• PRASA reports 77 million passengers in 2024/25, nearly twice the previous year
• Revenues reach 708 million rand, supported by 21.1 billion rand in investments
• Infrastructure damage, vandalism, and train shortages still hinder recovery

South Africa’s Passenger Rail Agency (PRASA) announced it has nearly doubled its annual passenger traffic for the 2024/25 fiscal year, rising from 39.4 million to 77 million travelers. This growth boosted commercial revenue to 708 million rand (about $41 million), 5% higher than the initial forecast of 675 million rand.

According to Chief Executive Officer Hishaam Emeran, the strong performance was driven by major investments totaling about 21.1 billion rand, which helped restore 35 of 40 operational rail lines. New signaling systems were also commissioned on three key routes in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

Despite the recovery, PRASA recorded 259 safety-related incidents, including derailments, technical failures, and minor collisions—equivalent to 0.34 incidents per 100,000 passenger trips, below the acceptable threshold of 0.58. Security-related incidents such as vandalism, theft, assaults, and sabotage remained stable at 897 cases, compared with 898 the previous year, marking a steep decline from 3,387 cases reported in 2020/21.

However, like its freight counterpart Transnet, PRASA continues to face major challenges, including deteriorating infrastructure on some routes, persistent vandalism, and an insufficient train fleet. In May, authorities announced an investment plan of 66.3 billion rand, with 18.2 billion allocated to purchasing several hundred new trains.

Despite the progress, passenger volumes remain far below the 516 million travelers recorded in 2014/15, underscoring the long road to full recovery for South Africa’s rail transport system.