Draft White Paper on National Rail Policy

The Department of Transport invites you to comment on the Draft White Paper on National Rail Policy

The Department of Transport has developed the first ever Green paper on National Rail Policy and was approved by Cabinet in August 2015. The Development of the National Rail Policy intention was to correct decades of policy uncertainty in the South African rail sector. The Green Paper initiated a policy dialogue amongst the South Africans in the policy quest to produce an all-encompassing National Rail Policy.

Consultation took place in all provinces covering the breath and width of the Country, ensuring that ordinary South Africans becomes part and parcel of this historic process. The consultative process resulted in the Draft White Paper on National Rail Policy which seek to solidify government policy position in the rail sector for decades to come.

The Draft White Paper drives a long-term vision 2050 agenda horizon, which setup rail as a backbone for South Africa’s freight logistic and passenger mobility systems that will support the economic and social development of the Country. The strategic intervention in the policy are two pronged, infrastructure investment interventions to enhance rail inherent competitiveness, and enabling interventions to adjust institutional arrangements to ensure that rail functions effectively in delivering its share of the national transport task.

The Draft White Paper is aligned to the National Development Plan and the Nine Point Plan in supporting government broader objectives that ensures that rail transport is central to development imperatives. Those includes reducing country harmful emissions, growing the economy, Job creation and unlocking private sector participation. It sets out Government remedial interventions to achieve rail renaissance in South Africa and to enable rail to serve as a backbone of the national logistics and mobility tasks.

Comments can be emailed to Ms Lily Morobane at [email protected] or [email protected] by no later than Friday, 15 December 2017.

Enquiries can be directed to Ms Lily Morobane on tel (012) 309 3862 or (012) 309 3835