Coaches boom for EC passenger train service

Kei Rail will transport 464 passengers in comfort between Mthatha and East London, and be linked to the Johannesburg/East London service.

The Eastern Cape Department of Roads and Transport's flagship Kei Rail project has unveiled new rail coaches, worth R21-million, to be used as part of the province's daily passenger train service.

The unveiling, which took place at the AmaBhele train station, near Stutterheim, is part of the Eastern Cape's Back to Rail strategy. The daily passenger service will be linked to the Shosholoza Meyl service between Johannesburg and East London.

The Eastern Cape's newly adopted ten-year rail plan aims to make rail services viable, especially to rural areas of the province, through collaboration with stakeholders, including local government and the private sector.

Speaking at the launch of the Kei Rail coaches, Eastern Cape MEC for roads and transport Gloria Barry said in her keynote address: "Our goal is to identify areas in which the provincial government should be involved to ensure that rail transport occupies its rightful space in the overall transport environment of the Eastern Cape and supports the provincial growth and development plan."

The two new coach sets will serve as prototypes to test the coach configuration on the uniquely developed rail- way. Should the trains perform as expected, a full complement of five trains will be rolled out.

The two new coach sets have a power car, housed in a 6-m container, with a generator able to produce enough electricity to run the train for 90 hours, using 3 600ℓ of fuel. The specially designed louvres were built with acoustic suppression, ensuring that the noise made by the powerful generators does not disturb the passengers.

The catering car features two serving areas and a fully equipped kitchen, where qualified staff will serve meals and packaged food to passengers. The new trains will have an added coach for luggage that may not fit in the luggage racks, allowing passengers to transport large items securely and comfortably.

The two new coach sets have a four-sleeper coach, which can accommodate 24 people in seven compartments. Two six-sleeper coaches can transport 36 people in seven compartments. The sleeper coaches are equipped with air conditioning, toilets, hot showers and a water purification system.

The five economy-class coaches are able to accommodate 64 seated passengers, while the business-class coach seats 48 passengers in reclining seats. Thus, a single Kei Rail train is able to transport 464 passengers in comfort between Mthatha and East London.

The unveiling of the new coaches is part of the second phase of the operations of Kei Rail, following the successful weekend passenger service, which has transported more than 6 300 people. The Department of Transport (DoT) expects more people to use this new service and, as a result, has added eight more stations to improve accessibility for rural communities.

Barry noted that an increase in the levels of road traffic of freight, public passenger and private passenger vehicle transport is causing congestion and damage to the province's roads. She added that the allocated budget for roads infrastructure in the province is inadequate to deal with this pressure, necessitating government and its social partners to consider rail as an option in order to save the declining road infrastructure and to improve the public transport system by providing a safe, reliable and affordable service.

Barry highlighted that 37% of Eastern Cape rail infrastructure has been abandoned. Only 23% of the province's rail infrastructure is in good condition, including the Port Elizabeth to Noupoort and the East London to Bethuli lines. Eighteen per cent of the rail infrastructure - the Blaney to Cookhouse and the Amabhele to Mthatha lines - is in fair condition. Twenty-two per cent of the rail infrastructure is in poor condition, including the Addo to Kirkwood, the Alicedale to Grahamstown, the Port Elizabeth to Avontuur and the Port Elizabeth to Willowmore lines. Some stations have been redeveloped, while many others are derelict and the rest are generally in poor condition.

"Fortunately, we are not reinventing the wheel. Instead we intend to revive our rail network, which consists of approximately 3 800 route kilometres and 450 stations, which are currently under- utilised," Barry added.

In an effort to revive its rail network, the DoT is planning to introduce a workers and scholars train between Butterworth and Mthatha every morning and afternoon. It has gone out on tender for expressions of interest from companies that will design, manufacture and supply the new high-speed coaches for this line and other strategic lines in the province. Other strategic lines include new connections between Tarkastad and Cradock to serve Indwe to Coega, Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City through Grahamstown and Alice. This will link with Mthatha and Buffalo City, through the Kei Rail line, to Mthatha through a new link to Butterworth.

The Eastern Cape's ten-year rail plan is supported by a skills development strategy, which includes the opening of the Rail Centre of Excellence at the Walter Sisulu University in partnership with various engineering departments from Further Education and Training colleges and rail sector stakeholders. The university has allocated a building at its engineering department, in Chiselhurst, East London, to start operations in April 2009. The Kei Rail line is currently training students as train drivers, train control officers, train operations' managers and train managers. From April, track welders and track masters will also be trained.

The project has had a significant socioeconomic effect through its creation of 424 employment opportunities, especially for the youth, women and people with disabilities. An amount of R43-million was paid to contractors, of which R21,9-million was spent on 40 small, medium-sized and microenterprises.

"We are serious about improving the conditions of our trains in order to attract more people back to rail," concluded Barry.