Prasa joins a long list of failing state entities
It may be possible to salvage some operational integrity from the embarrassment of the Spanish-built locomotives that are of the wrong specifications for at least some parts of SA’s rail network. The degree of the blunder is not yet clear, but it does seem an element of blunder exists.
Such confusion is inevitable when you have two different authorities, Transnet (goods traffic) and the Passenger Rail Authority of SA (Prasa), using the same infrastructure but without equal responsibility for, or control of access to, that infrastructure.
Transnet has no interest in passenger trains. It sees them as an irritation and does not give them priority. Where two authorities are running their own locomotives over the same routes, duplication and inefficiencies will result. Prasa in effect has to beg for access to most of the network, and has little control over scheduling on inter-city routes. Nearly all its overnight coaching stock is more than 35 years old. As its services become less comfortable, reliable and frequent, so passengers turn increasingly to road — and service quality declines further.
The railways were once given substantial protection against the roads, but that all changed with the 1970s legislation that effectively removed the permit system for road hauliers. This seemed to be a good thing: except for bulk traffic like minerals, trucks are faster and more flexible. But in reality the pendulum swung too far in the other direction.
Prasa has been undercapitalised from the start but government has a right and indeed a duty to act in the best interests of citizens by encouraging commuters to travel by rail. This reduces road congestion while exploiting an excellent basic rail infrastructure that is already in place. But is Prasa capable of doing the job?
Arguably, the railways were more efficient when passenger and goods services were run by the same entity, but the bigger mistake was excluding any aspect of private sector involvement in running the service.