National government has allocated R16-billion to passenger rail over the next three years.

However, says South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) CEO Lucky Montana, this will not be sufficient to reverse the history of under- investment in this sector.

“We have a shortfall of R9-billion on our planned capital expenditure projects.

“We believe this can come from the private sector. Private- sector financing in defined infrastructure projects and operating leases has become urgent.

“We are busy finalising a model of private-sector participation in the commuter rail sector with the Department of Transport.”

Metrorail – which is the responsibility of the State-owned SARCC – is currently in the throes of a turnaround strategy, with 2007 to 2010 earmarked for stabilising the service, 2011 to 2014 for growing commuter rail’s share in public transport, and 2015 to 2030 for growth through expansion of the rail network.

As part of this strategy, Montana has set several targets for the next three years.

He wants customer satisfaction to increase to 65% from the current 57%, train availability to rise to 96% from the current 85%, and train punctuality to reach 90%, up from the current 79%.

He also hopes to increase fare revenue by 6%.

All in all, Montana aims for passenger rail to capture 30% to 35% of the public transport market, up from the current 15%.

“If we do not increase our patronage and decrease the subsidy per passenger over the next four to five years, the question will arise whether commuter rail is offering the State any value for money.”

Currently, 67c from every rand fare on Metro-rail is subsidised.

Montana says reaching a 30% share of the public transport market will require “huge investment, and the capturing of new corridors”.

One of those earmarked is the Moloto corridor, in Mpumalanga.

Montana says large numbers of people are currently being moved by bus on this corridor.

“Why? They should be on rail. One of our proposed projects is to expand the Metrorail ser- vice into Moloto.

Rail is a high-capacity transport mode. That is our strength.”