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TRANSPORT: DRAFT RAIL MASTER PLAN CONSULTATION PROCESS LAUNCHED
- 23 April 2026
- Transport
- SA Legal Academy
The Department of Transport has called for input on a draft national rail master plan intended to provide a ‘sustainable, strategic framework for rail network planning’ – with a view to positioning freight and passenger rail as ‘the backbone of South Africa’s logistics and transport ecosystem’. This is according to a speech delivered by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy at the launch of a ‘centralised, web-based platform’ developed to collect stakeholder input on the document.
As far as can be ascertained, there is no deadline for written submissions using that facility. However, the Minister expects the broader public consultation process to ‘conclude in July 2026’ following ‘engagements across all provinces’. In that regard, her speech expressly refers to ‘freight, passenger, commuter groups, and labour formations’.
With the intention of making rail ‘central … to an integrated system’ in which ‘trucking, taxis and buses’ also play a significant role, the draft plan ‘contemplates a brownfield approach to optimise existing infrastructure to minimise cost – paired with targeted greenfield expansions where economically feasible, and aligned with technological advances in the global rail renaissance’.
Against that backdrop, among other things the draft master plan includes:
- a comprehensive overview of:
- freight rail
- commuter rail, and
- long-distance passenger rail
- policy and funding frameworks for rail reform
- statements on:
- infrastructure
- rolling stock
- train service
- information management
- operating capital, and
- capital investment and subsidy
- rail funding
- management strategies
- training and development
- special projects, and
- a performance monitoring framework.
Please click the links below for more information:
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