Not all aboard with railway concession

Update

GEORGE NEWS - The Garden Route Cycleway Association (GRCA) has called for an urgent review of Transnet Freight Rail's (TFR) decision to award a 25-year concession for the George-Knysna railway line, arguing that the state-owned enterprise has selected "the wrong organisation" to take over the 67km corridor.

The line, damaged in the August 2006 storm and inactive since, has been the subject of competing proposals from two groups: the Friends of the Choo-Tjoe, who want to revive the steam-powered heritage train, and the GRCA, which proposes converting the corridor into a non-motorised transport (NMT) route for cyclists, joggers and walkers.

GRCA representative John Stegmann said the corridor is "arguably South Africa's most precious public asset" and should be dedicated to free public access.

"Steam trains are polluting, inefficient, slow and costly," he said, adding that the former service needed a R10m subsidy to operate before its closure.

"We've managed without the rail service for two decades, and rail cannot regain a short freight service lost to road transport."

Stegmann warned that returning the steam train would be "a tragic waste" of the corridor's potential as an NMT route, which he argues offers significant health, mobility and environmental benefits.

"It appears likely to fail and is not what the region or the country needs," he said.

Classic Rail and the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe, the preferred bidders, responded briefly, saying: "Transnet's position is that the rail reserve is only for the use of the railroad. We stick by this. The viability of our project is a subject that has been dealt with between ourselves and our financiers."

Transnet confirmed that a letter of award has been issued "following a comprehensive and competitive procurement process" and that contract negotiations with the selected bidder have been concluded.

Transnet said procurement was conducted in line with governance requirements and that "a formal public participation process is not a statutory requirement for this type of concession". The entity rejected claims of procedural flaws.

"All bids were subject to a rigorous evaluation by the relevant technical and adjudication committees," it said.

While acknowledging concerns that short-haul freight may no longer be viable, Transnet said the concession is based on a hybrid model combining heritage passenger operations, potential freight revival and tourism-related economic benefits.

Transnet added that it welcomed con-structive dialogue as the corridor moves toward operational revival.

The line was damaged in an August 2006 storm and has been inactive since.