Liaison, Roads and Transport at the opening of the Molteno Railway Station and
Junior Traffic Training Centre, Molteno
26 October 2007
Today marks the re-introduction of the community of Inkwanca Municipality
into the mainstream of public transport in this country.
The Molteno railway station is one of the oldest stations in South Africa.
It used to be a very busy station especially when it came to the freight
transportation. The passenger service that was operated under the apartheid
state was segregated, with white passengers enjoying comfortable facilities
whilst black citizens were subjected to appalling conditions.
The demise of the station began in the 1980s when the goods service was
gradually diminished until the complete shut down in the 1990s. The passenger
service was also closed with the tickets no longer available.
The restructuring at Transnet resulted in the mass retrenchment of workers
in the early 1990s. Since then, the station has fallen into disrepair and there
was a prevalence of criminal activities, which made passengers consider it a
dangerous station to stop at.
Shosholoza Meyl took a decision to close down the railway station due to the
conditions that were not improving. The obvious consequences where the train
was about not to stop at all could not be accepted, as it resulted into the
following:
* The unavailability of freight service means people have to fetch their
parcels in Queenstown and Burgersdorp which is a very expensive exercise.
* It affected the economic viability of Molteno being a small town.
* Promotion of road freight transportation than rail, and therefore causing
damages on our roads.
In the early 2000, Shosholoza Meyl, which is the long distance passenger
rail service, embarked in a project to review the schedule of train services
with the aim of improved operational efficiencies and rationalised stopping
places aligned with passenger demands.
As a result of this exercise, various stations in the Eastern Cape were
identified to be terminated as stopping places to meet project objectives.
Molteno was amongst a list of stations identified due to its appalling
condition at the time. After many years of neglect, it is a cause for great
celebration that the station is being re-opened today, which coincide with our
Transport Month Programme.
Today, the station we see is functioning very well and in excellent
condition, thanks to the commitment of the Department of Roads and Transport
along with the Inkwanca Municipality.
Responsibilities were assigned as follows:
* Shosholoza Meyl was responsible for the fencing of the railway station,
* Inkwanca Municipality and Department of Roads and Transport were responsible
for the renovation of the dilapidated structure / buildings of the railway
station at a cost of R195 000,00.
This initiative is informed by our 'Back to Rail' strategy, which seeks to
take certain volumes of goods away from the road to rail. In the recent past,
it has become evident that the high economic growth rate of the Eastern Cape
continued to put pressure on government to invest on road infrastructure and
rail.
Presently, there is a huge imbalance in the use of our infrastructure for
the carriage of goods within the supply chain, as the volumes are largely
biased towards road usage. In response to this challenge, we have resolved to
invest in an integrated multimodal transport system leading to various
destinations, including our railway lines.
No single mode of transport is able to carry all the cargo volumes on its
own. Our stakeholders, including the Chris Hani District Municipality, have
expressed an interest in certain railway links, and this is very encouraging to
us as a department, as we seek to reach a balance in the use of our rail and
roads.
We expect that this intervention will boost the local economy and improve
the mobility of our people through access to safe, affordable and reliable
public transport system.
Junior Traffic Training Centre (JTTC)
As part of our interventions to improve road traffic safety, the Department
of Roads and Transport has resolved to start educating our people at a young
age about responsible behaviour on our roads. Hence today, we are officially
opening a Junior Traffic Training Centre here to assist our rural
communities.
We believe that our children are our future and we need to invest in that
future.
In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to all individuals and
institutions that worked together in order for us to reopen this facility. This
is a start of a long partnership which will enable us unlock the economic
potential of various areas of the Province.
I thank you
Issued by: Department of Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape
Provincial Government
26 October 2007
