Effective public transport has positive spin-offs for the economy, environment and social advancement. But as Cromet Molepo, CEO of PRASA CRES tells Colin Chinery, to get the South African public to use the rail system, it needs to be seen as safe, reliable and efficient, with train stations attractive meeting places.

By Colin Chinery

South African rail travel is a luxurious and seductive affair when filtered through the tourists’ prism of The Blue Train and Rovos Rail. But no Five Star appeal on the commuter lines. For the average South African, rail travel is uninviting, unreliable, and no contender in his consuming love affair with the car.

“There’s still a perception that the rail service is only fit for the poor working class, with commuters still perceiving the rail system to be unsafe, inaccessible and unreliable,” says Cromet Molepo, CEO of the property management services, Prasa Cres a division of PRASA (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.
This view forms the cornerstone of the PRASA Group turnaround plan, a strategy, which says Molepo “ensures these perceptions and at times realities are dealt with head on.”

Since its establishment in 2009, PRASA has invested heavily in rolling stock refurbishment and infrastructure upgrade and modernisation. And with the efforts to stabilise the service over the past few years, “there are indications that rail transport is beginning to regain its rightful place in the public transport space, and a gradual improvement of customer satisfaction index.”

A watershed was the opening last year of the R24 billion Gautrain, Africa’s first high-speed urban train and widely hailed antidote to Johannesburg’s notorious traffic jams. Coinciding with the hosting of the Soccer World Cup, the wealthy joined the underprivileged flocking to upgraded stations and reliable services. Suddenly rail was no longer the reserve of the poor working class.

The financial stability turnaround strategy lead by the Prasa Group CEO, Lucky Montana, is premised on a high quality service that will ensure a continuously satisfied customer, says Molepo, 55, with a lifetime career in top level real estate. A number of new ‘state-of-the-art’ stations including NASREC, Century City, Cape Town Station upgrade, Doornfontein, Rhodesfield and Moses Mabida were completed on time for the World Cup opening, and a least 40 station refurbishments and six station upgrades will be completed by the end of this financial year.

“A further 50 stations are planned for improvement or refurbishment for the year ending March 2012. Cape Town Station and Mabopane stations have been the focus of major upgrades over the past financial year, with the Cape Town project substantially complete and Mabopane due to be completed sometime next year.”

Commuter rail has a long history in the public transport environment, but underfunding has led to the neglect of essential upgrades, maintenance, and refurbishments. And with current rolling stock going back to the ‘60s and infrastructure decades old, there has been a decline in the quality of service.
But now there is movement along the track, with Prasa investing heavily in rolling stock refurbishment and infrastructure upgrade and modernisation. “The South African Government has taken a strategic decision to invest in public transport, and the amount of money projected to be spent in the coming years is a clear indication of its commitment.
“Our role at Prasa Cres basically is to ensure that the station facilities are attractive for commuters, and visitors to our stations and not just the places where people spend as little time as possible. The private sector will be invited to invest in the numerous upgrades, and we are in discussions with a number of commercial operators to locate the services at our stations. We will be putting in place ATMs, retail facilities and other services and conveniences – that’s the focus for the next coming years. “Although there were still doubting Thomas’s, the thousands of people who were able to travel between the major city and stadias during the World Cup indicated the crucial role rail services can play in moving the masses of people in the preferred public transport system. And with Gautrain and our Business Express Services in major cities within SA, you start getting a mixture of different income groups using the train.”

South African cities like those in all major countries will never be able to cope without reliable public transport system, says Molepo. “Traffic congestion, the high cost of toll fees, and the time spent travelling on the road are becoming counter-productive. From Pretoria to Johannesburg for example – 54km or 34 miles - takes two hours each way travelling by road – and as much as three hours at peak times.

“If this can be reduced to one hour each way you are putting back immediately two or even four hours of productive work. And during the journey people could be doing some work on their computers, reading, etc in the comfort of a train. So there’s no doubt that the multiplier effect in the South African economy will be enormous.
“The introduction of a reliable high speed train service is no longer an option but a necessity. The Government has committed to the introduction of the service between Joburg and Durban, a project estimated to take anything between 10 and 15 years, and like the Gautrain, this will involve a number of stakeholders to deliver. Some of the African countries, Morocco for example, are also embarking on similar HSL services, so South Africa cannot be left behind given its position as an economic powerhouse in the continent and a gateway to Africa.”

Molepo sees rail as being best positioned to play a critical role in the socio-economic transformation and development of South Africa. “It is currently one of the – potentially - most cost efficient and value-for-money modes of transport, particularly for the rural and urban poor. There are however legacy challenges such as the ageing infrastructure and lack of appropriate skills to maintain and manage it and these are issues PRASA has identified as critical challenges to be dealt with immediately.”

The current patronage of at least two million commuter trips per day is still a “drop in the ocean of what potentially this mode of transport could be carrying,” says Molepo. “But by refurbishing the rolling stock, improving the signalling system and upgrading the infrastructure, this is projected to increase significantly in an effort to make Prasa number one public transport operator on priority corridors over the next four to five years.

“And the role Prasa plays in the transformation and development of the country cannot be underestimated. The mass transportation system will be the backbone on which the economy can only prosper to guarantee a shared growth to all communities and parts of the country.”

With the combined efforts to stabilise the service over recent years, Cromet Molepo says there are indications that rail transport is “now beginning to regain its rightful place in the public transport space.” More than that, the launch of the Gautrain, along with state-of-the-art World Cup stadiums, is being seen as proof that South Africa is no longer travelling second class in the world. "It has created a feeling of national pride," said the former Transport Minister Jeff Radebe last year. "South Africans can achieve the impossible when we put our minds to it."


South Africa Magazine Issue 11.