What Moves South Africa MyZA

Transnet Freight Rail, the largest division of Transnet known for its world class heavy haul freight rail company that specialises in the transportation of freight is now supporting the 2nd Annual African Railway Summit. Organised by Fleming Gulf Conferences the summit will be held at Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg on 5 – 6 November 2013. Siyabonga Gama who is the Chief Executive of Transnet Freight Rail, the rail division of Transnet Limited and serves on the Executive Committee of Transnet has joined the CEO panel of the summit. The special CEO Panel Discussion on looking at the holistic development of railways across the region will be lead by CEOs from Gautrain, TransNamib, Shosholoza Meyl and Walvis Bay Corridor Group.

To provide an international perspective on the African railways, Dr. Christian Schlosser, Policy Specialist Former Chief UN-HABITAT, German Federal Ministry of Transport and Urban Development will present a case study on passenger railways. Dr. Christian during a pre summit interview stated his views on 3 best practices in Passenger Rail followed in Germany. Here is a summary of the interview, ” Good practices in passenger rail in Germany can be observed both in relation to establishing public transport institutions, integrated ticketing and coordination between national and regional train services. Firstly establishment of metropolitan transit associations/authorities is pivotal for providing integrated public transport services at regional and local level. Passenger rail serves as the backbone of most systems and is closely coordinated with bus and light rail schedules. At the same time, metropolitan transit associations are characterized by a coordinated approach for planning, investments, marketing and information even if there are different individual operators.

Secondly a comprehensive network of scheduled national train services and coordination with regional and local passenger rail services. The so called “Inter-city” trains linked most German cities with coordinated routes and interchange stations at least every two hours, later on every hour. In the 1990s, new high-speed trains were introduced as well as enhanced coordination with regional and local train services. And lastly integrated ticketing across all forms of transit is a cornerstone of successful metropolitan transit systems in Germany. A range of ticket options and time-bound passes are available to enable travel on a single ticket across various modes of public transport in urban areas. Further, there are individual ticket options that link local travel with the national rail system mostly operated by the publicly owned German Rail company (Deutsche Bahn).”

Considering that transport in Africa is currently more than 80 % on road; this needs strategic investments and planning. The shift to rail will benefit passengers and also help to reduce CO2 emissions. Incorporation of the best practices followed in Germany will help the African Railways in better regional integration and management. This summit will also focus on the top rail projects in the African continent including: South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Namibia, Rwanda. The 2nd Annual African Railway Summit will provide a complete package of knowledge required to build a well interconnected railway system in Africa.