The Department of Transport wants to introduce a new High-Speed Rail (HSR) network in South Africa.

Presenting in a parliamentary portfolio committee on Wednesday (6 May) Department of Transport director-general, Alec Moemi, said that a framework for the project has already been developed and implemented.

He added that the project will not be solely funded by the government but will be financed through investor funding as well as private sector participation.

This would also help end the monopolies that Prasa and Transnet have in the rail sector, he said.

While Moemi did not specify where the rail system will be introduced, an attached parliamentary presentation shows that the HSR has been set a five-year development target, meaning it will likely only be introduced by 2025 at the earliest.


You can watch the department’s presentation below (high speed train information at 00:16:45).



Bullet train

In his June 2019 state of the nation address, President Cyril Ramaphosa outlined his vision for a new state-of-the-art South African smart city and the introduction of bullet trains.

“I dream of a South Africa where the first entirely new city built in the democratic era rises, with skyscrapers, schools, universities, hospitals and factories,” the president said.

“This is a dream we can all share and participate in building. We have not built a new city in 25 years of democracy.”

The smart city, the president said, would be connected to other hubs by a bullet train.

“We should imagine a country where bullet trains pass through Johannesburg as they travel from here to Musina, and they stop in Buffalo City on their way from Ethekwini back here.”

The full presentation can be viewed below:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/businesstech.co.za/news/technology/395929/south-africa-plans-to-introduce-a-new-high-speed-train-system/amp/