The vandalism of the Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) overhead electrical cables on the railway line along Railway Street in Plantation has left many commuters stranded since train operations have been halted.
Ekurhuleni West College students, patients and nurses at Tambo Memorial Hospital who relied on trains to get to the hospital and school have been hit the hardest.
According to Ward 32 councillor Marius de Vos, the trains have stopped working for about four months now.
“The theft of these electrical cables has interrupted operations from the entire lines of Germiston to Boksburg. Commuters have thus been robbed of a cheaper mode of transport which is not fair,” de Vos said.
He said these electrical cables have been and are still being sold to local scrap yards. He also raised the issue of security, saying there was no security along these lines to prevent criminals from cashing in on the remaining electric cables. “I have reported this to a Prasa official who sent confirmation that the matter was being attended to and investigations is ongoing,” de Vos.
The Advertiser visited the Boksburg East Station and witnessed the vandalism of the infrastructure. Numerous people were seen moving around the train station, using it as a short cut to their destinations.
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De Vos highlighted that it isn’t safe for people to walk around the station because he heard stories about people being mugged.
A few minutes after the Advertiser left the station, two men were arrested by members from Prasa’s Rapid Response Unit at Boksburg Station.
According to an employee, who wished to remain anonymous, while inspecting the railway station they heard sounds coming from one of the rooms on the property.
“We investigated and discovered two men trying to hide, after they had cut the cables.”
The Advertiser is awaiting comment from Prasa.
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