JOHANNESBURG – Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has assured South Africans that at least 80% of Prasa’s (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa) passenger rail corridors will be back in service by the end of the current financial year.
Chikunga said 18 of 40 corridors have been recovered through her department’s commitment to revive the country’s rail network.
She was speaking at the launch of the annual October Transport Month in Johannesburg earlier on Friday.
A survey released by Statistics South Africa earlier this year revealed that the number of Metrorail passenger trips dropped by a staggering 46 million since 2013.
This mode of commuting was once the backbone of South Africa’s public transport system.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said Prasa’s Metrorail will once again be a trusted network.
“Trains are running in major cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria and Ekurhuleni.”
This week Prasa re-opened the rail corridor linking Germiston to Thembisa.