PRASA can’t say when Durban’s Northern Coast line will open again

Repairs to Durban’s KwaMashu and Northern Coast train lines have not yet started and will probably take more than a year.

The Metrorail lines were heavily damaged by floods in 2022, leaving large portions of both routes with only one track. Subsequent theft and vandalism of overhead track equipment mean the tracks cannot be used.

There is a partial service on the KwaMashu line, between Durban and KwaMashu, via Greenwood Park, from 4:10 am to 8:10 pm. Trains run one at a time and are almost always behind schedule. The Northern Coast line is completely closed, so no trains run north of Duff’s Road.

In September, GroundUp reported that PRASA and Transnet, which owns and operates the lines, were “at an advanced stage” of talks about refurbishing the North Coast and KwaMashu lines. PRASA estimated it would take 18 months to restore the line once an agreement was reached with Transnet.

PRASA spokesperson Andiswa Makanda told GroundUp this week that a Memorandum of Understanding with Transnet is in its “final stages”. This will allow PRASA to repair the KwaMashu line from Umngeni to Duff’s Road via Effingham and the North Coast line from Duff’s Road to KwaDukuza (Stanger).

However, Makanda said, “There are no timelines yet and the budget to repair the lines is not yet final.”

GroundUp spoke to Sakhiseni Nzuza, a security guard working in the Duffs Road area, who was waiting for a delayed train to Durban at Duffs Road Station.

Nzuza told GroundUp that his commute to and from his home in the Durban CBD is usually a struggle. “The trains always run very late,” he said. He often arrives late for work. But he acknowledged that the trains are clean and safe inside.

Shortly after GroundUp spoke to Nzuza, a train stopped at the station but it was heading in the other direction and still had to travel all the way to KwaMashu and back.

Since November, PRASA has been repairing signalling equipment on the operational portion of the KwaMashu line, as part of its National Recovery Programme, Makanda said.

She explained that once these repairs are completed, additional train sets will be added to the line and travel times will be reduced. A shuttle service between Duffs Road and Bridge City has also been added, said Makanda.