Question NW1826 to the Minister of Transport

Reply:

a) The Integrated Rapid Public Transport Network (IRPTN) for eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality is made up of nine(9) trunk corridors, supported by feeder networks and services. One of these trunk corridors, corridor C2 from the northern communities of Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and Kwa-Mashu to Umlazi and Isiphingo in the south, is a rail corridor, for which the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is responsible. The implementation of the remaining eight(8) road-based corridors is the City’s responsibility.

    i) Milestones and Timelines

The IRPTN in eThekwini is planned to be rolled-out over four(4) phases, with the first phase made up of the following trunk corridors:

• Corridor C1: Bridge City (Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu) to the CBD
• Corridor C2 (rail): Bridge City (Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma and KwaMashu) to CBD to Umlazi and Isiphingo
• Corridor C3: Pinetown to Bridge City
• Corridor C9: Bridge City to Umhlanga
• Inner City Distribution Sustem (ICDS)

Of the four corridors, corridor C3 will be the first to go live, i.e. start of operations, from July 2017 (testing and commissioning services), followed by C9 in 2019, and C1 in 2022. Key milestones for the C2 corridor have been the opening of the Bridge City (October 2013) and KwaMnyandu (April 2014) stations, with the delivery of the new rolling stock set to start in 2019, all going well. Key milestones and timelines for Phase1 can be summarised as follows:

	C3	C9	C1
Right of Way	Completion of 24.90km of ROW Commence Construction of 2.8km (Dinkelman) Procure Contractor for Crossroads (0.43km)	Completion of Cornubia Bridge Commence Construction M49 Interchange May 2017 Commence Construction of Cornubia Boulevard Feb 2017	Commence Construction of Early Start Package 1 by Nov 2016 Procure Contractors of Early Start Package 2 (Marbleray) by June 17
Depots	Commence Construction of Bridge City Depot by Jan 2017	Same as for C3	Same as for C3
Stations	Complete 10 stations by May 2017	March 2019	To be firmed up at tender award
Terminals	Complete Preliminary Civil Works by May 2017 – Bridge City terminal	Umhlanga terminal: date not firmed up yet, pending finalization of discussions with developers and the management association for Umhlanga town center	To be firmed up at tender award
Go Live	From July 2017 (testing and commissioning), with full service in December 2017	Planned for September 2019	Planned for January 2022 (some services)

b) Monitoring mechanisms

The following mechanisms have been put in place to not only monitor the achievement of milestones and timelines, but also provide support to the City, where necessary, in delivering its IRPTN:

   i) The City is required to submit monthly and annual progress reports to my Department, for us to monitor progress, and address any problem areas timeously

   ii) Officials from my Department and those from the City hold regular meetings, about every two months, to discuss implementation progress, address technical issues, conduct site visits, if necessary, and plan for future years, to ensure that the project stays on course, and that funding requirements are identified far in advance.