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Public Transport News

Metrorail delays hit Cape Town commuters, as bus strike continues

By: News24Wire 20th April 2018 Commuters in Cape Town already in the midst of a bus strike have to contend with a near breakdown of train services, after Metrorail announced massive delays across its network on Friday morning. The company said there were delays of more than 60 minutes on all lines heading into Cape Town, due... →

Those who can afford to pay for toll roads, must pay – Nzimande

By: News24Wire 17th April 2018 The funding of road infrastructure development for the next 15 to 20 years worries Transport Minister Blade Nzimande, the portfolio committee on transport heard. The Department of Transport (DoT) on Tuesday briefed Parliament’s committee on the annual performance plan for the 2018/19 financial... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Transport Minister Blade Nzimande

Ride-hailing kilometres predicted to grow dramatically to 2030

By: Irma Venter 17th April 2018 Today, ride-hailing accounts for 4% of all miles driven globally. By 2030 it will be 25%, says Uber Technologies public policy head Yolisa Kani. In South Africa, Uber has proven most popular when people spend an evening out. →

Nationwide bus strike to start on Wednesday

By: News24Wire 17th April 2018 A nationwide bus strike is set to start on Wednesday, the South African Road Passenger Bargaining Council (SARPBC) said on Monday. The strike will put at least 80% of the country's passenger buses on lock-down over a pay dispute. "The impact is going to be felt right across the republic," Gary... →

Alstom-led consortium to build complete driverless light metro system for Montreal

By: Marleny Arnoldi 13th April 2018 Groupe des Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais (PMM), a consortium comprising Alstom and SNC-Lavalin, has signed a contract with infrastructure developer CDPQ Infra to deliver a complete automatic and driverless light metro system for the Réseau Express Metropolitan (REM) project in... →

Montreal, Canada

Large volumes of traffic expected on SA roads on Monday

By: African News Agency 2nd April 2018 South African authorities said they were expecting large volumes of traffic on the country's roads on Monday as travellers return home following the Easter weekend. "Law enforcement will be on high alert and will deal appropriately with traffic offenders," the Road Traffic Management Corporation... →

Trams enjoy renewed interest in growing cities

By: Anine Kilian 16th March 2018 The exponential growth of cities worldwide raises many challenges for urban authorities, including reducing road traffic congestion, combating pollution, noise in cities and redeveloping urban zones. Addressing delegates during a media tour of Alstom’s La Rochelle manufacturing centre, in... →

High levels of crime may force PRASA to cancel services on certain routes

By: Irma Venter 14th March 2018 Continued high levels of crime on certain urban rail corridors may “eventually leave the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) with no choice” but to cancel its services on these routes, says the agency. The State-owned PRASA says while it continues to engage with the dedicated rapid... →

Durban on track to open public transport network

By: Megan van Wyngaardt 13th March 2018 The City of Durban is on track to start its GO!Durban integrated public transport network from Pinetown’s central business district (CBD) to KwaMashu’s Bridge City in the latter part of this year. Aligned to the eThekwini municipality’s vision to be Africa’s most caring and liveable city by 2030,... →

Columbus aims to export competitively, while growing local market consumption

By: Simone Liedtke 6th March 2018 Columbus Stainless is positioned well to export competitively to the international market, while remaining committed to growing domestic demand for stainless steel. With market consumption of about 120 000 t/y of flat production, CEO Lucien Matthews says South Africa is the largest consumer of... →

Undoing State capture in South Africa will face stiff resistance, sabotage – Gordhan

By: African News Agency 6th March 2018 Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday said the new political dispensation in South Africa and the reversal of the “bad things” which led to the capture of key state institutions by private interests will be regularly opposed by the beneficiaries of the corruption. “I think we all... →

Photo by Creamer Media
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan

City of Cape Town extends N2 Express Joint Venture contract

By: News24Wire 2nd March 2018 The City of Cape Town has announced that it has extended its operating contract with the N2 Express Joint Venture (JV) vehicle operating company. Mayoral Committee Member for Transport and Urban Brett Herron said in a statement that the contract was extended on Wednesday and that it was effective... →

