On the right track?

Janine Willemans
The Metrorail story is well documented in South Africa. In the Western Cape in particular, the rail operator has had a dubious reputation for many years. Many, among the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on the service to get to and from work on a daily basis, have some or other tale to tell about their experiences … and it’s usually not a positive one.

Earlier this year, Eyewitness News in conjunction with our partners at the Cape Argus launched the Metrorail Diaries. It is a social experiment meant to give a platform to Metrorail’s customers where they can share their daily experiences - a grassroots level perspective, if you will.

Our first round of the Metrorail Diaries confirmed what we all knew - lengthy delays, dirty carriages, overcrowding etc.

Not too long after, Metrorail revealed its programme of action. There was a new regional manager at the helm, they had formulated a plan and most importantly, they had acknowledged that there was work to do.

Fast forward three months to July and we ran a second installment of our Diaries. To a large extent, the feedback mirrored what Metrorail had told us – that there had been a vast improvement in trains running on time, thanks to their programme of action.

As I write this column, I am following the tweets on @ewnreporter from the latest Metrorail update briefing.

It will be some time before the rolling stock is replaced, but Metrorail says train cancellations have dropped to below one percent and it aims to increase punctuality from 83% to 90%.

But here’s where it gets interesting: They’re spending more than eight million rand on replacing stolen and damaged infrastructure and they’ve also spent more than a million rand on replacing train windows.

This is wasted expenditure as far as I’m concerned and this is where the customers should put their foot down and start doing their bit to preserve what is essentially a service for their benefit. I’m pretty sure that Metrorail doesn’t break its own windows, it doesn’t steal its own infrastructure and it certainly doesn’t dirty its own carriages. It has its shortcomings, but it alone cannot be held accountable for what has the potential to be a world-class service.

What’s the point, you ask?

The point is that they will not be able to cross everything of their to-do list, if their customers do not play their part. How hard is it to clean up after yourself when you leave the carriage? Pay for your passage instead of trying to hitch a free ride? Respect the infrastructure and speak out against those who do not?

I am perhaps too idealistic in my views, but it’s the little things that make the biggest differences.

I am still skeptical, but from what I have seen in the last few months, Metrorail is really coming to the party. We’ll have another installment of our Metrorail Diaries before year-end to gauge whether it’s making an impact where it matters most – with the users.

Hopefully that installment will also reveal whether or not the penny has dropped for the users that it does in fact take two to tango.

Janine Willemans is the EWN Editor in Cape Town.