The vision of the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) is to be a provider of integrated public transport solutions for improved mobility. To achieve this, the organisation will need a cohesive strategy that encompasses the operations of its divisions and subsidiaries, along with adequate funding and support.
With a total of 468 stations linking 3 180 km of railway track, Metrorail is a mammoth organisation that provides 2,2m passenger trips between Monday and Friday every week in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London.
Metrorail is the largest of the Prasa entities and will play a critical role in moving people during the 2010 soccer World Cup games. According to Metrorail CEO Sisa Mtwa, the organisation's focus is now on increasing access to its services while improving service delivery, particularly in the areas of train service punctuality and reliability as well as safety and security.
He says having been transferred from Transnet into Prasa, Metrorail has entered the first phase of a three-phase turnaround strategy. This will focus on stabilising the business through an accelerated rolling stock overhaul and upgrade programme, change management interventions and bettering business process management systems (which has resulted in ISO 9002 certification for the Metrorail regions).
The immediate challenges facing Metrorail are primarily its ageing infrastructure and rolling stock, along with skills shortages, safety concerns and jaded public perceptions. However, Mtwa says government's investment in commuter rail has already begun to address these challenges.
Metrorail is introducing simulation technologies to assist in train driver training and is also procuring simulators for deployment in training facilities around the country. Strategic technical skills training hubs at strategic points throughout the country are being launched to address the problems of skills shortages. Plans for the Gauteng Nerve Centre, which will oversee operations control for the entire Gauteng region, are also under way.
The introduction of railway police in 2006, together with the skills upgrade of Metrorail internal security personnel as peace officers, has resulted in reduced crime figures year-on-year.
Innovative offerings such as the Business Express trains are part of Metrorail's plan to appeal to a broader range of travellers. Offering comfortable seats, aesthetically pleasing carriages, onboard cabin and security crew, Wifi access, a complimentary daily newspaper and refreshments, it targets businesspeople who may not previously have considered rail travel as an option.
The introduction of new services such as those from East London to King Williamstown as well as new line extensions like Bridge City near KwaMashu and those recently completed in Khayelitsha provide an opportunity for Metrorail to extend its reach into new markets.
Mtwa says as the soccer festivities draw nearer, various milestone developments aimed at improving service delivery for 2010 are also in progress. These range from new stations, such as Nasrec and Moses Mabhida (in Jo'burg and Durban respectively), to the upgrades of various other stations, such as those at Doornfontein and Loftus, which are in close proximity to major stadium venues. Metrorail also aims to build on the service successes and experience gained in transporting fans to the recent Confederations Cup games.
The property portfolio
Intersite Property Management Services manages and develops Prasa's property portfolio in Durban, Jo'burg, Cape Town and Pretoria. Intersite is tasked with responsibility for total station management, efficient lease management, property and flagship station development.
Improving - One of the flagship bus services
CEO Cromet Molepo says Prasa needs to respond to the huge demand for public transport and the critical challenges of moving people during the World Cup and relieving strain on the country's road network. "It is no longer a question of whether SA should have a good mass transportation system. It is obvious that rail should be the backbone of public transport and that it should cater for all sectors of the economy," he says.
"Stations shouldn't just be places that passengers pass through. They should be destinations in themselves. The cleanliness, ablution facilities and even retail opportunities available ought to make them attractive meeting places."
Molepo says that effective public transport has positive spin-off effects on the economy. But to get people to use the rail systems available, they need to perceive them as safe, reliable and efficient.
Intersite is addressing these issues through three station improvement initiatives: the National Station Improvement Programme (NSIP), the Station Upgrade Programme and the Flagship Programme. NSIP began in 2006 and has resulted in the refurbishment of 105 stations to date. The programme has been extended to include Shosholoza Meyl and its long-distance rail needs. A further 87 stations are being upgraded this year to serve Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl. The objectives of all these programmes are the development of the station precincts and the improvement of operational efficiency, safety and security, passenger information and architectural aesthetics.
The 2010 plan for the upgrading of Cape Town station alone amounts to R480m in capital outlay. Other stations being transformed ahead of the World Cup include Nasrec, Doornfontein, Rhodesfield, Loftus and Orlando in Gauteng; Reunion, Rossburgh, Duffs Road, Isipingo, Moses Mabhida, Kwa Mashu and Kwa Myandu in Durban; Athlone, Langa and Cape Town station in the Western Cape; and North End station in the Eastern Cape.
