The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is to spend an estimated R150.3-billion on key capital programmes over the next ten years, says Prasa strategic asset development company group executive Piet Sebola.

A much-vaunted rolling stock fleet renewal programme will receive R54.3-billion in funding, with R25.7-billion provided for a rolling stock refurbishment and upgrade programme.

Close to 3 500 coaches have been refurbished from 2006 to date.

The new coaches, set to enter the system from 2015 onwards, will have to coexist with the older ones “for a long time, which will be a challenge”, says Sebola.

The entire Prasa fleet was only expected to be fully replaced by 2034. Prasa’s last new train sets were purchased back in the 1980s.

Another capital budget item for the passenger rail body was to extend Prasa’s commuter rail network, at a cost of R15.2-billion.

A feasibility study has been submitted for review, for example, for a proposed R2-billion line linking Nasrec station, via the Nasrec and Orlando dam areas, passing through Eldorado Park and Lenasia, to the Vereeniging-New Canada rail line.

The water was also being tested for a Cape Town International Airport – city link, as well as a King Shaka International Airport – city link.

Just over R12-billion has been set aside to upgrade and improve stations across the country.

Twenty-three stations are set to undergo modernisation in 2013, and 64 in 2014, providing a new look and feel to the facilities.

Stations are also set to receive ‘integrated stations asset management systems’, which will include display boards and closed-circuit television, as well as technology to reduce fare evasion.

New signalling and telecommunications systems will cost Prasa R10.2-billion over the next ten years, while R10-billion has been budgeted for depot modernisation. Seven-billion rand will go towards perway improvements and R5.4-billion towards acquiring new locomotives and Shosholoza Meyl long-distance rail coaches.

But what is driving Prasa’s aggressive capital spending? The answer is simple, says Sebola: Railway infrastructure and technology that have reached the end of its design lifespan, resulting in poor levels of reliability and predictability.

Prasa also has to reorganise its services as urbanisation has seen an outflow of people from the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo to Gauteng and the Western Cape, which has led to an increasing demand for commuter rail services in these provinces.

Prasa operates on 2 000 km of electrified track and 370 stations in South Africa. It employs 16 260 people.

Shosholoza Meyl carries three-million passengers a year, while Metrorail saw 478-million passenger trips in 2011.

Sebola says Prasa would like to see the latter increase to around one-billion passenger trips a year by 2040.