MOSSEL BAY NEWS - With traffic on Louis Fourie Road becoming more and more congested, the Mossel Bay Advertiser asked the municipality if it would be feasible to run a passenger train from Hartenbos to the railway stop at the Mossel Bay harbour, in order to decrease the number of motorists on the road.
The railway tracks are already in place. The Santos Express train, a tourist attraction consisting of three small rail carts, which transports 23 passengers at a time, used to use the tracks from Hartenbos to Santos, but stopped recently and now the train only goes from Hartenbos to Great Brak, a spokesperson for the Santos Express said.
She noted that the bad state of the railway line, the motorists who ignore the stops at the rail crossings and park on the railway and the fact that motorists did not adhere to safety rules at the Langeberg Mall in Voorbaai made it too dangerous for the Santos Express to travel from Hartenbos to Santos.
Revive passenger transport
The municipality noted in writing that various discussions had taken place between Transnet, possible operators and other role players in trying to revive rail passenger transport in Mossel Bay. "These discussions are ongoing."
The following ideas are part of this ongoing agenda:
- Tourism train between Mossel Bay and George, as well as Oudtshoorn;
- Tourism train between Cape Town, Worcester, Riversdale, Mossel Bay and George;
- Passenger train within Mossel Bay municipal area; and
- Passenger training between the Riversdale, Mossel Bay, George and Oudtshoorn.
Maintenance
The municipality also noted that the sustainability of the railway was also under discussion from a maintenance perspective.
"We have been trying to find a way to put on more freight, to improve the proposal to Transnet. Ceres Rail has been approached as a possible operator, but is still in discussions with Transnet."
The Mossel Bay Advertiser also mooted the idea of a bus service for Mossel Bay, similar to the popular Go George bus service.
According to the municipality, "A feasibility study was done in 2014/15 for a subsidised public transport system, similar to Go George and this proved not to be viable for Mossel Bay.
"It takes close to 10 years to roll out such a service from initiation to the first actual bus driving out.
'Heavily subsidised'
"It is heavily subsidised by national government, which must give approval for it and provide funding.
"Currently no such systems have been approved or funds provided by national government for Mossel Bay and the focus is on metros and larger cities for such a subsidised public transport system." On the part of the Mossel Bay Municipality, enquiries about bus and train service possibilities were answered by the municipal director of Planning and Economic Growth, Carel Venter.
The Advertiser contacted Transnet and was told that the state-owned Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is responsible for most passenger rail services in the country, which are offered in large cities and cities with metro status only. George has metro status, but not Mossel Bay. Transnet deals with freight services.
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