The Department of Transport has discussed plans to introduce a new High-Speed Rail (HSR) network to South Africa during a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee meeting yesterday [May 6].
According to the Department’s Director-General Alec Moemi, a framework has already been developed for the project and implemented. The project will not be funded by Government solely; it will also be financed using investor funding, as well as participation from the private sector.
Moemi also added that this may put an end to rail monopolies such as Transnet and Prasa. A Parliamentary presentation shows that the HSR system may be introduced by 2025 at the earliest.
During his State of the Nation (SONA) Address in June 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa informed the country that he has a vision for a state-of-the-art South Africa, with smart cities and bullet trains.
“I dream of a South Africa where the first entirely new city built in the democratic era rises, with skyscrapers, schools, universities, hospitals and factories,” Ramaphosa said. “This is a dream we can all share and participate in building. We have not built a new city in 25 years of democracy.”
“We should imagine a country where bullet trains pass through Johannesburg as they travel from here to Musina, and they stop in Buffalo City on their way from Ethekwini back here.”
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