SOUTH AFRICA: SARCC Chief Executive Lucky Montana has unveiled a three-stage investment strategy costing R18bn. This is aimed at providing additional services for the 2010 football World Cup, and creating a sustainable commuter network to serve the major cities after the tournament.
Montana hopes that 96% of Sarcc's 4 600 EMU cars will be in traffic by the time the World Cup starts - at present some 1 600 are out of use. By June 2010, services will operate 18 h/day, against the present 10, and peak hour frequencies will be increased to between 5 and 10 min.
The second phase of the programme, from 2011 to 2014, is focused on winning back lost patronage, while a third stage, running to 2030, will see the rolling stock fleet entirely replaced with new vehicles. A new route is to be built to serve the First National Bank stadium in Johannesburg, where the World Cup final is to be staged, and two other football stadia in Durban will also be connected to the Sarcc network. Several existing stations are to be upgraded, including the main station in Cape Town.
