Train commuters in Pretoria and Cape Town should be able to access full train services again in November. That is if the Passenger Rail Agency (PRASA) meets its deadline to restore services.
The Mabopane-Pretoria corridor is currently running on limited services due to cable theft during the hard lockdown.
Part of Cape Town’s central line has been suspended since 2019, and an informal settlement has mushroomed on the tracks.
Cable theft, vandalism, and leadership instability have been cited as some of the reasons for the collapse of the country’s railway infrastructure. R57 billion has since been allocated to address this with 22 corridors identified as a top priority for service recovery in 2021.
Prasa launches new initiative to involve the community in the protection of rail assets:
PRASA board chairperson, Leonard Ramatlakane, says the cable and railway lines must be replaced by November.
“End of November 2021, we should have full service. The cable lines must have been replaced and the railway line must have been repaired. The issue about building the fence to cover the rail so that we do not have anybody crossing and stealing the cable would have been completed. We’re going to build a wall to cover that to make sure that we don’t have a frequency problem of cable theft and end up with manual authorisation.”
Prasa says its busiest rail corridors should be fully operational by end of the year:
