The National Transport Summit is in full swing at the Gallagher Conference Centre, until Wednesday, the 18 March 2026.
The Department of Transport said some objectives of this year’s Summit are to advance rail reform and implementation progress, unlock private sector participation in the logistics system, drive freight movement towards 250 million tonnes by 2030, scale up passenger rail to 600 million trips by then too.
Speaking at the Summit on its first day, President Cyril Ramaphosa, confirmed that an imbalance in the freight network, places immense strain on road network and contributes to poor road safety.
He said this is costing the economy close to R1 billion a day.
“That is a cost we should not – and need not – bear” he said.
He also said new investment will come from private operators while the Government keeps strategic infrastructure such as rail lines and ports in public ownership.
An example is the Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager, which has open access to the rail network, covering train slots of about 24 million tonnes a year, awarded 11 train operating companies.
“We expect the first private operator to commence operations in April 2027. We have set an ambitious target of moving 250 million tonnes of freight by rail by 2029. In the past financial year, 160 million tonnes of freight were moved by rail, an increase of 5.5 percent on the previous year” said Ramaphosa.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has revived 37 of 40 priority passenger rail corridors and introduced more than 300 locally-manufactured train sets.
The plan is to target 116 million passenger journeys this financial year.
“We have launched a new Request for Information to attract private investment in rapid regional rail, rolling stock and depot modernisation” he said.
Ramaphosa, alongside Barbara Creecy, the Minister of Transport and Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng Premier, cut the ribbon to officially open the 3-day Summit.
Picture: Supplied