Pietermaritzburg-Durban fast commuter rail

[John Ashworth]

PIETERMARITZBURG-DURBAN FAST COMMUTER RAIL

On October 23, 2012 Railways Africa

According to Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) chairperson Sifiso Buthelezi, speaking at a New Age/SABC business briefing in Durban on 28 September, work on introducing a “rapid rail” service between Durban and Pietermaritzburg is to begin either late in 2012 or early in 2013. An impressive number of prominent office-bearers attended the function, the main speaker being KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize. Buthelezi said Prasa had identified the need for rapid train services during the mornings and afternoons, to ease congestion on the roads. He was quoted saying: “The work will start as soon as possible. What is good is that we will not be starting from scratch because there is a rail link running between and beyond the two cities.” Prasa is to spend more than R1.8bn in expanding the rail system in KwaZulu-Natal, Buthelezi reported.