The Impact of Load Shedding on The Railway Industry

Currently, South Africans are dealing with a massive pandemic called load-shedding.
Loadshedding has forced the private sector to step up and assume responsibility where the public sector failed.

Many South Africans depend on the railway industry as a transport system, but it now stands little chance of meeting the commuters’ needs.
Recent load-shedding events have affected a large population, so it’s hard to say it hasn’t affected anyone.
Mainly the Metro commuters. For the average South African, load-shedding is a nightmare. Their daily activities are hindered as a result.
However, commuters may also suffer a major hit since this may be a long-term ongoing thing.

How Does Loadshedding Affect Economic Performance?

According to Stats SA (2022), after two consecutive quarters of positive growth, real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by 0,7% in the second quarter of 2022. Load shedding contributed to the decline, weakening an already fragile national economy that had just recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
A lack of public transportation prevents people from participating in the workforce when their basic needs cannot be met.
Because if you can’t afford to travel to work, then why bother?
As a result, train companies are unable to close the gap.

PRASA’s (South Africa’s Passenger Rail Agency) capacity to operate passenger services is currently jeopardized due to continuing load-shedding.
During the peak of load-shedding, many rail passengers with weekly and monthly tickets were left stranded at stations.
To compensate for Metrorail’s inability to provide regular service, these commuters were forced to spend additional time and money to go where they needed to go.
The crisis is still ongoing today.

Loadshedding is set to persist for some time, and many people find it difficult to believe that a power outage can so easily bring our most basic public transit system to a halt. As a result, commuters can no longer pay for the continuous failures of state-owned entities.

Contact Tractionel for Railway Electrification

If you would like to take advantage of a complete set of resources and expertise that have been developed to grow businesses and the South African economy, be sure to visit Tractionel today and find out more about railway electrification.