Metrorail
SA’s public transport system lacks integration, Competition Commission finds
Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele on Wednesday released the final recommendations of the 2020 Public Transport Market Inquiry report.
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.
The central line train service was partially restored on Monday morning between Cape Town and Langa but the line is still being blocked off by illegal occupiers.
Residents in the Lockdown informal settlement in Phillipi have received a notice to vacate, but they said that they had nowhere to go.
Operations resumed between Cape Town and Langa after a disruptive suspension caused by vandalism, cable theft and settlements on the tracks.
Prasa wants to resume the rail services on the central line, which has been closed since November 2019.
Transport MEC Bonginkosi Madikizela said that one of their key priorities was to relocate shacks that had sprung up on tracks that had been unused for months.
The Regional Train Traffic Control and Management Centre had to shut down on Sunday as a precautionary measure due to a COVID-19 infection case there.
This follows a number of joint security enforcement operations ahead of the festive season.
Since the Western Cape's busiest line was shut in October last year, the rail system has been exposed to vandalism and cable theft and during the COVID-19 lockdown period, people invaded the railway lines.
They admitted to stealing the cable whilst on night duty at Nyanga station on the central line.
The Bellville Rail Management and Traffic Control Centre was launched on Friday and will oversee all passenger rail operations, improve on-time performance and make the network safer.
Only 32% of Prasa’s 34 corridors are functioning at the moment but the agency aims to reopen three more from next month.
The minister spoke in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, on Wednesday where he launched the ministerial security plan.
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.
Metrorail first resumed limited services in June, but only reopened the southern line between Cape Town and Retreat.
Eyewitness News has received complaints of metal railway lines, overhead cables, and other items being taken from local stations and lines.