Friends of the Rail Forum

HRASA UPDATE

Since receiving our general mandate to act as the recognised liaison and
negotiating body of heritage railways in South Africa, HRASA has slowly but
surely started to function as it was originally intended to do. Within the
organisation, a proper structure has been set up involving the seven
directors and co-opted board members. Each director has a responsibility,
and these cover all the aspects involving our business. Operations, liaison,
membership and marketing are just some of the departments formed. It is
hoped to be able to fully announce the new structure of HRASA and the
responsible people by next month. At the moment the proposals need to be
signed off and approved, but we already have a clear vision of the way
forward

A number of meetings have been held with Transnet, covering operations,
interfacing and rates and invoicing. We were also most grateful to be given
an audience with some TFR chief executives. Although these meetings did not
bring outright results, we have a clearer idea of the task that lies before
us.

Of great importance is the need for us to garner support from local and
national departments of Tourism. In order to succeed, our operations and
plans must contribute to poverty alleviation and job creation, as well as
having sustainable tourism potential. We need to broaden our minds beyond
heritage railpieces, to find ways of gaining the buy-in of the authorities.
Without this support, current operations will inevitably diminish and new
schemes will fall flat.

The way has already been shown by the Creighton and Paton's operations in
Kwa-Zulu-Natal, while the PE Apple Express is also making inroads into local
government. The closed and underutilised branchlines are of great
significance for us- especially as mainlines are firmly out of bounds- and
it is hoped that government and Transnet will come to some decision
regarding this infrastructure.

Regarding the Transnet Foundation, a new chief executive, Cynthia Mgijima,
was appointed as of 1 July. We shall be meeting with her shortly, as many
matters need urgent attention. We are very positive that progress will be
forthcoming, particularly with respect to the disposal and lend-lease of TF
items. A nationwide stocktaking audit by TF is currently being finalised,
with the assistance of HRASA, and this will allow proper decisions to be
made regarding the future of the assets. HRASA, who have the knowledge and
responsibility of representing the stakeholders, will be involved as
advisors in this process.

There continues to be much unhappiness over the Millsite issue. The facts
are as follows:

Transnet donated the listed assets to HRASA in May 2008. Initially 6 weeks
was given to remove them, which was later extended to six months. For
reasons not clear to everyone, communication between HRASA, SIA and TF broke
down, such that the deed of donation expired. The new HRASA executive then
took up this issue with Susie Mabie in April-May 2009, following which
agreement was reached that the DoD would be re-issued, subject to certain
changes in HRASA's favour. HRASA provided all the paperwork it was required
to. As it turned out, we never heard again from TF regarding the re-written
DoD, and Susie Mabie was replaced on 1 July. Millsite is thus in limbo
again, but will remain an important part of our discussions with Cynthia. My
personal view is that Millsite should never have been thrust upon us in the
first place, and that it represented an unrealistic expectation from
Transnet, who allowed the collection to degenerate in the first place. It is
clear that nothing at Millsite will move without sufficient funding and
logistical/financial support from Transnet. It is perhaps more important at
this time for us to procure the future of items still in a reasonable
condition, which may go the way of the Millsite engines within a short space
of time should nothing be done.

HRASA is not afraid of constructive criticism. It is in fact necessary in
order that we may improve our performance. It is however very convenient to
sit in an armchair and make wide-ranging negative comments about the state
of our heritage railways. This sort of attitude comes from an inability to
actually contribute on the ground, and ignorance of the complexity of the
task at hand. All members of HRASA are volunteers who give freely of their
time for the cause of preservation, in the process incurring a substantial
financial burden. It is perhaps not recognised how difficult it is to deal
with Transnet and related bodies, who are focused on their core business
into which heritage rail does not fit. The whole question of finding a home
for us is at present being looked at, but the most likely outcome will be
for us to fall under the new Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA).

Regarding membership of HRASA, no body is forced to take this up. If you
lend-lease rolling stock from TF, it is a requirement that you are a HRASA
member. We would like to think that all groups would see value in and
automatically join HRASA. It is understandable that there was much
unhappiness over HRASA in the past, but I believe we have moved beyond this
to the point where there will be much to gain by being members.

SIA members should appreciate that we cannot release details on all
subjects, especially with regard to confidential meetings. What we do
undertake to do is release a monthly feedback report for general
publication. We will try to be as specific and informative as possible.

We appreciate the chance given us by the members of SIA, and we promise to
do our best under very difficult circumstances. As stated above, there are
ways of dealing with all problems, but quick cures there will not be. There
is simply not the money nor the support necessary for a full scale
rehabilitation of our ailing heritage and branch line railways.

We can all make a difference in our own small ways. Every small success will
add momentum as we strive to reach critical mass. It is thus important that
we all unify under one body and give it the chance it deserves.

Chris Janisch

27 August 2009