Getting trains back onto the tracks is one part of rebuilding commuter rail. Getting them to arrive more often is the next challenge.

On Gauteng’s Mabopane corridor, PRASA says modern trains are now running at 20-minute intervals during peak periods. Speaking to SABC News on 15 October, group chief executive Hishaam Emeran linked that frequency to infrastructure restoration and signalling improvements. 

The corridor provides a local example of progress behind PRASA’s national recovery figures, although work remains elsewhere on the network.

What the 35-Corridor Figure Includes

At the launch of Transport Month on 1 October, Transport Minister Barbara Creecy said PRASA had recovered 35 of its 40 priority passenger rail lines, most recently restoring part of the Midway–Lenz route.

That total includes corridors where services have returned only along part of the route.

A parliamentary reply dated 28 August, answering a question about the position as at 1 August, recorded 28 corridors restored end-to-end and seven partially restored. It placed the remaining recovery work between the 2026/27 and 2029/30 financial years, subject to available funding.

The national milestone therefore does not mean every affected community has its full rail service back.

Mabopane Shows the Next Step

The Department of Transport’s programme for 15 October highlighted work on the Mabopane corridor’s infrastructure and signalling, aimed at improving safety and increasing train frequency. 

Signalling controls train movements and helps determine how closely services can safely follow one another. Emeran told SABC News that Mabopane was among the few Gauteng corridors with signalling restored, while recovery was still needed on most others.

He described 10-minute and eventually five-minute intervals as ambitions for further service improvements. Those are future targets, rather than the current frequency across Gauteng. 

Elsewhere, the work is more extensive. Earlier this month, Emeran identified Daveyton–Etwatwa in Ekurhuleni as a corridor still requiring restoration, with damage to stations and theft of track and electrical infrastructure.

Passengers Are Returning

Creecy said PRASA recorded an audited 101 million passenger trips in 2025/26, compared with 10 million in 2020/21. These are journeys across the national operation, rather than individual passengers or a Gauteng-only count. 

The growing use of restored services puts train frequency on par with infrastructure repairs as a priority. A reopened route gives commuters an option; a workable timetable determines how useful that option becomes.

The Bottom Line

Mabopane’s reported 20-minute peak service gives Gauteng commuters a concrete measure of progress. The next gains depend on extending signalling recovery and completing unfinished routes, so more communities can use rail for their daily journeys.