This picturesque curved railway bridge over Kaaimans River is part of a 67 km railway that has been dormant for the last twenty years. The route, linking urban areas as it meanders between George and Knysna on South Africa’s prestigious Garden Route, has become a vital public asset enabling this region to easily work towards seven of the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The well researched Sustainable Development Goals are an international blueprint for peace, prosperity, and protection of the planet; tackling poverty, inequality, climate change, and environmental degradation, with a core promise to "Leave No One Behind”. Seven of the Goals make references to Non Motorised Transport.
As transportation evolves to serve the general population, retrofitting Non Motorised Transportation routes has become a formidable and costly challenge for cities, resulting in long delays.
George and Knysna are linked by three continuous land routes. Two of them are unsuitable for Non Motorised Transport: one because it is rural, winding, and hilly; the other because it has become extremely dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists as it adapts to the ever-increasing volume of high-speed motorised traffic.
The third route is this dormant rail corridor with easy gradients, direct access for urbanites and is wonderfully scenic. It is in fact an amazingly ideal Non Motorised Transport route — with potential for further extension to Plettenberg Bay and beyond.
A static steam museum in George reminds visitors of a bygone era when a slow, polluting steam train once served a vital transport need, but there is no longer a practical need to revive the quaint steam train on this line.
The South African General Assembly (Parliament) has therefore been formally requested to review the concession to revive the steam train and to declare this public way an NMT Trail instead.
Guided by seven of the UN recommended Sustainable Development Goals we can benefit thousands of individuals daily, for decades to come, set an important precedent and create spectacular ecotourism opportunities for the country.