PRETORIA, Gauteng — The passenger rail industry is not a threat to the taxi industry, but rather a collaborative partner in South Africa’s broader transportation network, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy affirmed. Speaking at the Southern Africa Transport Conference under the theme “Developing and Sustaining Transport Systems in an Uncertain World,” Creecy emphasized that the ongoing revitalization of rail services is designed to work in tandem with existing taxi operations, ensuring seamless and affordable mobility for commuters from the start of their journey to their final destination.
The minister highlighted substantial progress made by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), which has successfully increased its annual passenger trips from 10 million in 2020 to 101 million in the 2025/26 financial year. Over the past two years, PRASA has managed to recover 35 of its 40 priority rail lines, an achievement driven by the continuous upgrading and refurbishment of stations and railway pathways.
Despite this rapid rehabilitation, Creecy was quick to dispel any notion that expanded rail services signal the end for the minibus taxi sector. She stressed that the transportation ecosystem will continue to rely heavily on taxis to ferry rail customers from stations to their respective destinations. Taxis, she noted, will always play a significant role in providing first-mile, last-mile, and intermediate connectivity in areas where rail tracks do not exist.
Looking toward the future, PRASA has set an ambitious target of reaching at least 600 million passenger trips by the 2030/31 financial year. To support this growth, Creecy revealed that a significant team of experts from the United Kingdom is currently evaluating whether South Africa can safely increase the number of trains running per hour using existing infrastructure and signaling systems. This optimization is critical, as rail remains a vastly more affordable form of public transport for the masses.
Innovative feeder systems are also being explored to create a symbiotic relationship between different modes of transport. Creecy shared an example of recent engagements with local taxi associations to introduce motorcycle passenger transport services as a feeder network. She pointed out that taxis are currently idle at least 67 percent of the time. By utilizing a motorcycle feeder to bring two or three passengers to a taxi per hour, operators could significantly reduce this idle time. Furthermore, this model could allow for the rationalization of certain routes, as the average cost of recapitalizing a single taxi could alternatively fund approximately five motorcycles.
Concluding her address, the minister welcomed recent price relief at the fuel pumps. This development is expected to ease the severe financial burden on the freight and taxi industries, both of which have been hit exceptionally hard by elevated diesel costs in recent times.
