Gareth Ramsay, a South African development engineer, is leading an ambitious campaign to construct a new “sky train” in Cape Town.
Earlier this year, the local engineer submitted a proposal for the creation of a new elevated railway that will run through Cape Town’s CBD towards the Atlantic seaboard with the goal of improving accessibility and reducing road congestion.
A key aspect of the proposal is that the infrastructure project will integrate with the famous incomplete Foreshore Freeway Bridge, which the city is currently trying to find a use for.
Rob Quintas, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Mobility, previously confirmed to TopAuto in November 2024 that the bridge is part of an ongoing study to reshape the city’s road network.
“The City is busy with a Foreshore Freeway Precinct scoping study,” he said.
“The intention is to develop an optimum transport and land use solution to facilitate long-term investment and economic growth, while maximising the precinct’s inherit public amenity and development potential.”
More recently, Cape Town’s management has set aside the Three Anchor Bay site, located in Sea Point, for “mixed use development,” which could potentially be used as a train station for the elevated railway.
However, while the sky train appears to align with Cape Town’s goals to develop its infrastructure and improve public transport, the city is not considering the project at this point in time.
In response to queries from TopAuto, Quintas stated 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.
Quintas also raised the point that Cape Town has already heavily invested in other public transport services, most notably the MyCiti bus programme, which has its own service running through the CBD and adjacent areas like Green Point and Sea Point.
“Investment in improving existing services is more practical and cost-effective,” he said.
Ramsay responds
Ramsay recently got in touch with TopAuto to share his response to the Cape Town Mayoral Committee’s decision on the elevated railway proposal.
He indicated that Rob’s comment that the rail line is “not a consideration,” suggests that the project has not been considered on any level, which would have resulted in some form of evidence-based investigation and critical review.
“I am fine if the city believes that the proposal is not viable in any form, but I would appreciate if the city could give it some formal consideration first, especially given the relatively binary alternative that the city is considering, which would be the completion of the foreshore freeways, a feasibility study of which is currently under way,” said Ramsay.
“Additionally, after submission to the city, and receiving a response indicating that the proposal had been sent to the relevant departments, there has been no further formal engagement on the proposal, further suggesting a lack of consideration with no reasonable investigation or consideration given to the proposal before dismissing it.”
Ramsay also responded to the city’s comment that it has already invested into the MyCiti bus programme, which it argues is a more realistic transport solution.
“I am not at all against the expansion of the MyCiti Bus networks and the investments made into the CBD and Atlantic Sea Board, but it should be acknowledged that there is a limit to how these MyCiti Bus services can be improved and capacity increased in these areas due to multiple factors,” he said.
He argued that the road infrastructure in certain areas has already reached its capacity, which will be compounded by the city’s plans to develop areas like the Three Anchor Bay site into new residential zones.
This would increase the area’s population density and contribute additional traffic to the already-oversaturated road network.
At the same time, completing the Foreshore Freeway is likely to further encourage the use of private vehicles, meaning that it will not solve the city’s congestion issues.
Ramsay stated that, while he agrees the MyCiti bus is an easier and cheaper transport solution, its passenger capacity is limited and it won’t be able to solve the city’s congestion issues.
“MyCiti services within the CBD and Atlantic Seaboard will always struggle to increase ridership as long as using a private vehicle is still more effective, efficient and convenient to move around this area of the city,” he said.
Areas like Sea Point lack the space to install dedicated bus lanes, and the larger size of these vehicles means they struggle on tight roads due to their increased turning circles.
“This results in the MyCiti buses being subject to the same traffic and congestion as all the cars in the city, reducing any reason for people to give up their cars to use the bus service,” said Ramsay.
“Additionally slow cumbersome busses reduce the flow rate of cars on the road network given their slow acceleration and numerous stops which often stop the cars behind them.”
He pointed out that the MyCiti service does not have the capacity to handle all the people following major events at locations like the Cape Town Stadium and V&A Waterfront, and that most users will still drive to the CBD to park before using the bus for the last mile of their journey.
To illustrate his point, Ramsay explained that it would take approximately 26 buses to move 2,400 people from the stadium, creating a queueing line of buses 325m long.
This process would also take at least 20 minutes, assuming it takes at least 60 to 90 seconds to load each bus.
In contrast, the sky train would be able to move all 2,400 people within 120 seconds of it arriving at the station.
Ramsay acknowledged that the train would require a significant infrastructure investment, but argued that it would be a more cost-effective solution over the long run.
“The question is increasingly becoming less and less of whether or not we can afford it, but rather whether we can afford not to.”
It was previously estimated that the Foreshore Freeway would cost over R2.1 billion to complete, increasing the amount of traffic moving through the city with no long-term improvement to congestion.
Road networks are also susceptible to issues like car accidents, which can effectively shut down areas for hours.
Instead, Ramsay argued that a “future-proof” solution like the sky train would be a better allocation of resources that would reduce the number of cars on the road.
It was also suggested that the sale of the Three Anchor Bay site (estimated at R700 million) could generate the capital needed to get the project off the ground.
Ramsay refuted the notion that, because elevated rail systems often require government subsidies to remain operational, they should not be considered.
“One has to look at the overall economic impact that a rail system has on an economy, which often justifies these said subsidies due to the positive knock-on effects to economic growth.”
He added that improving Cape Town’s transport situation will lead to valuable improvement in commuter well-being, in reference to the fact that local residents typically lose 94 hours per year sitting in traffic.
“Additionally it is rather hypocritical to say that an extension to a rail system is not viable due to subsidies to remain operational when the current MyCiti Bus service has taken advantage and continues to take advantage of subsidies from national government – as it rightly should given the overall positive impact it has on citizens lives as well as on the Cape Town economy.”
Ramsay added that road-based transport solutions are dependent on oil prices and that commuters will often be forced to bear the cost of fluctuating prices, whereas an electric rail system wouldn’t have this issue.
Individuals who wish to show their support for the elevated rail line project can do so by visiting the public engagement site using this link.
All 3D image models and illustrations featured in this article were created by JetJunky Builds Real World Cities.
Elevated Rail Line Project, Cape Town
A rendering of Cape Town’s roads where the Foreshore Freeway is completed
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