New network to link Gauteng, Mpumalanga

14 July 2014 - 09:43 By SIPHO MASOMBUKA
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Train tracks. File photo.
Train tracks. File photo.
Image: Chuck Coker (Flickr)

A R2-billion railway network will link Mpumalanga and Gauteng, ending years of carnage on the notorious Moloto Road, which links the two provinces.

Announcing the rail network, the start date of which is not yet known, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said yesterday the railway line would link the former KwaNdebele homeland with Pretoria.

The first phase will link Pretoria and Siyabuswa and the second phase will link Siyabuswa to the Sekhukhune district in Limpopo.

Peters said the Public Rail Agency of South Africa had been told to establish a management office by the end of the month.

"We are busy with the second feasibility study. The first one has been done."

She said improvements to Moloto Road has started - the number of lanes was being increased, bridges built, vehicle-testing stations created and dedicated bicycle and donkey-cart lanes implemented. A weigh bridge would be built.

Moloto Road has claimed hundreds of lives, with 31 people killed in November when a bus collided with a truck.

Peters said the road carried the same volume of traffic as the N1, with 600 buses ferrying 100000 people a day between Pretoria and KwaNdebele.

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