Pretoria - The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has set aside R1.9 billion to install a modern signalling system that will help trains operate more smoothly.
Prasa Group Chief Executive Officer, Lucky Montana, made the announcement on Wednesday at a Railway Safety Imbizo in Mamelodi East as part of October Transport Month.
"Prasa has invested approximately R1.9 billion for the introduction of new rail signalling, with phase one of the project already underway in the Lenz-Midway line in Gauteng South.
"The new signalling upgrades and the introduction of new technology will ensure operational efficiency, unlocking capacity and improving reliability," he said.
In both Greenview and Midway-Lenz, Montana said they deal with higher than normal passenger numbers and have prioritised these and other high-volume corridors in line with passenger demand in order to deliver quality passenger rail services.
Towards the end of November, Prasa will start installing a new signalling system in Kwazulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
As part of its investment in the modernisation of passenger rail services by 2015, Prasa has invested R373 million into the doubling of rail tracks between Eerste Fabrieke and Greenview, the total upgrade of the Mamelodi Gardens and Pienaarspoort stations and building a new station at Greenview.
Montana said Prasa's investment is part of its overall strategic objective of positioning passenger rail as the backbone of public transport, which is able to move large volumes of passengers.
"The R373 million investment into the rail doubling project between Eerste Fabrieke and Greenview is but one in a long list of interventions and modernisation measures within passenger rail services," he said.
The Mamelodi-Pretoria CBD corridor is one of the denser commuter corridors in Gauteng, with 91 000 passengers making use of the corridor on a daily basis.
Currently, Metrorail (Prasa's commuter rail operator) only runs a single train in and out of the section between Eerste Fabrieke and Pienaarspoort (via Mamelodi Gardens).
This limits Metrorail from planning additional train sets in peak periods to move the current 31 000 daily peak hour commuters in the corridor, which is still not enough to run an efficient service.
This peak hour passenger flows in the corridor will increase to 60 000 commuters in future, according to Prasa's demand projections.
"With the 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 in the corridor, increasing the combined capacity of these three key stations from handling approximately 39 000 people per day to 58 000 people per day in future," said Montana.
Work for the rail doubling commenced in July 2010, with an estimated end date in November this year.
Deputy Transport Minister Jeremy Cronin said rail was one of the much safer modes of transport.
"Rail is much safer. There are few accidents and few fatalities, and we want to urge our people to refrain from cable theft, and building next to the railway line.
"As residents, you should also stop walking on the railway lines as trains are quicker than you think. A train cannot stop like a wheelbarrow, so railway safety should be our collective responsibility," he said.
