The government has achieved momentum towards realising plans for the long-mooted high-speed rail connection between Durban and Johannesburg, a proposed project that is now undergoing a feasibility study.
Premier Thami Ntuli, addressing delegates at the 2025 KwaZulu-Natal Investment Conference in Durban on Wednesday, highlighted rail as a cornerstone of the province’s infrastructure ambitions, critical to unlocking regional potential. The two-day conference showcases the province as a premier trade and investment destination in Africa, while aiming to drive inclusive economic growth.
Ntuli emphasised the importance of modernising transport infrastructure to enhance the province’s competitiveness.
“The KwaZulu-Natal Infrastructure Master Plan identifies catalytic projects that are already reshaping our economic landscape (such as)… the Durban-Free State-Gauteng logistics corridor upgrade, the Richards Bay Port expansion and Transnet Freight Rail modernisation,” said Ntuli
“Our growth trajectory depends on infrastructure that works – because roads connect factories to ports, digital networks enable e-commerce, and energy systems power sustainable industry.”
Ntuli said momentum towards realising a high-speed train connection between Durban and Johannesburg was gaining pace.
“Last week we had lekgotla (meeting) where, amongst our engagements, we were quite aggressive on our pace of realising a speed train between KZN and Gauteng, and the process is on a visibility study.
“I am happy to report that even President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed the importance and the urgency that we must work together with his office and the Department of Transport to realise that in our lifetime.”
He also emphasised the need for a high-speed rail link between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
Ntuli highlighted a personal interaction with Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy to underscore the rail link’s national importance.
"On the way back from Cape Town yesterday I was fortunate to sit next to the Minister of Transport, and we spoke about the connection between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, Richards Bay and Durban, Port Shepstone and Durban through the train and were in agreement that really, that is the future of this province.”
A high-speed rail link would enhance logistics efficiency, linking the Durban Port to inland and coastal markets and supporting the province’s contribution to manufacturing output.
Ntuli said infrastructure investments were already "strengthening inter-district connectivity through corridors such as the N2 and N3 linking our inland and coastal economies into one seamless, competitive system".