The CEO Chirp: Passenger rail to become reliable again?

Prasa Western Cape boss Raymond Maseko sometimes commutes to work – to demonstrate that commuter rail rehabilitation is on track.

He tells how on one such trip last month, standing on the station platform in Khayelitsha where the service is still severely disrupted, he met a women who put his task into perspective: “Maseko, my children have not left home yet with their transport, but I need to get the 5.20am train in Khayelitsha so that I am on time for work,” the woman said.

The encounter illustrated how service disruptions are affecting people’s lives.

Maseko made a commitment to the woman that the service would be back to full strength – or close to it -- within 18 months.

It’s the same commitment Maseko made late last month at the Chamber’s Strategic Dialogue Network event to examine efforts to address the congestion impacting the regional economy. Cape Town lines will see a train, on time, every ten minutes, 18 months from now, Maseko says.

It’s a bold statement, in a time of glib promises. But it is worth reiterating the significant progress made in commuter rail since 2020 when the Prasa service ground to a complete halt. Stations were vandalised, tracks and signalling equipment removed, and communities occupied entire rail corridors.

Fast forward six years and trains are running on time every 15 minutes on Cape Town’s southern line. In addition, equipment has been modernised, and 26 new substations built. As the tracks return, Prasa is also modernising the infrastructure. The Province currently has 83 sets, with an additional two added every month.  

As much as things are improving, a huge challenge remains if Maseko is to meet his early morning commitment to the elderly Khayelitsha commuter and her children.

But, as many observed at last month’s SDN, collectively we can easily fix this country if the people entrusted with taxpayers’ money do what they are supposed to.

John Lawson
CEO of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry