The development of a high-speed railway between Johannesburg and Durban could relieve a freight volume of 1.9 and 3.6 million tonnes every year, shows a pre-feasibility study aimed at evaluating the opportunity and costs of building a high-speed railway transport system in South Africa. The project shows that such a railway system on the route Johannesburg and Durban Port, a main corridor of South Africa is feasible.
The Republic with the capital in Johannesburg has the strongest economy among the countries in the African continent and ranks three among the BRIC countries. Moreover, in the past years, the South-African economy has significantly developed which has gained it the statute of emerging economy.
The railway infrastructure was called priority areas for the Department of Transport (DOT) in South Africa. The Department has proposed the development of three high-speed transport corridors as part of the Master Plan for National Transport for 2050. Priority projects include the railway corridor Johannesburg – Durban for both passenger and freight railway transport.
The development of a high-speed railway system between the two cities could result in a shift of 1.9 to 3.6 million tonnes of freight from roads to railways every year. Also, for passengers, the high-speed transport system would reduce travel times by three hours for a journey of 300 km/h.
Yoshimasa Sakon, senior manager of Japan International Consultants for Transportation Technology, the company which elaborated the preliminary study for high-speed transport in South Africa, said the estimated cost of the project amounted to ZAR 160 Billion (EUR 13.5 Billion) based on the Japanese model Shinkansen.
A series of aspects has been considered in the elaboration of the preliminary study such as high-speed line for freight and passengers, the construction of a high-speed transport system capable to adapt to the climate conditions in South Africa and the travel times on the route Johannesburg – Durban. Another series of important factors has also been considered important such as the social and economic development, the increase of the social statute and of economic activities for the South-African people under-privileged in the Apartheid era, but also the intensification of the transport safety.
In January, during a South-African-Japanese conference, Lanfranc Situma, the De-puty General Manager of the Department for Transport, said that his department would analyse the preliminary study proposed by the Japanese side and would present it to the South-Africa Government one the advantages that this project could have for South-Africa were exposed.
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