Civil Engineering September 2022 | Vol 30 No 8

Civil Engineering September 2022 11 of the rail renaissance, except for the heavy-haul market space where it achieved remarkable results. The interventions detailed in the Rail White Paper address the technological shortcomings of the South African rail network, as well as certain institutional shortcomings that need to be addressed in order to get the most out of the existing and future rail networks in the country. POLICY INTERVENTIONS Outlined below are the most important policy interventions defined in the Rail White Paper. Vision Rail is an affordable, competitive, effec- tive, integrated, reliable, safe, sustainable and valued transport mode that provides the backbone of South Africa’s freight logistics and passenger mobility systems and strengthens its economic growth and social development by 2050. Mission To recognise and understand rail’s heritage of missed opportunities, strategic missteps and structural impediments, multi-generational funding and resources to leverage rail’s inherent competitiveness must be identified and mobilised to repo- sition it as the backbone of South Africa’s land transportation. Rail sector investment As set out in the National Rail Policy, significant investment will be required to revitalise South Africa’s railway sector, with the aim of establishing high-performance rail corridors that will recapture rail’s proper contribution to the national transport task. This interven- tion shall initiate a railway renaissance in the country by deploying high-speed, heavy-haul, heavy intermodal, and contemporary urban and regional rapid transit in situations where rail offers the most economically-, environmentally-, financially- and socially-viable logistics and/or mobility solution. Where appropriate and feasible, Government will direct investment to standard-gauging existing infrastructure, to complement the required greenfields projects. The rail sector investment must be aligned with South Africa’s strategic objective of developing the rail sector by establishing local factories. Institutional repositioning freight rail Transnet’s Freight Rail Division addresses only a fraction of the freight rail addressable market. The classic remedy is to allow third- party access to the rail network. Third- party train operators must be admitted to the national rail network to access infra- structure in conjunction with investment- led intervention. Introducing other players will lead to better service quality, quantity, pricing and operational efficiency. Institutional repositioning passenger rail Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) provides passenger rail services from a monopoly position. It is largely funded by the fiscus and therefore has no basis for monopolistic market behaviour. However, as the only current service pro- vider, it may be insensitive to users’ percep- tions of service quality and quantity. There is currently no assurance that PRASA maximises the value of services delivered to passengers and minimises the economic resources that it uses to do so. Passenger rail concessions will be introduced within the commuter rail network where feasible or where PRASA is unable to offer services. Rail infrastructure planning Strategic rail network planning and oversight is a centralised function that the Department of Transport (DoT) will un- dertake. It will establish a government com- ponent, to be known as the Rail Planning Office. This component will cooperate closely with operating entities, which will undertake their own operational planning. Track gauge The long-term strategic direction for the national rail network is standard gauge. DoT is responsible for a suite of specifications for a high-performance Figure 2 Rail’s four inherently competitive market spaces Figure 3 Affected corridors