Prasa announces three-phase plan to fix trains, safety

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) announced yesterday it would be launching a three-phase approach to ensure safe and reliable transport by train over the next year.

Prasa administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo made the announcement at Soweto’s Dube train station.

Before the announcement, Prasa executives went to inspect other stations.

Prasa and the United Commuters Voice forum took note of several issues that would have to be addressed. The issues raised at Dube were delays between trains, safety and security.

Mpondo said commuters filled morning trains to capacity due to delays.

“We have gone onto the platform and we’ve experienced commuters scrambling to get onto trains due to delays by an hour as opposed to a 30-minute frequency,” said Mpondo.

He said lines would be secured to reduce crowded train rides for commuters, following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promise in his speech at the State of the Nation address (Sona).

Ramaphosa promised to restore lines between Mabopane and Pretoria in his address last week.

“Our rail network daily transports over a million commuters to and from work,” he said.

“The Central Line in the Western Cape and the Mabopane Line in Pretoria have been closed for essential refurbishment and upgrades. We are investing R1.4 billion in each of these lines to provide, a safe, reliable and affordable service.

“Work under way on other lines includes station upgrades, parkway replacements, new signalling systems and overhead electrical traction upgrades,” Ramaphosa said.

Some of the challenges at the station were theft and vandalism.

Mpondo said this would be addressed by taking measures to ensure safety and security.

“We are looking to place armed security vehicles at stations and installing [closed-circuit TV] cameras, as well as drones to circle the area,” he said. “It will take time to repair all these issues as it cannot happen overnight. But we promise to bring necessary facilities and resources to ensure we provide a reliable and safe service.”

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