
Cape metrorail
What it’s like riding the Cape Town Metrorail train
With the return to office, full-time learning reinstated and petrol price increases, the reliance on public trains has increased. Eyewitness News took a trip on...
Thousands of commuters in Cape Town use trains to get to work and school, travelling on the northern, southern, central and Cape Flats lines.
Thousands of people are still occupying the train tracks in Langa and Phillipi.
The central line has not been in operation since October 2019.
Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said that four more new train sets were expected to be rolled onto the city's railway lines in the coming months.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the city has been without a well-functioning rail service for too long and far too many Capetonians suffer as a result.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis unveiled his team on Monday, saying that members had a strong mandate from residents to end power cuts in the city over time, to invest more into community safety and to fight for greater control over passenger rail in the metro.
Cape Town mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis on Thursday briefed the media at the Woodstock train station where the party pledged its commitment to making public transport work by fighting for control over railways and expanding the MyCiTi bus service.
As a result, Metrorail can't run services on the southern line, specifically between Retreat and Fish Hoek.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said that a single transport authority was needed.
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) board chairperson Leonard Ramatlakane said that it was critical to get trains running again on the line.
Operations resumed between Cape Town and Langa after a disruptive suspension caused by vandalism, cable theft and settlements on the tracks.
This follows a number of joint security enforcement operations ahead of the festive season.
The acting regional manager of Prasa Raymond Maseko said under level 5, Prasa technicians were not working because there were no trains in operation.
The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is investing over R1 billion to repair the line.
The party’s Daylin Mitchell said he had written to provincial Transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela to give more details on just how bad the problem was.
'Commuters are advised to make use of alternative transport for the morning peak and we will update as events unfold,' said Metrorail's Riana Scott as she apologised for the inconvenience.
This morning, trains operating between Cape Town and Retreat were suspended following damage to overhead power supply systems as a result of severe weather conditions.
Metrorail said that parts of what could be a roof were blown onto a section of the tracks between Mowbray and Rosebank.