Express train still standing in station – six years and R60 million later

SIX YEARS and R60 million later and the much- vaunted Durban- to- Pietermaritzburg Business Express train is showing few signs of leaving the station.

Yesterday the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) admitted its focus has been on preparing the trains and not on the vital infrastructure.

The trains were now being hired out for “team building” exercises, Prasa said but did not provide details.

Trying to get the Business Express 10M5, as it has been dubbed, on track has proved hard going.

Frikkie Brooks, provincial acting director-general, said the government was concerned about the delays.

“We have consulted Prasa and we were unhappy with their recent presentation on how they were planning to fast-track the project. We’re making contact with them on a regular basis,” Brooks said.

He said building trains and infrastructure was Prasa’s responsibility.

The project was first mooted in 2009 as a way for business people and government employees to commute between the two cities, easing congestion on the N3. Finally, in December last year, Prasa invited government and business leaders and the media on a test run.

But although the plush furnishings and ample leg room on the 12-coach train got the thumbs up, passengers were unimpressed with the bumpy ride, absence of wi-fi internet and, crucially, the three-hour journey.

Prasa at the time promised the service would be operational by April, but that deadline has come and gone. The rail agency has now flagged an October start.

Critics yesterday accused the authorities of failing to do a feasibility study before beginning work and of splashing cash on revamping two trains without first sorting out serious engineering and infrastructure issues.

Rafeek Shah, a DA member of the transport portfolio committee in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, said the project “will remain a pipe dream”.

“It looks like proper processes, including consulting engineers and experts, were not followed by those involved in the project. They have the trains ready, and later they discover that ‘oops’, the infrastructure needs to be revamped.”

IFP national chairman, Blessed Gwala, warned that more taxpayers’ money would be wasted on the project. “No research was done for this project. The infrastructure needs a total overhaul with taxpayers’ money,” Gwala said.

In December, Prasa Rail chief executive, Mossengwa Mofi, said the two refurbished trains were expected to run twice a day from April.

Metrorail’s KZN regional spokesman, Zama Nomnganga, blamed the delay on infrastructure and said their engineers were working on the problem.

“Firstly the 10M5 is higher than the Pietermaritzburg platform. It does not have the electronic controlled steps that are released to level the platform and the train.

“However, it must be noted that the two trains are ready, it’s a matter of finalising the work on the infrastructure,” Nomnganga said.

He said this would be done by October, national Transport Month.

He said the trains were currently hired to government departments and municipalities for trips for team building sessions between Durban and the South Coast.

The business sector said it was disappointing that the service was taking so long to materialise.

Piertermaritzburg Chamber of Business chief executive Melanie Veness said: “If the offered service is affordable, reliable, fast and conducive to working as you travel, then it would be heartily welcomed by the business fraternity.”

Public Transport Voice, a national transport watchdog, said the transport minister’s intervention was needed to stop financial mismanagement at the parastatal.

Spokesman Zingisani Nkanjeni was critical of the project delays.

“Whoever was involved in this project did this knowing they will not be held accountable,” he said.