Technical/Operating
During its first year of operation, the Corporation was involved
in splitting the assets of the old South African Transport Services
between the SA Rail Commuter Corporation and Transnet. AS a result
of the complexity and extent of the task at hand, this was not completed
by 1 April 1991 but progress has been made to such an extent that
asset division and appropriation should be finalised by 1 April
1992. The preliminary asset value for which shares have been issued
to the State, amounts to R4,146 milliard consisting of R1,496 milliard
worth of rolling stock and R2,650 milliard of infrastructure and
fixed property.
Low-level investment in commuter services over the past decade,
coupled with a lack of security at stations and on trains has
resulted in poor service for commuters. Typical problems such
as a lack of fare-protection facilities, poor or no toilet facilities
on stations, shelters where roofs had been removed and coaches
with broken windows and without end doors, were to a lesser or
greater degree a common occurrence in the various metropolitan
areas.
Apart from the 96 type 8M coaches supplied by Dorbyl - the last
of which was delivered to the Minister of Transport on 1 November
1990 - all the others in the fleet of 4 715 are relatively old.
More than 40% of the coaches are 20 years or older and some have
been in service for 32 years. Signal systems are also generally
outdated, with some equipment older than 50 years.
As a result of this outdated technology and equipment, maintenance
and energy costs are high and reliability low. Faults in rolling
stock and signal equipment account for 60% of all train delays.
During the past financial year security facilities have been
introduced at 32 stations and amenities have been improved. At
the same time many of the broken train windows have been replaced
and the end door openings of coaches have been sealed to provide
greater comfort to passengers.
During 1990/91, R76 million was spent on capital works, mainly
for the continuation and completion of current projects. It is
the intention to increase the level of investment considerably
to offer an acceptable level of service to the commuter within
the next five years.
Apart from security, which still receives the highest priority,
capital will be spent on improving total systems for optimum return
on our investment. With this in mind we are embarking on a project
to improve the train service to Soweto with a concurrent investment
in rolling stock and infrastructure including amongst others,
signal systems, station amenities, and possibly community centres.
The management of approximately 795 000 trains per year and the
maintenance of 2 400km of track and 4 175 coaches, is handled
on a contract basis by Transnet on behalf of the Corporation.
The broad outlines according to which the contract operates, viz
the Operational Agreement, have been concluded and signed. By
increased productivity and innovation we aim to reduce the costs
of the total service by 4% p.a. in real terms.
Norms for the punctuality and availability of commuter trains
have been determined. These norms have often not been achieved
in the Durban and Witwatersrand areas. There is currently ongoing
liaison with Transnet in an attempt to improve this state of affairs.
Two collisions occurred during the past financial year. Although
a number of passengers were treated for light injuries, only 21
were admitted to hospital. There were no fatalities as a result
of train accidents during this period.
|
