Question NW2085 to the Minister of Transport
12 July 2018 - NW2085
Ngwenya, Ms W to ask the Minister of Transport
Is there a future plan to implement an upgraded express train connecting Carletonville, Krugersdorp, Randfontein and Central Johannesburg; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) currently provides a rail service from Randfontein to Park (Central Johannesburg) Station. An express service, Randfontein Metroplus Express, departs Randfontein at 06h00 in the morning. The Express Service has unfortunately not been operating on a regular basis due to the limited availability of trains. PRASA has however identified the opportunity in the medium term to run faster services from Randfontein to reduce the travelling time to Park Station. This entails running an outer-service from Randfontein to Krugersdorp with limited stops thereafter an inner-service from Krugersdorp stopping at all stations. This will become possible once the train fleet allocation for Gauteng has stabilised and increased.
There are currently no short term plans to extend the service to Carletonville based on the current demand requirements and fleet availability. PRASA is however involved in the update and development of the Integrated Transport Plans and transport demand model for the West Rand and will update its plans accordingly should future transport demand warrant a rail service.