Inside Metrorail’s cable theft and commuter crisis

By: News24Wire 22nd February 2018 Brazen thieves, who have effectively brought a critical rail route in Cape Town to a standstill for nearly six weeks, leaving thousands of commuters in the lurch, have become the focus of intense and unprecedented operations to squeeze out criminals who target beleaguered Metrorail's... →

Vandalism threatens Cape Town public transport – Councillor Herron

By: African News Agency 15th February 2018 The latest statistics on vandalism of Cape Town's bus services MyCiTi, Golden Arrow, and Prasa - the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa – indicate that public transport faces an onslaught, Councillor Brett Herron said on Wednesday. Herron, a member of the mayoral committee for transport and... →

MyCiTi commuters to bear brunt of attacks on bus stations

By: News24Wire 12th February 2018 The City of Cape Town has condemned what it termed "orchestrated attacks" by protesters on two MyCiTi bus stations. Brett Herron, Mayoral Committee Member for Transport and Urban Development, said the attacks on the MyCiTi bus stations would cause major inconveniences to commuters. →

Joburg aiming to complete assessment of feasibility of electric buses by end-2019

By: Irma Venter 9th February 2018 The City of Johannesburg hopes to conclude a near-term feasibility study on the use of battery electric and fuel-cell buses by the end of 2019. With this done, it could be possible to introduce an electric bus to the city’s bus fleet in a pilot implementation project in 2023, says City of... →

New dawn for platinum mining – Robert Friedland

By: Martin Creamer 7th February 2018 New cars being produced in Japan have platinum- and copper-intensive fuel cell drives that outdo battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs) in cold climates as the EV batteries drain when the heaters are switched on, Ivanhoe Mines executive chairperson and founder Robert Friedland said on Wednesday.... →

Manufacturing trials of first locally made train car under way

By: Irma Venter 2nd February 2018 Gibela has initiated manufacturing trials of the first locally made train car at the Gibela train factory, in Dunnottar, on the East Rand. The first train’s car-body shell – essentially, its panel-clad metal frame – is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2018, with the... →

Brown says boards of State-owned enterprises must shape up

By: African News Agency 30th January 2018 Embattled Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown on Tuesday told MPs she expected the boards of South Africa's corruption-stricken, cash-strapped parastatals to perform or be replaced. "The message to the boards of all SOCs is that they must shape up or ship out. If they are unable to instill... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown

Unprecedented number of MyCiTi buses stoned over the weekend

By: News24Wire 30th January 2018 The stoning of eight MyCiTi buses along the N2 express routes in Langa, Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain over the weekend – the highest number in a single weekend according to the City of Cape Town – has led the city to believe that the public transport system is being sabotaged by criminals. City... →

Project to lift station platforms proving challenging, PRASA admits

By: Irma Venter 26th January 2018 Commuters making use of the 18 new X’Ttrapolis Mega commuter trains, supplied by Gibela to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) are “extremely happy” with the new rolling stock, says PRASA strategic asset development group executive Piet Sebola. The Gibela Rail Transport Consortium... →

City of Cape Town transport head Melissa Whitehead suspended

By: News24Wire 19th January 2018 A senior transport head in the City of Cape Town has been suspended as a result of the alleged covering up of irregularities in which embattled Mayor Patricia de Lille is implicated. Council members met for a special sitting on Friday to discuss, among other things, allegations of fraud and... →

Gibela moves to Dunnottar plant; takes first manufacturing steps

By: Irma Venter 17th January 2018 Gibela has initiated manufacturing trials of the first locally made train car at the Gibela train factory, in Dunnottar, on the East Rand. The first train’s car body shell – essentially, its panel-clad metal frame – is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2018, with the... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Work on the first car-body shell has started

PRASA, UNTU in talks to reopen Central Line

By: Natasha Odendaal 16th January 2018 State-owned passenger rail service Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and the United National Transport Union (UNTU) are in advanced stages of discussions to have the suspended Central Line, in Cape Town, reopened on Wednesday. The line was closed on January 10 for safety reasons... →

