26 October 2007
Eastern Cape MEC for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Mr Thobile
Mhlahlo, will officially reopen one of the oldest train stations in South
Africa, situated in Molteno, on Monday, 29 October 2007.
The event forms part of the 2007 Transport Month (October) programme.
The Molteno railway station is the 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 demise of the station began in the eighties when
the goods service was gradually diminished until the complete shutdown in the
nineties. 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 affects the economy viability of the Molteno being a small town.
* Promotion of road freight transportation than rail, and therefore causing
damages on our roads.
Challenges faced by the Shosholoza Meyl
In the early 2000, Shosholoza Meyl, the long distance passenger rail service
engaged 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.
Numerous deliberations between Shosholoza Meyl and local communities
together with INkwanca Municipality were entered into following an outcry from
the community to keep the Molteno railway station operating.
Responsibilities were assigned as follows:
* Shosholoza Meyl is responsible for the fencing of the railway
station,
* INkwanca Municipality and Dept of Roads & Transport is responsible for
the renovation of the dilapidated structure/buildings of the railway station at
a cost of R195 000.00.
Monday's event will mark the restart of operations in the station and MEC
Mhlahlo is expected to announce the Department of Roads and Transport's future
plans regarding the promotion of the usage of goods train over road transport
(trucks).
It will be preceded by a train trip from Queenstown station at 8:30am to
Molteno Station.
MEC Mhlahlo will also open officially the newly-built Junior Traffic
Training Centre and the donation of bicycles to learners of Inkwanca
Municipality.
Issued by:
Ncedo Kumbaca, Spokesperson, Ministry for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport,
Province of the Eastern Cape
Cell: 082 442 2388 / 073 206 6569
Issued by: Eastern Cape Provincial Government
26 October 2007
