Not much light at end of tunnel for speedy resumption of Cape Town’s central train line

Commuters in Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha who have been patiently waiting for the central train line to resume service to Cape Town will have to sit tight for quite a while longer.

The central line has been closed since October last year due to vandalism.

In March, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula announced that there would be a phased re-introduction of the train service for that line. Buses were to be used to transport commuters as an interim solution from July/August.

He promised that a limited train service would operate between Cape Town and Philippi by September this year, with full service expected to be restored by April next year.

But Prasa administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo revealed on Tuesday that they had to go back to the drawing board in light of the lockdown, the security walling programme, and increased theft and vandalism.

He was addressing the Western Cape legislature’s standing committee on transport and public works.

Mpondo indicated that a limited service now only looked likely towards the middle of next year. This would entail 62 train trips a day with manual authorisations between 05:00 and 20:00.

Train trips

The full resumption of the central line – 232 train trips a day with a signalling system – was likely only going to happen towards the end of next year.

“The central line has been severely impacted by illegal settlements in the rail reserve in Langa, Philippi and Nonkqubela in Khayelitsha,” he said.

Mbalula was leading a process to find solutions for alternative accommodation.

As part of the plan to prevent vandalism, the department planned to build of a four-metre high concrete wall along the line as well the installation of security cameras.The Cape Flats and Northern lines were projected to start limited operations next month.

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