Rail an excellent transport system

PLEASE push for budgets to be granted to roll out a metro rail system in each of our major cities, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, and for each of these cities to be connected with a rapid high speed rail system (bullet trains). The price of fuel is increasing and the best alternative is trains and with the economy of scale, it is much cheaper and less polluting as well.

An expanded electricity grid will need to be budgeted for as well. But this is the way forward.

As the economy increases in size, more and more people will come out of poverty and thus with an efficient and effective transport system will not look to motor vehicles but will use the metro system, thus avoiding our roads getting more and more congested.

In the event of a war in the Middle East, oil prices will skyrocket and collapse the world economy, but with efficient and effective metro rail systems, with trains every five to 10 minutes, we'll still be able to get around cheaply. It also caters for the natural increase in expected fuel prices even without a war because nations like India and China and many others are coming out of poverty.

When the working class is able to get around cheaply, more money is freed up to spend on other goods and services, thus boosting the job opportunities and the economy! It makes such a massive contribution to reducing living costs!

Adrian de Villiers, Port Elizabeth