LONG distance trains travelling between Johannesburg and Durban were running on yesterday while talks between the Passenger Rail Association of SA and Transnet were continuing, an official said.

"Prasa has already started to run the Johannesburg to Durban trains while the Johannesburg to Cape Town trains will commence running on Thursday this week (tomorrow)," Prasa spokesperson Nana Zenani said.

Buses were being used to transport passengers on other routes.

Prasa was servicing its own trains while it was sorting out the problems between itself and its service provider, Transnet.

Prasa announced last week that it would suspend its Shosholoza Meyl long-distance service. It blamed Transnet for the problem.

"Transnet was never informed of the decision or the reasons behind Prasa's decision to discontinue its long-distance passenger service," Transnet spokesperson Mboniso Sigonyela said in a statement yesterday.

The reason Transnet did not do maintenance on about 70 Prasa locomotives was because it had not received Prasa's purchase orders.

He said that Prasa owed Transnet R1,3billion.

Zenani refuted this and said: "Transnet should provide Prasa with documentation supporting the alleged amounts owed." She said her organisation had already paid Transnet the annual fee of R461million - R1,61million more than the annual capped R300million.

Transnet, she said, was failing to provide a reliable rail network for long-distance trains and that it prioritised its own locomotives on the network.

She said Transnet did not service the trains properly and that some coaches had water leaks when it rained.

At the negotiations Prasa presented key areas, including appointment of an independent arbitrator to investigate the disputed monies.

It also called for the introduction of service level agreements between itself, Transnet Rail Engineering and Transnet Freight Rail.

These should have "clear penalties" to ensure that Prasa is more protected in the future.