The City of Cape Town has shot down the idea of building an elevated railway using the existing infrastructure of the incomplete Foreshore Freeway Bridge.
In response to queries from TopAuto, Rob Quintas, Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, said that implementing an elevated rail line is not a consideration for the City.
“A modern elevated rail system requires significant investment in infrastructure, rolling stock, and operations,” said Quintas.
“Given the City’s budget limitations and the need to prioritise cost-effective solutions, funding such a project is not viable.”
Additionally, international experience shows that these rail systems require ongoing subsidies to remain operational.
Integrating it with other modes of transport will also be extremely costly due to the infrastructure modifications it would require.
Quintas said that metro has already invested in a road-based public transport system servicing the CBD and Atlantic seaboard in the form of the MyCiTi bus service.
It has also earmarked a substantial R5.6 billion over the next three years to expanding the MyCiTi service to areas on the outskirts of the city, such as Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Wynberg, and Claremont.
This is on top of a R3.55-billion fund for road maintenance, congestion relief, and reconstruction and rehabilitation of old thoroughfares over the same period.
“Investment in improving existing services is more practical and cost-effective,” said Quintas.
A long-term solution
The idea of an elevated railway was first proposed by Cape Town-based engineer Gareth Ramsay as a way to repurpose the famous incomplete Foreshore Freeway Bridge.
The new line would be integrated into the current rail system and carry the same blue trains run by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, suggested Ramsay.
It would start at Woodstock as this is where all metro train lines in the City converge.
From here, it will branch off and follow the Foreshore freeway, rising up between the two asphalt freeways that currently exist.
The path will continue to a station at the Cape Town International Convention Centre and another at the Cape Town stadium to accommodate for expos and events.
The last stop on the line would then be the Three Anchor Bay site near the V&A Waterfront.
The distinction is that unlike other train services in the city, this rail will be elevated above traffic on a bridge instead of running on the ground.
“The reasoning behind it is that, at the end of last year, the City voted to release a 4.5-hectare piece of land in Three Anchor Bay with the idea of it being used for mixed-use development,” said Ramsay.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis indicated that he expects to raise around R700 million to sell off this land along with additional rates and taxes that would be generated by developing it.
“The Mayor also stated that this would be a great capital injection for the City and could fund future infrastructure projects such as the completion of the Foreshore freeway as a road,” said Ramsay.
The problem with this is that building more roads encourages more vehicle use, which in the short-to-medium term might partially solve Cape Town’s congestion woes.
However, it is certain to add to them over the long term.
Ramsay further highlighted that there has been political pushback against the idea of a mixed-use Three Anchor Bay precinct, with some people advocating for the location to be used solely for social housing.
The elevated railway would thus address three issues at once:
- Contribute to the reduction of congestion and traffic in the City
- Achieve a capital injection to fund similar infrastructure projects and generate future revenue streams from rates and taxes
- Increase affordable and efficient access to the City and Atlantic Seaboard, allowing citizens to get to opportunities and redress the injustices of the country’s past
Once developed, the train could take as many as 15,000 people in and out of Cape Town every hour, estimated Ramsay.
Local government could even go so far as to build light rail lines that branch off from the main railway to take passengers into the city at street level.
Light rail lines such as trams are perfect for ferrying small groups of travellers to locations that are less than a kilometre from one another.
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