By Nangamso Mabindla
6 February 2008

PASSENGERS will soon be able to travel between Mthatha and East London by train, after Kei Rail was given an operating licence by the Rail Safety Regulator on Tuesday, 5 February.

The issuing of the licence paves the way for the start of passenger services on the 360km line between the two cities. Launched in 2003 as part of the Kei Development Corridor, the Kei Rail project aimed to improve the province's economy and decrease the number of heavy vehicles on the roads.

Thobile Mhlahlo, the MEC for roads and transport, said the issuing of the operating licence was a great event for the Eastern Cape's people.

"The people of the Eastern Cape will now have safe and reliable transport operating in an area with limited options. The revival of the Kei line, which has been dormant for many years, has been the focus of the department of roads and transport for some time now.

"It [Kei Rail] is expected to lay a firm foundation for future economic expansion in the impoverished eastern half of the province."

Tickets for the train service, which is expected to start at the end of this month, will be sold at the East London, Amabele, Komga, Butterworth and Mthatha train stations two hours before the trains leave. A one-way trip from East London to Mthatha will cost R30; taking a taxi costs about R70.

Service will initially be on weekends, and will operate during the day for safety reasons.

"Although the service was initially planned as an overnight service, it will commence as a daytime service for safety reasons. Kei Rail has not had an operational service for many years and it is therefore important to ensure that, at least initially, the train is as visible as possible along the line," Mhlahlo explained.

To ensure that people living along the railway line were aware that it would be operational, the department of roads and transport had launched a campaign to educate people about the dangers of an operational railway line.

For Kei Rail to be a success, the department had worked with companies that were experts in rail services, including Sheltam Grindrod, the supplier of the locomotives for the line; Metrorail, the operator of the stations along the line; and Transnet Freight Rail, the owners of Shosholoza Meyl and from which the department leases the coaches.