GEORGE - The cost factor in main is the reason why the luxury steam train service, Rovos Rail halted its service to the Southern Cape.The world recession and drop-off in demand also played a role.

David Patrick, marketing manager said this week: "This is a very expensive piece of track to use, as diesel locomotives supplied by Spoornet have to be used for traction all the way from Cape Town to George and vice-versa. Electric unit traction as found on most other mainline services, is much cheaper.
"For the entire time that we have been operating this route we have never really managed to operate it profitably due to these high costs and the very seasonal nature of frequency - four journeys per year in each direction and only during the summer months.
"Unfortunately in the current recessionary environment we cannot afford to subsidise routes that cannot pay for themselves and this was the main motivation for ending what was otherwise a very scenic and enjoyable journey."
Patrick was asked to comment after two railway enthusiasts were informed by Rovos train manager, Mart Marais that she found the railway infrastructure in a poor condition. Marais also told Anica Krüger that Rovos suffered R3 000 crockery brea-kage damages during a single dinner sitting on Friday evening. The section between Ashton and Mossel Bay was mentioned in particular.
She told Krüger: "The company feels the route is simply not safe anymore for their passengers. Rovos will no longer bring visitors to George due to the extremely bad condition of the railway line."

Personal views
Patrick however said: "Mart was expressing a personal view about the condition of the tracks and whilst we agree that the tracks are not in the best condition, we have never actually deemed them unsafe for use by our trains. If the line was unsafe to operate on we would have stopped using it a long time ago."
Krüger said: "Of the over 30 passengers on board, many were overseas visitors staying at Fancourt or visiting Knysna and other attractions around the Garden Route before travelling on. The loss of the Rovos Rail service means another travel option along the Garden Route is lost. Of course we might be losing another rail icon - the Outeniqua Tjoe-Choo."
Railwayline in good nick
Commenting on the allegations made about the poor state of the railway track, Transnet spokesperson, Sandile Simelane said this week: "Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) would like to put on record that we are not aware of the said infrastructure problems on the Cape Town to Mossel Bay line that impacts on the Rovos Rail service."

Major upgrades
He continued: "To date the Premier Classe services are running on that line on schedule and on time. Transnet Freight Rail does routine maintenance on all its active lines. In addition, Transnet Freight Rail is spending R101-million upgrading a number of the active branch lines, including the line between George and Mossel Bay. This capital investment should significantly improve the overall experience on these lines. "We wish to affirm that there are existing engagement mechanisms between TFR and Rovos Rail through our interface agreement, where any operational problems are jointly solved. To date, we have not received any complaint from Rovos Rail regarding the said line."
Acting Head of the George Tourism Bureau, Ludrich Barnard said this week: "No matter what the reasons are for Rovos Rail to discontinue their service to George, it still means that fewer tourists will visit George and the Garden Route and Klein Karoo. Although the number of tourists that made use of Rovos Rail were not very high, their spending power made up for it as they made use of the top end of the market with regard to accommodation and restaurants. Their spending power is much higher than that of ordinary tourists.
"A portion of that very lucrative market will now be lost to us."

Steam locomotives are currently not used due to the fire hazard that exists along the Cape Town to George route.

Article: Pauline Lourens