SABC NEWS Online
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The transport department announced in Tshwane that it is allocating R7 billion to the SA Rail Commuters Corporation (SARCC) - Metrorail for their Accelerated Rolling Stock Programme.
SARCC-Metrorail will in the next three years upgrade the country's rail infrastructure and refurbish 1 600 trains for safer, more comfortable rail services for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Tshwane's first new 10M5 train is designed to have improved safety features for drivers, enhanced facilities for commuters and has provided for a more cost-effective maintenance.
Programme to be rolled out nationally
Jeff Radebe, the transport minister who launched the upgrading programme, said the 10M5 is a public transport milestone - together with the Gautrain - in preparation for 2010.
It will, however, also address overcrowding inside trains and delayed departures for South Africa's more than two million current commuters. It is also a key development in shaping the country's economy within government's Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (Asgisa).
Metrorail has invested R40 million to upgrade 1 600 of the country's 3 600 old coaches. Gauteng, Cape Town and Kwazulu-Natal are already equipped with their first sets of new trains. As the programme develops, more of these trains will be seen nationally