The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) aims to take every football fan to every game by train, travelling in style in new coaches and enjoying the world class services at the newly refurbished stations.
PRASA is confident that its transport plans for the event are on track. With around one million African visitors and over 400 000 overseas visitors expected, the government has promised that train, bus and plane services will exceed expectations during the tournament. The rail services will form the backbone of the transport plans for the football spectacle.
Preparations include a total of 2 000 revamped train coaches of which 65 train sets will be serving mostly the 2010 train services and along with 155 new and refurbished buses.
Major train stations have been upgraded to improve the overall travel experience such as Doornfontein, Nasrec and Orlando stations in Gauteng. The upgrades aim to enhance the commuting experience through the improvement of the general physical environment, equipping stations with modern passenger information system that aims to provide up to date information to travellers, safety and security with the introduction of railway police. Cutting-edge technology infrastructure upgrades forming part of the 2010 programme include the passenger information and communication system.
The intelligent transport systems will manage congestion, incident response and travel demand. Integrated electronic ticketing will mean fans need to buy only one data rich ticket that grants access to matches and public transport.
Stations are less than five minutes walk away from the key stadiums and make it attractive for one to park their vehicle at home or designated park 'n ride and get into the rail system to experience the South African public transport system.
PRASA will be running special commuters services through its Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl intercity services, during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. This is an additional special train service over and above the normal services provided and will be synchronised according to match schedules.
Metrorail Gauteng region will be servicing a total of 12 corridors namely: Soccer City with 14 train sets, Ellis Park with 13 train sets and Loftus Versfeld with 14 train sets.
To cope with anticipated high demand on certain parts of the rail network, additional short train shuttles will run between match venues namely: Pretoria station to Rissik station, Johannesburg station to Nasrec station, Westgate station to Nasrec station and Westgate station to Doornfontein station.
All stations used to ferry soccer fans will be open from 05h00 to 22h00 on match days while for late games, stations will be staffed until 00h00. Each soccer train will be staffed with a team of 10 ticket officers, both to and from venue stations.
PRASA, in partnership with the railway police, has taken steps to set up systems to provide adequate deployment of the railway police and Metrorail's own protection services personnel to ensure visibility and effective control of the rail environment. Security personnel will be present on all trains and stations.
The train services will be available free of charge to ticket holders on special dedicated trains.
For schedules and more, visit: http://www.prasa.com/
Issued by: Department of Roads and Transport, Gauteng Provincial Government
13 May 2010
Source: Department of Roads and Transport, Gauteng Provincial Government
(http://www.gdace.gpg.gov.za/)
