The City of Cape Town has taken a decisive institutional step toward reclaiming control of its crippled passenger rail network, approving a formal Rail Business Plan to assume operations from the state-owned Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). This move signals a potential paradigm shift in urban mobility for South Africa’s second-largest city, but its realization hinges entirely on a critical, unresolved factor: securing dedicated, long-term funding from the National Treasury.
**Beyond Approval: The Mechanics and Stakes of Devolution**
Approval of the business plan is not the end, but the beginning of a complex intergovernmental process. The City will now submit a formal memorandum to the National Department of Transport (NDoT), formally requesting the devolution of rail functions. As explained by Mayco Member for Urban Mobility Rob Quintas, success depends on National Treasury committing to a multi-year funding agreement. This is because rail infrastructure—the tracks, signaling, stations, and rolling stock—represents a massive capital and operational expense far beyond a municipality’s typical budget. Without a guaranteed fiscal transfer from national coffers, the plan remains theoretical.
The City’s long-term vision, outlined in its 2050 Integrated Development Plan, targets completing devolution by 2028. However, Quintas candidly acknowledges that this timeline is “ultimately determined by the national government,” placing the City in a position of proactive planning but dependent execution. The proposed plan includes ambitious projects like developing a new rail link to the fast-growing area of Blue Downs, suggesting municipal control could enable more responsive expansion aligned with urban spatial needs.
**A History of Breakdown and a Path to Resolution**
The push for devolution is a direct response to a systemic failure. Years of underinvestment, mismanagement, and vandalism led to the near-total collapse of the Metrorail service by 2021, devastating the hundreds of thousands of Capetonians—primarily from lower-income households—who rely on affordable rail transport for long commutes to work and school. The human cost has been immense, forcing commuters onto overcrowded and expensive minibus taxis.
The road to this business plan has been fraught. In 2023, the City threatened PRASA with a formal intergovernmental dispute after stalled negotiations. By October 2024, it publicly accused the national government of causing major delays to the National Rail Devolution Strategy. A breakthrough finally occurred in February 2025 with the signing of a crucial Service Level Plan between PRASA and the City, a foundational document that made the current business plan possible.
**The High Stakes of Success and Failure**
The potential benefits of a municipally run rail system are significant. Local control could mean more accountable management, budgets aligned with local priorities, and better integration with the City’s MyCiTi bus service and future transport projects. For the commuter, the promise is a reliable, safe, and affordable service.
Conversely, the cost of inaction is starkly illustrated by the ongoing recovery of the Central Line, described by Transport Minister Barbara Creecy as Cape Town’s “most important rail corridor.” Its rehabilitation alone has cost the national fiscus approximately R1.3 billion—a vivid example of the extreme financial burden of repairing decay rather than investing in sustained, efficient operation.
**Conclusion: A Critical Juncture for Urban Governance**
Cape Town’s rail devolution plan represents more than a bureaucratic transfer; it is a test case for pragmatic federalism in South Africa. It challenges the centralized model of rail management that has demonstrably failed in many metros. The coming months will be decisive, as the National Treasury’s response to the funding question will reveal whether there is a genuine political will to empower cities with the tools and resources to solve their own most pressing infrastructure crises. The mobility and economic prospects of millions of Capetonians await the answer.