PRASA: R373 million for Pretoria to Mamelodi line

[Steve Appleton]

From Business Day, 13 October 2011, http://www.businessday.co.za/Articles/C ... ?id=155825

Prasa investing R373m in Pretoria-Mamelodi line
NICKY SMITH
Published: 2011/10/13 07:01:02 AM

THE Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), the operator of commuter train service Metrorail, is investing R373m to improve services between Mamelodi and Pretoria.

The Mamelodi-Pretoria corridor is one of the most dense commuter corridors that Metrorail serves, with 91000 passengers a day, Prasa CEO Lucky Montana said yesterday.

Under the new project, Prasa is doubling the rail tracks between Eerste Fabriek and the planned Greenview station. This will allow Metrorail to run more than just the single train that it currently uses, Mr Montana said.

Having only a single track in this corridor "limits Metrorail from planning additional train sets in peak periods to move the current 31000 peak hour commuters on the corridor".

Prasa’s studies show that a doubling of capacity on this line is required for Metrorail to meet future demand for rail services.

"With finalisation of the rail doubling project and the introduction of bi-directional signalling, our rail operator will be able to almost double the number of daily trains on the corridor," he said.

The increased capacity will need more facilities to handle higher commuter volumes and Prasa is upgrading the Mamelodi Gardens and Pienaarspoort stations and building a new station at Greenview, it said yesterday.

Deputy Transport Minister Jeremy Cronin said yesterday the "struggle continues" when it comes to rail infrastructure in SA. "The average person in Tshwane travels a distance of 27km, while a person in London travels 8km,’’ Mr Cronin said.

He attributed this to the legacy of apartheid spatial planning, which was created to transport workers to settlements on the outskirts of major cities. The building of Greenview station was an attempt to address this. "In the past there was no train station in Greenview, people had to ride past their homes and get off at the next station, then walk back home," Mr Cronin said.

Prasa has a fleet of trains with an average age of 37, and a third of its fleet will be retired in the next few years as they reach the end of their design life.

[Steve Appleton]

This project is already well underway. Hopefully upon completion this will see the end to the many serious delays that FOTR has experienced to its Cullinan-bound trains in this area over the last year or so.

[Craig Duckham]

How many km's is the section that PRASA is doubling?

[Steve Appleton]

Craig;
A tad over 5 km from just beyond Eerste Fabrieke through Mamelodi Gardens to Greenview. The project involves more than just track doubling. They are doing extensive sation and concourse building as well.