Gov't to keep school rail service despite losses
Published:Tuesday | March 5, 2024 | 8:36 PM
Minister of Transport Daryl Vaz has indicated that the government will continue the railway service for about 400 students in the Linstead, St Catherine area, despite losses by the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC).
Vaz was answering questions from Opposition Spokesperson on Transport, Mikhail Phillips, during a meeting of Parliament's Standing Finance Committee on Tuesday.
An additional $60 million has been allocated to the JRC in the upcoming budget and Phillips sought an explanation.
“Is it that the Ministry will continue with the passenger service as is or is there going to be some relook at it?” Phillips questioned.
“The railway corporation is currently cash-starved and that's as a result of the school railway transport service being offered to about 400 students in the Linstead, St Catherine area,” Vaz responded.
“It's difficult because the fact is that it's a social service and it's an essential service and what we're doing at the moment is to find out how we can fund it until such time the railway corporation is able to expand on its revenue,” he added.
Vaz said one area that the JRC could look at to increase revenue is to take advantage of growth in the business process outsourcing (BPO) traffic in the St Catherine region, explaining that
“The BPOs employ thousands of people in one location and transportation is a problem. That railway line runs across a number of them and it's a good revenue earner because of the amount of persons that will be moved.”
The school train service started in September 2022 as a means to ease transport woes for students, while offering a cheaper means of transportation.
Meanwhile, some $800 million will be spent on several airstrips and airports in the upcoming fiscal year, including upgrades at Ian Fleming International Airport and the Tinson Pen, Vernamfield and the Negril aerodrome.
Further, an additional US$1.3 million will be spent to procure a new instrument landing system for the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
- Carl Gilchrist
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