It’s full-steam ahead for Go!Durban construction

CONSTRUCTION of various aspects of the Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN), known as Go!Durban, was moving at full steam, said eThekwini Transport Authority head Thami Manyathi.

However, Corridor 2 (the rail corridor running from Bridge City in KwaMashu to the Durban CBD) phase of the project was experiencing some delays because of Prasa’s internal “challenges”, Manyathi told eThekwini councillors at a recent executive committee meeting in the city hall.

Prasa’s involvement in the Go!Durban system is to upgrade the infrastructure and signal systems along Corridor 2.

Manyathi said the parastatal was also responsible for the station modernisation and upgrading of station precincts.

According to the report, some stations had been modernised and some were yet to be upgraded.

Delays have been experienced in different programmes and the go-live date of new services is likely to be “pushed out”, the report says.

“The city’s IRPTN provides the structuring element for the integration zone and supports the spatial development framework and urban network strategy.

“It is designed to link major residential and under-served areas to places of economic and social activity, including the CBD and urban hubs,” Manyathi said.

He said the focus of implementation was on phase one, which includes Corridor 1, 2, 3 and 9, and that Corridor 3 (the route between Pinetown and Bridge City in KwaMashu) was the first corridor planned to go live.

Manyathi said an interim transport depot was being constructed in Pinetown, pending the completion of the main depot in Bridge City.

“In construction, there will be skills development through entrepreneurship, professional drivers, construction, manufacturing and cycling.”

He said the Empowerment Charter supported the city’s radical economic transformation framework, through contracts to empower and uplift small businesses.

The target value for local wards was R123 969 545, with the total spend to date being R170 609 045.

In greater eThekwini, the target value was R247 939 090, but the total spend to date was R332 362 444.

“We have exceeded the targets set for ourselves. Everything is moving along well,” Manyathi added.

Isabel van der Westhhuizen, communications manager at Metrorail KZN, could not comment on the alleged delays on the Prasa part of the project.