• National Rail Master Plan Letter Builder

    Use this form to build your comment to the National Rail Master Plan, then email it before 22 July!

  • Welcome to this Letter Builder. It was created to help you quickly put together your personal letter in response to the National Rail Master Plan. 

    How to use the letter builder:

    You can choose to state your name or stay anonymous (in this case, please use any pseudo). We do require your email address to email you your personal letter text, which you will then have to send to the Department of Transport. 

    Next, we are proposing some key arguments, which we encourage you to include in your comment. For each argument, we are proposing multiple alternative phrasings to fit people's styles and positions. For each argument, you can

    • tick the formulation that resonates with you, or
    • tick "Other" and type your own personal phrase.

    You can also skip some arguments if they don't resonate with you. 

    Once you submit your selection, you will receive an email from #UniteBehind with the text of your personal, customised letter and some instructions on how to send your email to the Department of Transport. Follow the instructions, send the email, and you're done!

    Written submissions can be sent until 22 July. Don't delay!

     

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  • Do you want more information about #UniteBehind or about the National Rail Master Plan (NRMP) before proceeding?*

  • #UniteBehind is a civil society organization based in Cape Town. Through the #FixOurTrains campaign, we have for nearly a decade organised commuters, exposed corruption in the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), and litigated for the restoration of safe, reliable, affordable and accessible commuter rail. Our members are the people this plan calls “the backbone of metropolitan public transport”: working-class commuters whose access to work, education, healthcare and dignity depends on the trains.

    The Draft National Rail Master Plan (NRMP) is the National Department of Transport's strategic framework to guide the development, modernisation and integration of South Africa's national railway system over the coming decades. It provides a 30+ year vision and is broken down into 18 chapters, covering all 9 provinces. It rests on the acknowledgement that, over the past decades, the South African rail sector has become uncompetitive and unreliable, with poorly maintained infrastructure, with a cost to the population as well as the economy. 

    The Department of Transport is planning to address this, and "reposition rail as a national asset serving broader economic and social goals", through a combination of:

    • Infrastructure investment, for both the passenger rail and freight infrastructure
    • Structural reform. For passenger rail, this means that in applicable areas, administrative powers will be devolved from PRASA to cities, while the actual operations will be outsourced to the private sector. 

    The full (180 pages) Draft NRMP can be downloaded from this government link (note though that the website will prompt you to register to access it). 

    The presentation that was used in the Cape Town stakeholder engagement can be downloaded here (English only). 

     


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  • And now, you can start building your letter! Start by choosing your introductory statement, then you will be taken to a section to provide positive feedback, then another section to highlight the gaps of the NRMP.

  • Select your preferred introduction sentence*

  • The positives in the NRMP

  • This page is for you to name the aspects which you see as positive in the NRMP.  

  • Select your chosen phrasing to introduce the positives.*

  • The gaps in the NRMP

  • This page is to highlight the gaps and request stronger commitments for commuter rights and commuter participation.

  • A key aspect of the plan is the "devolution", i.e. the transfer of management and oversight roles for commuter rail to local authorities. Select your phrasing to request full inclusion of commuters in this devolution architecture.*
  • Select your preferred phrasing demanding a Service Level Plan (or skip this argument).
  • Select your preferred phrasing about the issue of affordability and universal access (or skip this argument).
  • Select your preferred phrasing about the anti-corruption mechanisms (or skip this argument).
  • Select your preferred phrasing about the need for meaningful community consultation (or skip this argument).
  • Conclusion. Choose your concluding statement

  • Thank you! This is all for the letter itself. Two last questions before you hit "Submit", please.

  • Would you like to receive email updates from #UniteBehind?*
  • Should be Empty: