KZN business express train on track

A new "Business Express" train service - offering wireless internet and other services as part of an "office on wheels" concept - is expected to be operating between Durban and Pietermaritzburg by April next year.
Targeted at business and government workers, the trains would have guards on board to ensure security and extra staff to assist passengers.
That was the word from Metrorails KwaZulu-Natal regional manager, Dumisani Dube, yesterday.
He said about R30 million was being invested in upgrading a train for the route and in improvements to the Pietermaritzburg and Rossburgh stations as part of the plan.
The new service was first mooted in August 2009, but Dube said the project was now gaining momentum. Contracts for the upgrades had been awarded and work was set to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
"The service should be up and running by April and will be targeting white collar workers from Durban to Pietermaritzburg... When the project was first announced, we did not have all the approvals. Now we do and are steaming ahead," he said.
"The delay has in fact worked in our favour, because our Business Express service in KZN will be better than the offerings in Gauteng and the Western Cape. We have refined our plan for the Durban-Pietermaritzburg Business Express, which will see a more upmarket service being offered.
"It will wow people and be unique with better facilities and services. We will be offering executive and business class ticket options. Metrorails Khayelitsha Business Express in Cape Town and Soweto Business Express in Joburg offer only one class, but have been quite successful. We are also looking at offering dining class and conferencing options," said Dube.
"The travelling time will be between 90 minutes to two hours, which will be shorter than a usual train trip because there will only be one stop along the route at Rossburgh. We have come up with the concept of an office on wheels, which will see patrons having access to wireless internet and other office services. This will allow passengers to work on their laptops and do other business on the train.
"The new service targets mainly business and government workers. Safety and quality service would be a priority on the express train with special security guards on board as well as extra cabin staff to assist travellers. We want to get people travelling between Durban and Pietermaritzburg off the N3 and help reduce congestion.
"Rather than sitting in traffic, we want to make Business Express a viable alternative," he added.
Dube said about R11.5 million was being spent to revamp a train for the service while the balance would be used to upgrade the Pietermaritzburg and Rossburgh stations. A new train could be put on the service when Metrorail took delivery of its new rolling stock from its parent company, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).
Prasa was spending about R107 billion on a fleet renewal programme and shelling out another R17bn for new train signalling technology. Dube said he did not know exactly how much of that would be spent in KZN, with the province only contributing about 12 percent of the train commuter market in South Africa.
"Of the R17bn for new signalling technology... more than R1bn is being invested in KZN... One of the other major projects in KZN is the Bridge City Station in KwaMashu, where R900 million is being invested. The station is ready and construction on new rail links to the station is about to start. The station is expected to be opened in March 2013," he said.

MERCURY (Early Edition)18 Oct 2011 - 20 Oct 2011