LETTER: Rail white paper belongs in the dustbin

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis is a big fan of government’s white paper on national rail policy (“Reliable, safe rail transport in Cape Town a win for all”, May 25). In two recent letters to Business Day he gushes: “The white paper represents a sea change in transport policy. This shift demands immediate action”, and “all over the world, local governments tend to be better managers of rail services. Our commuters and businesses cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Anyone who wants to pronounce on public transport issues in SA from now on should first read the blistering criticism of the Gautrain expansion published by the AA and available on its website since August 2021. This document has been largely ignored, notably by the Gauteng government itself, which is about to plunge the country into deeper financial distress by “announcing” further expansions of this bogus scheme into areas that need nothing more than an improved bus service.

The AA document is actually far too mild. It could also have dragged the big SA municipalities into the picture. While all of them have mismanaged their bus services for the last 100 years and more, now they want to run trains as well! The rail white paper bears the stamp of the same people who for the last 25 years have been manoeuvring behind the scenes to impose unsuitable, inappropriate and money-wasting rail and bus rapid transit projects. It belongs in the dustbin.

SA certainly needs “immediate action” to fix its dysfunctional public transport, which in most areas means nothing more than an improved basic bus and minibus-taxi service. The whole country “cannot afford to wait any longer”.

Vaughan Mostert
North Riding

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