1. (a) The Daveyton train station has not been operational since 18 January 2020.
(b) Following the declaration of the state of disaster, the country was placed on lockdown level 5 that included prohibition of rail services. During that period, due to absence of security the station infrastructure was vandalised.
(c) PRASA has since deployed physical security to protect the commuter rail infrastructure, including stations. In the Gauteng East Region, where the station is located, a total of 926 physical security guards, which includes armed and unarmed have since been deployed.
2. An estimated budget of R15m has been set aside under the National Station upgrade programme. The funds will be used to upgrade the station including retail or shops to serve secondary mandate. The actual construction works will be sequenced and aligned to train service timelines, which have not been operationalised, as PRASA is bringing back corridors in phased approach to ensure that all aspects of operating the corridor are attended to.
3. (a) Commuters could travel to the following stations from Daveyton Station: Alliance, Van Ryn, Northmead, Avenue, Dunswart, Boksburg East, Boksburg, East Rand, Angelo and Delmore;
(b) Based on the prices in the table below, it was relatively cost-effective to travel by train between Daveyton – Johannesburg which means that commuters with destinations before Johannesburg were paying an even lesser amount.
|
Type of ticket |
Price |
|
Single |
R 11.50 |
|
Return |
R 22.50 |
|
Weekly |
R 75.00 |
|
Monthly |
R235.00 |
(c) The travel cost for commuters without train services is currently unknown to PRASA.
(4) The PRASA legal mandate to provide commuter rail services is not premised on a profit objective, but rather on rendering the service to communities as directed by government. It is therefore on this basis that the routes in question are not profitable. The rail operations work on a cost coverage model, recovering all input costs through fare revenue generation supplemented by the allocated government subsidy as total income. The overall cost coverage in the region is at 4%. PRASA is currently undertaking a corridor costing model that will assist in determining or apportioning the cost per line. As things currently stand, the costs of running the train services are centralised.
(5) Taking into account that the rail operations work on a cost coverage model, measures that were put in place were not meant to achieve profitability, but rather ensure sustainability and financial viability of the service. These included increasing the capacity of the train service to meet commuter demands through the repairs to damaged infrastructure, developing a timetable that is aligned to travel patterns; restoring the home and destination station to increase access to the system as well as improving security and guarding services.