of June 2017 is finalised to devolve the management of passenger rail to municipalities. This could take another two to three years.”

Herron said should the City take over the rail system, it would be responsible for timetables and infrastructure while other operators will also be allowed on rail network.

Tony Ehrenreich, Western Cape Cosatu secretary said: “They cannot even roll-out the MyCiTi Bus services to the poorest of the poor. This announcement of the DA-led City to want to run the metro is because they see that they are in a crisis and an opportunity to play politics with people’s lives.” The Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed Herron’s proposals. The public process should completed by March next year.