ROAD TO RAIL

A proposed freight and passenger road-to-rail strategy for South Africa

GAIN team members, namely Prof. Jan Havenga, Anneke De Bod, Dr Zane Simpson and Stefaan Swarts, were authors of this SA-TIED (Southern Africa - Towards Inclusive Economic Development) special report, along with frequent collaborator, Ilse Witthöft. The report published in November 2021 proposed a road-to-rail strategy for South Africa's freight and passenger transportation.

SA-TIED is a unique collaboration between local and international research institutes and the government of South Africa. Its primary goal is to improve the interface between research and policy by producing cutting-edge research for inclusive growth and economic transformation in the southern African region. It is hoped that the SA-TIED programme will lead to greater institutional and individual capacities, improve database management and data analysis, and provide research outputs that assist in the formulation of evidence-based economic policy. The collaboration is between the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), the National Treasury of South Africa, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Department of Monitoring, Planning, and Evaluation, the Department of Trade and Industry, South African Revenue Services, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, and other universities and institutes. It is funded by the National Treasury of South Africa, the Department of Trade and Industry of South Africa, the Delegation of the European Union to South Africa, IFPRI, and UNU-WIDER through the Institute’s contributions from Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom to its research programme.

The report is accessible and available to download via SA-TIED.

See also a recording of the project feedback presentation Prof Jan Havenga delivered at the South African Transport Forum in September 2021.