Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA)

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) is a state-owned enterprise responsible for most passenger rail services in the country.

It consists of four branches: Metrorail, which operates commuter rail services in urban areas; Shosholoza Meyl, which operates regional and intercity rail services; Autopax, which operates regional and intercity coach services; and Intersite, which manages the property owned by PRASA.

The PRASA Engineering Research Chair is sponsored by PRASA​​and thus solely focuses on Rail solutions for Passenger Services.

Metrorail operates in four of South Africa’s provinces, namely the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Western Cape. These regions operate independently of one another and report to the Metrorail Head Office in Johannesburg. Metrorail transports about two million passengers per day, thereby accounting for roughly 15% of the people using public transport daily in South Africa. They operate at 468 stations (317 owned by PRASA and 151 by Transnet), with the rolling stock fleet consisting of approximately 400 train sets, and with train sets varying in size between 8 and 14 coaches per train set.

Mainline Passenger Services operates long distance passenger trains throughout South Africa. Shosholoza Meyl currently services 21 routes between major destinations in South Africa. It carries over 3.9 million passengers per annum. Premier Classe is focused on providing luxury services on specific routes.