(KRE) by Jeff Radebe, MP, Minister of Transport
10 October 2006
It is common knowledge that South Africa's modern day economy cannot prosper
without proper planning and execution of suitable and competitive investment in
transport services and infrastructure. Our bigger challenge is to ensure that
the allocation of these resources facilitate proper access to basic services
and economic opportunities. We are aware of the tremendous benefits and
services that our rail services bring to the whole of South Africa.
The Khayelitsha Rail Line Extension today bears testimony to the increased
economic opportunities for the people of Khayelitsha. However, we cannot shy
away from terrible incidents within our rail system, some of which are caused
by human error, design faults and technology failure. But we are tackling these
challenges head-on. Tangible work has now begun to show. The South African Rail
Commuter Corporation (SARCC) has begun to expand and improve the rail commuter
service throughout the country.
We have for instance embarked on a renewed attempt to plan and provide the
long awaited and desired rail extension in Khayelitsha due to the more than 450
000 people who live in Khayelitsha. And more than 120 000 residents work
outside Khayelitsha. The extension was therefore necessary because the existing
rail service only catered for 50% of the community and the remainder relies
heavily on taxis and buses. I can therefore confirm that the project we are
launching today is economically viable and is fully supported by the people of
Khayelitsha.
The demand for services within Khayelitsha has signified the need for us to
take drastic measures to ensure that the following rail infrastructure will
alleviate rail services in this area: 4,5 kilometres length of double
electrified and signalled rail line; four road over rail bridges; four fully
accessible stations; two fully accessible transport interchanges; alterations
to existing road infrastructure; and road network upgrading to ensure
connectivity and sufficient accessibility to stations and bridges; three newly
refurbished train-sets; land acquisition.
This project is an integral part of the public transport development plan in
the Cape region and it is viewed as a transport corridor project since it is
essentially a partnership between the Department of Transport (DoT), the SARCC
Metrorail and the City of Cape Town. The provincial government and the City of
Cape Town generally regard the KRE project as the anchor project in the Urban
Renewal Programme for the region. More recently, it has been established that
the Khayelitsha Rail Extension Project is well aligned with the Urban Renewal
Programme as announced by the State President in the 'Soccer World Cup.'
This project will contribute towards the establishment of an efficient rail
system as one of the backbones of World Cup spectator transport and will create
a lasting legacy of significant public transport improvements. I must stress
that government's commitment of R305 million to this project is evidence enough
to reflect government's commitment to improving its rail infrastructure.
This amount caters for the planning and design phase as well as the actual
construction of the rail infrastructure and the provision of three newly
refurbished train sets which have been updated in order to improve reliability.
Furthermore, a decision was made to fit 'fully re-bodied' coaches to the 10M4
and 10M5 standards in order to achieve higher reliability. The project will
benefit the greater community of Khayelitsha, as it will enormously improve the
transport conditions of the community. On a short-term basis, it will provide
jobs during the construction phase of the project.
To date the project has absorbed more than 100 local people of which 60%
accounts for women and youth. It also helped create opportunities for more than
14 local based, small and medium sized enterprises. For most people, easy
access and more frequent points to obtain access to the train service will be
provided as the proposed rail line extension will be constructed close to their
homes and businesses. I am delighted that the capital cost of the
infrastructure that will become the property of the City of Cape Town is
estimated to be in the order of R95 million. It includes four road-over rail
bridges, four pedestrian bridges, two transport interchanges and other road
users.
The project's positive contributions are that:
* It is the first commuter rail extension project after many decades.
* It is enabling new jobs creation during the construction phase of the project
and skills transfer from main contractors to the local community.
* It is a seamless transport system by means of Intermodal facilities and
improved universal accessibility and mobility.
* It is enabling the creation of a lasting legacy of significant public
transport improvements and development of the transport conditions for the
greater community of Khayelitsha, thus ensuring economic growth stimulation
within the community.
Ladies and gentlemen, government is committed to invest as much as it can in
railway infrastructure. I am pleased to announce that we have invested R3,1
billion through SARCC for the refurbishment and general overhaul of coaches,
signalling and other capital investment for the 2006/07 financial years. The
safety and security systems in the passenger rail system are being revamped
including the deployment of 500 rail police in the Western Cape to be expanded
to Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal and over 5 000 South African Police Services
(SAPS) Rail police to be deployed by 2008.
We intend to diversify training and deployment of police personnel
throughout the railway system in the country. This development will be
supported by the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in
railway stations and trains. In conclusion I must say it is important to note
that since our interventions to curb criminal activities in the rail system, we
have witnessed a 63% decrease in criminal activities in Cape Town rail
stations; customer injury has also decreased and fare evasion has gone down to
less than 5%. Because of our growing economy, we are not going to be complacent
in terms of safety and security, fleet upgrading and infrastructure upgrading.
We still have a long way to go.
I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Transport
10 October 2006
Source: SAPA
