Affordable and efficient passenger rail transport is critical to any thriving economic activity. All over the world millions of people use passenger rail to travel to and from work. SA relies on the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) for this important service.
Prasa operates the Metrorail commuter trains and the Shosholoza Meyl long-distance service. However, during the Covid-19 lockdown, much of its infrastructure was targeted by criminals, who stripped rail stations and stole cables and other valuables.
According to the Railway Safety Regulator’s State of Safety Report 2022/23, a staggering 8,643 safety-related incidents were reported, 97% of which involved theft and vandalism.
Encouragingly, by the end of March 2024, Prasa had restored to working use about 80% of its passenger rail corridors. This restoration of 31 of the corridors has led to a steady return of rail travellers. A year ago, Prasa transported only 15-million passengers. By the end of March, Prasa had recorded 40-million passengers on its trains — an increase of almost 200%.
Prasa’s CEO, Hishaam Emeran, advocates a security strategy that includes both physical security and the use of technology solutions to combat theft and vandalism
Three months ago, then transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga revealed in parliament that theft and vandalism of Prasa’s assets and infrastructure had cost more than R7.6bn over the past five years. Of this, more than R2bn was accounted for by “assets written off due to theft and vandalism” and the remaining R5.5bn by “assets impaired by theft and vandalism”.
The SA economy, like any other, is dependent on reliable and affordable transport to perform at optimal levels. To ensure reliable transport service, Prasa must prevent theft and vandalism of its assets.
Prasa’s CEO, Hishaam Emeran, advocates a security strategy that includes both physical security and the use of technology solutions to combat theft and vandalism. He explains: “The strategy is on ensuring that we stabilise our systems and ensure that we have an adequate infrastructure in the ICT area. We want ... innovative solutions.”
This is a prudent move because relying solely on security guards to protect railway assets is not foolproof, considering that SA has a huge rail network. Prasa owns 2,280km of SA’s rail network and uses some of the 22,000km of rail track under the control of Transnet.
The first solution Prasa has implemented on a small scale is Huawei’s Smart Railway Perimeter Detection Solution. This technology detects moving targets at a distance of up to 200m using vibration-sensing optical fibres, which identify high-risk activities such as fence climbing. Intelligent sensor devices determine the cause of the vibrations and filter out interference. In addition, radar and optical fibres are linked to intelligent pan-tilt-zoom dome cameras that automatically track identified targets, perform secondary checks and quickly trigger alarms. This solution has a false alarm rate of less than 1%.
Emeran reports that Prasa has reduced theft and vandalism by over 75% in the past 12 months.
It is clear that Huawei is making a significant contribution to reducing these problems at Prasa. It should fully embrace smart railways and modernise its track nationwide through tech. It is encouraging that Prasa’s leadership is planning to roll out more than 1,000km of fibre.
Emeran explains: “We have the servitude as our rail network [to set up a fibreoptic network]. That’s a project that should have been already on the ground. It’s one of our key projects.”
Prasa could lease this telecom infrastructure to generate additional income.
It is crucial for Emeran and his management team to recognise that smart railways are the future. They could eliminate delays and reduce signal failures, increase capacity and optimise traffic, plus improve the passenger experience, cut costs and reduce environmental impact.
At the moment, Emeran and his team are facing the challenge of convincing municipalities to approve the use of the Smart Railway Perimeter Detection Solution. It’s not going to be an easy engagement.
That said, I believe technology could be the driving force behind transforming Prasa into a more intelligent and efficient railway agency. One hopes that Emeran and his team continue in their efforts to digitise SA’s train network with the support of new transport minister Barbara Creecy.
• Lourie is founder and editor of TechFinancials.
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