THE Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) says it will release a "turnaround plan" at the end of October as it battles dwindling passenger numbers and an ageing fleet of trains.Speaking at a media briefing in Pretoria, Prasa acting CEO Collins Letsoalo said on-time performance and the availability of rolling stock had declined as a result of arson attacks on its equipment.The refurbishment of Prasa’s Metrorail coaches had also declined with the arrival of the first of the new trains "which should not happen", he said.READ THIS: Local content in building locomotives disputedAll this had resulted in Metrorail losing market share.Passenger trips on Prasa’s urban Metrorail commuter service declined to 400-million in 2015-16 from 500-million in the previous year.The agency is in the middle of implementing a more than R200bn modernisation programme to upgrade the Metrorail service.The programme hinges on two pillars: the procurement of 600 trains for its Metrorail service; and spending bil...
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