Plans are afoot to build a railway line between Durban and Cape Town, running through the Eastern Cape, in a bid to open up that province for economic development, and ease congestion on the deadly N2 section between East London and Kokstad.
This emerged as President Jacob Zuma answered questions in the National Assembly on Thursday. Responding to a question from UDM leader Bantu Holomisa about reducing congestion on the so-called death stretch, recently singled out as the most lethal road in the country, Zuma said there were plans to address congestion and economic development in the province, including building a railway.
“Plans are afoot that we need to deal with the Eastern Cape – not only to deal with the congestion, but also economic development to open up the Eastern Cape as part of changing the economic landscape,” Zuma said.
Discussions about the railway line were “in the pipeline”.
The line would include East London and cities in between.
A recent report by the Road Traffic Management Corporation revealed that the eastern half of the Eastern Cape featured six times on the top 25 most dangerous roads list. A total of 90 deaths were reported on the East London-to-Mthatha stretch over a year, and 77 on the Mthatha-to-Kokstad route.
This was despite the fact that numbers of vehicles using these routes were significantly lower than the country’s busiest national roads, such as the N3 between Joburg and Durban.
Holomisa had previously asked the Presidency to prioritise the eastern part of the Eastern Cape’s “collapsing infrastructure”.
In his question to Zuma, he suggested congestion on the N2 should be addressed by incorporating these areas into Transnet’s upgrading of the country’s railway system.
“If such a plan were to be approved, it would save government money on maintenance costs of the roads in question,” he said.
Yesterday he said it was especially important that goods trains could travel through the Eastern Cape to cut down on the high number of truck accidents. He would approach the Presidency’s Infrastructure Commission, since infrastructure development was key to economic development in the province.
Eastern Cape Transport Department spokesman Ncedo Kumbaca said that such a line was “long overdue”, and would fit into the province’s Kei Railway plans.
The Kei Railway linking East London and Mthatha was reopened to passengers in June.
There is no railway link between Mthatha and Kokstad, which would allow the Eastern Cape access to Durban and Richards Bay.
It would also link the country’s busiest ports, Coega in Port Elizabeth and Richards Bay, and would go a long way towards reducing damage to the province’s roads.
However, Western Cape Transport MEC Robin Carlisle rubbished the idea.
He said there was already a “very adequate” line between Durban and Cape Town, through Bloemfontein. - Weekend Argus