The Eastern Cape Department of Transport Chris Hani District recently won the Centre of Public Sector Innovation Award for Innovative Partnership in service delivery for the Molteno Railway Station Re-opening Project.
The award was received during a glittering awards ceremony last weekend hosted by the Department of Public Services and Administration at the Emperor's Palace in Gauteng.
The department’s Chris Hani District had partnered with Nkwankca Municipality, Shosholoza Meyl and Transnet to revive and re-open this railway station, which had become a white elephant in the 90s as both the passenger and goods service had shut down.
Having been re-opened in 2007, this intervention was expected to boost the local economy and improve the mobility of the people through access to safe, affordable and reliable public transport system.
The Molteno railway station is one of the oldest stations in South Africa and it used to be a very busy station especially when it came to the freight transportation and this initiative was informed by the department’s 'Back to Rail' strategy, which seeks to take certain volumes of goods away from the road to rail.
Shosholoza Meyl which had taken a decision to close down the railway station due to the conditions that were not improving and criminal activities in the 90s, embarked on a project to review the schedule of train services with the aim of improved operational efficiencies and rationalised stopping places aligned with passenger demands early in 2000.
After forming a partnership, the department and Nkwanca Municipality were committed to the renovation of the dilapidated structure/buildings of the railway station, whilst Shosholoza Meyl was responsible for the fencing of the railway station and today the station is functioning very well and in excellent condition.
Eastern Cape Transport wins Centre of Public Sector Innovation (CPSI) Award
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