Abstract
Abstract : Transnet is the owner of 80% of Africa’s rail networks. The company embarks on mega projects to develop the railway infrastructure. Research recorded that 55% of major rail infrastructure projects at Transnet Freight Rail failed for a consecutive five years, between 2005 and 2011. There are no records of causes of project failure. Failure in project delivery, results in failure to meet customer demands, impacting on the South African economy. The current research used various data collection methods to develop a database to obtain an in-depth understanding of the factors causing railway infrastructure project failures. Collected data include literature, interview and archival data. The data were used to answer the research questions and achieve the research objectives, identifying the factors contributing to railway infrastructure project failures and the management approach that can be applied to mitigate the factors. Typical causes of project failure in the literature and the case study, involve scope, resources, cost, schedule, communication, management support, project planning, lessons learnt, corruption, a lack of commitment and procurement. The comparison of the causes of project failure in the case study, literature, Gautrain rapid rail and London Jubilee line extension projects indicated that there are differences and similarities in factors contributing to project failure in railway infrastructure projects. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized across all railway infrastructure projects. The management approaches, conventional in the literature and the case study are positioned in project scope management, resource management, schedule management, communication management, stakeholder management, cost management, integration management, quality management, risk management and project procurement management. The improvement of project stakeholder management and communication management is recommended due to their influence on project planning and the management of scope, schedule, quality, risk, cost, procurement and resources. A challenge indicates limited publications on South African Railway projects which emphasises the knowledge disparity on the subject.
M.Ing. (Engineering Management)