Safety regulator lifts PRASA’s prohibition directive

By: Creamer Media Reporter 15th January 2018 The Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) has lifted the prohibition directive issued to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), with conditions, after the parastatal submitted a corrective action plan to the regulator. PRASA Rail relayed to the RSR how it intends dealing with the issues... →

Next 12 months crucial as PRASA prepares to receive new rolling stock

By: Irma Venter 8th January 2018 Commuters making use of the 18 new X’Ttrapolis Mega commuter trains, supplied by Gibela to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) are “extremely happy” with the new rolling stock, says PRASA strategic asset development group executive Piet Sebola. The Gibela Rail Transport Consortium... →

Photo by Duane Daws
Piet Sebola

Prasa lifts supsension from UNTU members

By: Megan van Wyngaardt 19th December 2017 The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) lifted the suspension of train drivers and metro guards of the United National Transport Union (UNTU) who refused to work under unsafe working conditions with immediate effect and agreed that no disciplinary steps will be taken against them.... →

Gibela rail plant on track for March completion

By: Irma Venter 15th December 2017 Construction of the Gibela plant, in Dunnottar on the far East Rand, is on track for completion in March next year, says Gibela Rail Transport Consortium CEO Thierry Darthout. Darthout, former Gibela operations VP, took over the reins from Marc Granger on August 1. The 53-year-old is a mechanical... →

Mega engineering projects could boost SA economy

By: Donald Makhafola 15th December 2017 As South Africa is embarking on a mega railway infrastructure development that will take an estimated 20 years to complete, transportation systems developer Futran Group of Companies director Andries Louw says such projects should be used as an anchor to re-establish the culture of mega... →

Alternative fuel and vehicle technologies viable, necessary for SA

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 15th December 2017 Different fuel and vehicle technologies will be required for a successful and sustainable transition to a low-carbon future, and how the transport sector evolves amid growing global demand for energy will have a significant impact on efforts to address climate change, indicates energy giant Shell... →

Court action to stop PRASA 'conspiracy'

By: News24Wire 12th December 2017 The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has missed a deadline to respond to demands by the UniteBehind coalition. Legal action will now be taken against the agency responsible for Metrorail, GroundUp reports. →

Metrorail must provide alternative transport for Cape Town commuters – Sanco

By: African News Agency 12th December 2017 The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) on Tuesday called on rail service provider Metrorail to provide alternative transport for commuters left stranded by the suspension of its service on the key Central Line in Cape Town. The civic organisation said that the inconvenience and... →

Gibela factory on track for March completion, says new CEO

By: Irma Venter 11th December 2017 Construction of the Gibela plant, in Dunnottar on the far East Rand, is on track for completion in March next year, says Gibela Rail Transport Consortium CEO Thierry Darthout. Darthout, former Gibela operations VP, took over the reins from Marc Granger on August 1. The 53-year-old is a mechanical... →

Thierry Darthout

Long-delayed Gauteng Transport Authority to be launched in 2018

By: Irma Venter 1st December 2017 The long delayed Gauteng Transport Authority will launch next year, says Gauteng Transport MEC Dr Ismail Vadi. “If a city does not want to participate, it does so at its own peril.” →

Driving innovation in public transport

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 24th November 2017 Location-based services (LBS) will be a driving force in the public transport sector, and are being used to drive efficiency in the industry, enthuses access network infrastructure provider Ruckus sub-Saharan Africa sales director Riaan Graham. LBS allows service providers and enterprises to... →

Gautrain agency wants Phase 1 network expansion operational by 2027

By: Irma Venter 24th November 2017 Ideally, the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) would like to see Phase 1 of the proposed five-phase expansion of the Gautrain network come into operation in 2027, says GMA COO William Dachs. The concession on the current 80 km Gautrain system would have wrapped up in 2027, with the system paid... →

Epic 3 190 km Uber trip a sub-Saharan Africa record

By: Irma Venter 24th November 2017 The longest Uber trip on record in sub-Saharan Africa was recorded in South Africa this year – 3 190 km from Cape to Durban, via Bloemfontein. The electronic ride hailing service does not disclose why the journey was made. The Uber app does, however, provide an estimated cost for the journey, at... →

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