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Gauteng monorail 'not logical'
26/06/2007 12:05 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The proposed monorail link between Soweto and Johannesburg was "not logical" and needed a concrete proposal, the Transport Department's director general said on Tuesday.
"What has been in the press doesn't present itself as logical. We are not adverse to any innovative proposal but it needs to be dealt with properly," Mpumi Mpofu told the Africa Rail conference in Johannesburg.
She said she needed to see a more detailed proposal and added that the system had to be a mass mover, be car competitive, and operate efficiently.
The matter would be dealt with at national and not provincial level.
Disbelief
She expressed disbelief at accounts of what the system would reportedly be capable of.
"I still can't fathom how a 44km monorail with 39 stops can transport 1.5 million people in half an hour. I still can't work it out."
She said the Gautrain had sparked similar proposals in metropolitan areas such as Cape Town and Durban. "We need a framework in which these proposals can be dealt with and approved."
Mpofu said investment was needed to upgrade the country's ageing rail infrastructure, and to reverse the decrease in freight volumes.
The cost of doing business in South Africa was among the highest in the world. Road freight had grown because rail had failed to keep up with technological advances and failed to operate a predictable and efficient service.
"The level of bulk freight being moved on our roads is quite clearly unsustainable and costing billions," she said.
In the Northern Cape, she said, road surfaces had been reduced by about 50% and had only five years worth of use left.
Hazardous materials won't be allowed on roads
As part of efforts to encourage increased use of rail, policy directives were being finalised to ensure that certain hazardous materials and bulk goods would not be allowed on the country's roads in future.
She said the government would not be able to provide the required levels of investment on its own, and that partnerships between the private and public sectors needed to be explored.
Asked what the government's policy on regional transportation was, Mpofu said it would resist the temptation of playing "big brother".
"It needs to be primarily for the benefit of those countries."
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