While a lot of what is said in this article is true, it's worth pointing out that privatisation is not a panacea. Few passenger railways in the world make a profit and Britain is renationalising its railways after its experiment with privatisation.We are now at the point where most of South Africa’s railway network is likely to be written off and closed. Full or partial privatisation is the only way to save the railways...
In comments on the sar-l IO group, a well-informed person who writes about railways points out that "the Gauteng commuter network as well as parts of the Cape Town commuter network... is a relatively small part of the country's rail network and not really relevant to freight operations" and continues, "I'm not sure those railway personnel who operate the ore and coal lines, as well as run the block loads of grain, timber, cement, magnetite, chrome, containers etc would agree that the national rail network is "out for the count". I see all sorts of work going on on lines such as the Alicedale-Cookhouse and Umtata lines where the track is being re-ballasted. I also see videos of a constant stream of freights on the NATCOR... take a trip to Ermelo and watch the coal trains heading to the coast, or stand on the bridge near Saldanha and tell me that looks like a railway that is out for the count."
