CHAPTER 9

Heavy Rail

GUIDELINES FORPASSENGER TRANSPORT IN SOUTH AFRICA

A MULTI MODAL ANALYSIS

9.2 A Description of Heavy Rail

• “Heavy rail” operations – Commuter services of long-distance railways, and – Often share the tracks with goods trains. – Different from “metro” and “rapid public

transport” systems which are dedicated passenger services only

According to Vuchic, heavy rail services worldwide operate at below their full potential:– obsolete labour practices,– inadequate financial assistance from public sources, – uninterested management

• Vuchic notes that “it is because of the inherent high performance of the mode that even the inefficiently run systems provide an extremely valuable service in metropolitan areas.”

9.3 Historical Overview

• Commuter trips peaked at 707 million passengers in 1982

• Steady decline took place with passenger levels “bottoming out” at 403 million in 1994– attributed to minibus-taxi competition, as well as – violence on trains during the late 1980’s and early

1990’s• Since 1994, passenger levels have increased to

512 million in 2005/06

9.4 Finances of Heavy Rail

• In 1930 the proportion of third class commuters was approximately one-third.

• At present third class passengers make up more than 95 percent of total commuters

• Fare income represents only a percentage of total cost

• Historical obligation - heavy rail services to convey large numbers of people at low fares

9.5 Operational Factors

Operational factors which influence (and undermine) the effectiveness of heavy rail transport in South Africa:

1. Accessibility2. Availability3. Transfers and modal integration4. Overcrowding and violence

9.5.1 Accessibility

• Accessibility refers to the closeness of the transport route to the area being served

• Accessibility is expressed in terms of :1. percentage of an area within, say, one kilometre

of a transport route or2. percentage of the population living within, say,

ten minutes walk from the nearest stop

Example

• Total area of the Witwatersrand complex is approximately 1 600 square km

• Total length of heavy rail route in this area is approximately 150 kilometres.

• What percentage of this area lies within 1 kilometre of the heavy rail route?

• 2km x 150km = 300km^2– 300 km2 within the area lie within 1 000 metres of

a heavy rail route – • 300/1600*100 = 18.75%– Representing a coverage of only 18.75 percent in

terms of area

• Single rail routes serving South African cities cover a limited geographical area

• Also tend to run through areas which are either industrial or which are “old” residential areas.

• Industrial areas generate mainly peak traffic • “old” residential areas generate comparatively

few heavy rail passengers.

• E.G. no attempts except for a long walkway in the case of N1 city (big mall), were made to physically link them with the railway and to exploit the synergy which exists between public transport and a major activity centre.

9.5.2 Availability

• Def: Availability can be described for the purposes of this guide as the frequency of service offered on a transport route.

• No use if number of closely spaced routes are operated through a given area, offering good accessibility but if the frequency of services is very low - say, only twice or three times a day.

• Some suggesions:• peak hour frequency of 5 to 6 services per

hour is considered “reasonable” • Off-peak frequencies should preferably not fall

below one service per hour - if they do, the local population tends to regard the service as nonexistent

• The steady reduction in services over the years is presumably related to:1. the drop in passenger levels 2. as well as a need to contain costs.

• The result is a reduced ability to attract new passenger traffic, which undermines the potential of heavy rail transport.

• More attention will have to be paid to the frequency of services if heavy rail is to play a significant role in passenger transport in certain areas.

9.5.3 Transfers and modal integration

• Heavy rail offers limited levels of accessibility• i.e. transfers and integration between heavy

rail and supporting modes very important• Passengers prefer not to make the physical

effort of leaving a vehicle, to wait and then to walk to another vehicle

Under than less-than-ideal conditions, such as:– where the second vehicle has not yet arrived and – where it is necessary to wait in conditions of poor

lighting and security, transferring can be positively traumatic.

• Therefore essential to provide passenger transfer conditions which are conducive towards the passenger’s peace of mind.

• These include:– shelter from the elements– adequate lighting– security (for people as well as for parked cars)– short walking distances– adequate seating– information (i.e. how long to wait)– through-ticketing– co-ordinated timetables which reduce waiting time.

9.5.4 Overcrowding and Violence

• Heavy rail is a capital-intensive form of transport which requires a high ratio of passengers to crew in order to keep total costs to a minimum

• Result:– many peak-period trains operate with a crew of only

two - a driver at one end and a guard at the opposite end, with (on occasion) as many as three thousand passengers in between, without supervision or security of any kind.

• Heavy Rail has average station spacing of between two to three kilometres– results in overcrowded platforms and – once a train has left a station, several minutes can

elapse before the train pulls into the next station.– During this time, problems can arise in the train

without the driver being aware of the situation.

• Resultant stress and tension to which heavy rail passengers are subjected cannot be overlooked,

• Question could be asked whether the amount spent on security could not have been spent on other modes, such as light rail and buses, which have quicker stopping times and a higher ratio of crew to passengers resulting in better supervision, and fewer opportunities for violence and fare evasion

9.5.5 Positive aspects and the way forward

• Heavy rail way strengths:1. strong system image due to the presence of

fixed, dedicated facilities such as station buildings, rails, poles and wires which lead to an impression of permanence among users who therefore experience a stronger attraction to the system

2. Heavy rail stations and lines are surrounded by open ground which have significant property development potential

3. Its reliability is reasonably good and 4. Speed between stations is satisfactory. 5. It offers reasonable standards of in-vehicle comfort. 6. Collision rates are low. 7. Unit costs per passenger are low under conditions of

high utilisation. 8. Heavy rail uses locally produced electricity

9.6 High-speed railways (Gautrain)

• This study guide suggests that the high-speed scheme has been promoted, not to reduce motor car usage, but to create work for the construction industry.??????

• Meaningful steps that should have been taken by now (late 2009) to create a province-wide network of formal public transport services in Gauteng:1. upgraded Metrorail service (in terms of better

frequencies, renewal of rolling stock, better infrastructure, security, reliability, etc).

2. Strong refocusing of bus services to support rail stations — both existing ones and those on the high-speed line.

3. All-day frequencies on road and rail, with timed transfer where possible.

4. Through ticketing between road and rail, with a common fare structure

5. Co-branding of road and rail transport in terms of marketing and corporate image

9.7 Monorails

• Not regarded as a serious option in most public transport applications

Disadvantages:• monorail beams cannot cross each other• manoeuvring areas take large space• much larger profile than rail and other guided

modes, so that they are not conducive to tunnel operations.

• require investment much higher than light rail transit requires.

• Factors favouring their applications include their exotic and novelty image

9.8 Conclusion

• Heavy rail services are characterised by limited route coverage, low frequencies on some routes and poor integration with supporting modes.

• Heavy rail has certain inherent strengths however and in order to achieve its full potential it will be necessary to place more emphasis on development of railway and adjoining property to raise its industrial, residential and commercial potential.

• Access to stations must be improved to enable supporting modes to integrate more effectively.

• Closer cooperation with other modes is essential and security must be improved and maintained

END