Several milestones have been reached on the Mabopane Recovery Project, bringing the full recovery of the Mabopane Corridor service near completion, says the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
In a statement on Wednesday, PRASA said progress on the project was made in the last week of November and early December.
Key milestones include the rehabilitation of the overhead electrical lines that were vandalised and stolen; completion of work at 14 substations along the Mabopane line, and successfully running both the old and new electric Motor Unit (Electrical train) on both lines between Mabopane and Pretoria under the newly constructed infrastructure.
In addition, PRASA’s technical team has submitted the Safety Declaration for the perway (tracks) and the Electrical Systems to the Railway Safety Regulator.
“The team is now preparing to submit the Safety Declaration for the Signalling System to enable the Rail Safety Regulator to issue the ‘No Objection Notice’, which will lead to the next phases of trial-runs, off-peak operations, and finally, the full commercial permit to operate the new trains
“PRASA’s technical team is pulling extra hours for the resumption of the much needed services on the Mabopane Corridor in time for peak demand. This is despite PRASA missing the end of November 2021 deadline,” the agency said.
PRASA said restoring services on the network faced difficulties at various stages of the project.
These challenges include the strike in the metal industry in October; the subsequent rolling power outages; and the unpredictable heavy rainfall that has hit Gauteng, which has resulted in the delay of the completion of the project.
“Despite all these challenges, the technical team was resilient, optimistic, and remains determined to see the project to its completion. A catch-up plan is currently in place and the team further anticipates that a full commercial service could launch in the second week of January, coinciding with the resumption of economic activities following the December holidays,” PRASA said.
Source: South African Government News Agency