Civil Engineering September 2022 | Vol 30 No 8

12 September 2022 Civil Engineering standard gauge rail network, which it will determine through feasibility studies on a route-by-route basis. It is envisaged that by 2050 South Africa’s rail network will comprise a standard gauge core network and Cape gauge linkages to those neighbouring countries that retain that gauge, as pic- tured in Figure 3. The latter connections will be reviewed in light of the African Union’s standard gauge initiatives and African Continental Free Trade Area developments. Rolling stock The DoT will engage with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition and other government stakeholders to fully utilise South Africa’s rolling stock manu- facturing capacity and strive to become a supplier of rolling stock in Africa. Train operators shall fund, procure and maintain their own rolling stock. Government supports this initiative as an additional funding source for overall funding requirements for railways. Train operators and state-owned entities (SOEs) can lease their own rolling stock to any party to encourage new en- trants in the market. It is expected that the private sector will establish rolling stock leasing companies to create extra capacity. Private sector participation The DoT will spearhead the develop- ment of a Private-Sector Participation Framework for the rail industry. It will guide the collaboration between Transnet, PRASA and private companies to deliver new economic infrastructure projects to augment those currently being developed by Government. Passenger rail concessioning Private sector participation must be considered where PRASA or SOEs cannot, for whatever reason, operate commuter services or extend the rail network. Government commits to introduce con- cessioning of passenger rail lines. The policy position will support Government’s objec- tives and will move passengers from road to rail. It will be implemented in consultation with SOEs that own rail infrastructure. Future of urban rail The DoT will develop a devolution strategy in line with the urban develop- ment framework and will capacitate municipalities in the preparation of planning for rail as part of their integrated transport plans. The next phase of urban rail positioning will be initiated once the strategy for devolution for rail is con- cluded and approved. It is especially in the urban rail seg- ment that new planning endeavours and potential projects are envisaged for the transportation engineers of South Africa in the future. For the first time, the whole spectrum of urban guided transit sub- modes can be utilised to find solutions for the urban transportation problems of the country, as detailed in Figure 4. The timing of this opportunity for a province such as Gauteng cannot come quickly enough. In terms of its Gauteng Rapid Rail Integrated Network (GRRIN) macro demand model, the province will slide into traffic gridlock by 2037 unless significant investments are made into modes with protected rights-of-way. A comparison with traffic volumes for 2014 and 2037 is depicted in Figure 5. CONCLUSION A new era for South Africa’s rail industry has indeed dawned. A significant amount of work lies ahead to elevate assets and system performance to levels where rail will constitute the backbone of delivering on the country’s freight and passenger transport tasks. The White Paper on National Rail Policy has opened up op- portunities for new players to participate in investment for and delivery of rail services. The speed at which they do so (and the need is urgent) will depend on liberating those with the insight, initia- tive, and funding to do their best. NOTE 1. To understand the context, note that South Africa’s rail network, Gautrain excepted, utilises 1 067 mm Cape gauge, while most of the rest of the world uses 1 435 mm standard gauge. Prepared by Q Q Ngwako Makaepea Acting Director General Department of Transport Q Q Jan-David de Villiers Chief Director Rail Department of Transport Q Q Dr Dave van der Meulen Pr Eng Managing Member Railway Corporate Strategy CC Q Q Cobus Botha Pr Eng Function Manager SMEC South Africa Figure 5 A comparison with traffic volumes for 2014 and 2037 Heavy Metro Automated Light Metro Automated Guided Transit Monorail Light Rail Bus Rapid Transit Figure 4 Full spectrum of urban guided transit sub-modes