The government plans to build a high-speed rail between Joburg, Pretoria and Durban, to improve the infrastructural growth of the nation.
South Africa (26 August 2021) – With the whole world moving towards a new age of technological development, the government of South Africa is focusing on a feasibility study to introduce a high-speed rail development between Pretoria, Johannesburg and Durban, according to the words of the transport minister, Fikile Mbalula.
One of the key foci of the government’s construction plan is to redevelop South Africa’s rail and freight industry.
Parliament’s select committee on transport had been presented with this proposal on Wednesday (25 August).
The said transport is developed in a way to be used in carrying passengers as well as freight goods, says Mbalula. He has also added that the government is working on updating the rail policy for the country, which is currently being created as a white paper.
On 11 August, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) published a national infrastructure plan, focusing on the government’s major developments up until 2050.
The DPWI said that by 2050 freight transport should be able to assist in domestic and cross border movement of goods to make sure the sectors industrialisation, diversification, trade and development are successful.
“It is proposed that the balance of transport projects need reassessment in anticipation of the shift of cargo off-road to rail. Transnet Freight Rail (should) complete its accounting and commercial separation and meaningfully accommodate third party operators by 2022/3.”
Along with this plan, the establishment of both the Independent Ports Authority and a single transport economic regulator will be enforced by 2022/23, and the rail, road, ports and intermodal hubs and freight villages will be integrated by 2022/3, enabling a smoother and more beneficial transportation facility, economically and physically.
Thus it is safe to say that the people of the said area can expect an advanced transportation facility in the near future.
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