Intersite is also investigating investments into existing and new border stations, such as Komatipoort and Rustenburg, which cater for buses and trains and function as intermodal transport hubs.
An agreement between the department of transport and the SA Police Service has led to security points being set up to improve safety in stations. At least 20 police stations at railway stations are already complete, with a further nine under way and another nine due for completion by the end of October.
Intersite also plans to use the rail plan priority corridors as development corridors and is partnering the department of human settlement to facilitate this. "Commercial opportunities will arise along these corridors too," says Molepo. "Stations will be vibrant places that are never deserted, where people come together to meet. We've identified about 70 stations for corridor densification.
" We are looking at customer needs and seeing what places such as Hong Kong and the UK have done and working with the private sector to create a customer-centric offering as part of our integrated strategy towards sustainability."
Extending the reach
Autopax comprises the City-to-City and Translux regional bus services and transports 2,6m passengers per year, on 50 000 bus trips between more than 100 destinations throughout Southern Africa.
Acting CEO Sakhumzi Zamxaka says that Autopax is the most flexible of the Prasa entities. This is because though rail lines and stations are fixed, and rail infrastructure is enormously expensive, buses can operate in areas not serviced by trains where high-volume passenger transport modes are required.
Without investing in new rail lines to areas where they would not be commercially viable, Prasa is able to increase passengers through its bus services.
With its two established brands (City to City and Translux) and the government guarantee of R1,4bn to acquire a new bus fleet ahead of the World Cup, Autopax will play a vital role in 2010 transportation. The company also sees the World Cup as an opportunity to improve service levels and financial performance. With a nationwide staff training initiative under way, Autopax is overhauling more than its buses to ensure that it is able to deliver excellent service in 2010 and beyond.
The organisation has secured 570 buses for the World Cup period. Currently the company has about 200 buses running its intercity routes.
Zamxaka says that one of the key challenges Autopax has faced has been a history of underinvestment and uncertainty. Now that Autopax is under the Prasa umbrella, the focus has shifted from day-to-day operations to longer-term strategy. This includes a change management process and a renewed focus on ensuring staff buy-in.
Attention is now on improving the reliability of the services Autopax provides and expanding its service offerings to include new cross-border routes, upgraded corridor services to the Eastern Cape and Limpopo and other local bus network advancements.
Serving all sectors of the economy
Providing intercity passenger rail transport between SA's rural areas and the major metros, Shosholoza Meyl transports almost 4m people per year in its 1 223 active coaches along 21 scheduled routes. The company offers economy class, tourist class and premier class carriages, and also provides baggage and car transportation.
WHAT IT MEANS
 Skills of train drivers are being upgraded
Extending its reach into new markets
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Acting CEO Viwe Mlenzana says though passenger rail transport is not considered a glamorous industry, it has the potential to hugely affect the economy by making a difference in people's daily lives. "What has been lacking was integration across the various forms of passenger transport," he says.
"Shosholoza Meyl was not part of a passenger transport focused organisation. Within Prasa, it now plugs a gap, providing long distance rural and regional transport as part of an intermodal system.
"Between Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl, SA's rail offerings will be able to cater for the majority of the World Cup spectators at reasonable rates, across all economic sectors. At the upper end of the scale, for example, our Premier Classe train offers luxury and the chance to experience the more rural parts of SA, which many tourists might otherwise not see if they travelled by air," he says.
Furthermore, the train offers luxury at a price that is still affordable to many South Africans and demand has been such that the service was recently extended to the Jo'burg/Durban, Jo'burg/Hoedspruit and Cape Town/Port Elizabeth routes. Innovations such as being the first train in Africa to boast a spa onboard continue to set the Premier Classe service apart.
Beyond 2010, there will be a R1,5bn investment in rail infrastructure that will result in Shosholoza Meyl extending its services to explore different sectors. Line extensions into the Free State and a tourist train between Jo'burg and Mpumalanga are both on the cards. Also, Mlenzana says, Shosholoza Meyl is looking at playing a more meaningful role in regular passenger services in the Eastern Cape and North West as part of its rural rail plans.
An amount of R125m/annum is being spent on upgrading and refurbishing the trains to ensure they offer maximum passenger comfort. Security is also being addressed through the deployment of permanent railway police on trains and the creation of mobile police stations.
