LETTER: Cape Town must simply make rail work

After noting my enthusiasm about rail and the white paper that commits the national government to rail devolution, Vaughan Mostert responded in a letter to the editor that “anyone who wants to pronounce on public transport issues from now on should read the blistering criticism of the Gautrain expansion published by the AA”. (“Rail white paper belongs in the dustbin”, May 30.)

Mostert will be relieved to learn that Cape Town has indeed engaged with the AA’s Gautrain document. Notably, the document does not conclude that passenger rail is inappropriate for SA, nor that “an improved basic bus and minibus-taxi service” on our roads is the only, or even the most appropriate, solution to our transport issues.

One must avoid the mistake of thinking that critiques that apply to one province (or municipality) apply to every other place in SA. Every city and town — in SA and the world — has unique challenges, infrastructural and geographical constraints and socioeconomic configurations.

Cape Town is by far the most congested city in the country. While we remain committed to improving road-based transport (including our very well-run MyCiTi bus system — it is unclear why Mostert believes it is “mismanaged”), it is impossible for roads to remain our primary means of mobility as Cape Town continues to grow.

There is only one mass mover of people that has proved to be safe, reliable and equitable the world over. That is rail. Like most cities more than 100 years old that were never built with broad highways as a planning imperative, Cape Town cannot move people securely and efficiently without well-run commuter trains.

The cost of living is skyrocketing. It is becoming increasingly unaffordable for most South Africans to operate a vehicle and even to travel in a taxi or bus. Safe and reliable trains charging affordable fares unaffected by fuel prices would both offer Capetonians a more efficient alternative and bring living costs down.

Crucially, Cape Town shouldn’t have to do without trains. We already have an extensive and established commuter rail network. The problem is that the national government’s mismanagement of Metrorail left us with just 33 operational train sets in Cape Town in 2020, compared to 95 in 1995.

In 2019, Metrorail was operating 444 weekday trips, which fell to 270 in 2020 before the pandemic. This year there are no more than 153 weekday trips. Some lines are just no longer running. Those commuters lucky enough to be travelling on a still-running line often wait up to an hour for a train.

We have no choice but to make rail work in Cape Town. Devolution is the first step. Our residents “cannot afford to wait any longer”.

Geordin Hill-Lewis

Cape Town mayor

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