Despite indications of an appetite for rail tourism experiences in South Africa, the state of rail infrastructure in the country will first have to be addressed before a new rail tourism model can be developed.
This is one of the findings of a recommendation report compiled by Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Tourism. The committee on Tuesday considered various draft reports relating to budgetary reviews and performance reports by the department and SA Tourism during the 2020/21 financial year.
Preliminary findings from research by the Department of Tourism indicated there is interest in rail as a tourism experience. At the same time, however, it found that the state of rail infrastructure in the country presents a significant challenge to meeting the desire for rail tourism.
Therefore, the department did not think it was worth completing a feasibility study on a new rail tourism model until general rail infrastructure issues in the country are addressed by government and its partners.
"The department should have known the state of rail infrastructure in the country given the widely reported deterioration of the rail infrastructure countrywide and not included this project in its Annual Performance Plan," states the report.
According to the African Rail Industry Association (ARIA), Transnet's rail system is shockingly underutilised, with only 30% actually made use of. According to ARIA, allowing private operators on the network will require no legislative change and no additional investment in track infrastructure.
South Africa's state-owned Blue Train derailed earlier this month at a station in Germiston. It was empty at the time.