Metrorail not always to blame

November 2015 will be known as the worst three weeks for Metrorail since the double derailment at the beginning of 2014. Early in November the rail operator announced a section of the Northern Line would be closed for critical maintenance work to be done. 

Ten hours before that section was due to open, I asked - on the WhatsApp group that I have since been removed from – if maintenance work is still on schedule. I was told a section manager is on duty. 

At 9pm I cautioned Metrorail – in the Whatsapp group – that there is no way a normal service would operate that Monday morning and that all possible contingency measures be put in place without any delay.

Sadly and to the biggest inconvenience of thousands of commuters, Metrorail only realised that Monday morning, too late, trains will be delayed. The failure by Metrorail to act sooner and implement better contingency measures led to not only everyone arriving late at work, but many students unable to write their exams.

I wrote to Transport Minister Dipuo Peters stating that the continuous errors are unacceptable. “My email is not a plea to discuss matters in a boardroom but to implement solutions and take action without any delay”. I also asked the minister to request a detailed report and if it shows any wrong doing corrective action being taken. Now this is where I commend the minister for her speedy response and for requesting that report from Prasa. I wish to also apologize to the Prasa Group CEO and Metrorail Regional Manager for changing the agenda of their scheduled meeting.

Thursday 12^th November, Regional Manager, Richard Walker, took two trains with me. Even though he travelled undercover to assess the service for himself, the RM also engaged with commuters. While we both agree it is wrong and dangerous, as a commuter himself he understands why some commuters would keep a train door open. He understands why people smoke on a platform but says Metrorail cannot disobey the law of the country that smoking in public is illegal.

Our second train was delayed by a few minutes and in the ten minutes we were at the station there were no announcements. The Regional Manager called the Acting Customer Service HOD to inform him there are no announcements. He also questioned electronic boards not working, why loud hailers are not used and other issues – some of which have been addressed and solutions implemented, like platform 1 being used at Bellville.

Walker says for some things there are explanations but Metrorail should be honest about the service and not make excuses for it. Communication and customer service is not negotiable; these are things that should be in place. On the train itself we walked through the carriages, with Walker making mental notes since he arrived at the departure station. And to those wondering: yes he bought a ticket at his start station and handed it in at the destination station.

Sadly the rest of the Regional Manager’s management team does not see the importance of them taking a train and engaging with commuters when the service is critical and commuters experience massive delays.

The minister has since received her report and I have been shared some of the content. 

The massive delays the past three weeks is thanks to Transnet who take forever to do maintenance. 

Transnet has not prioritized maintenance work to be done between Paarl and Kraaifontein, repairing vandalism and stolen cables. Have to state though Transnet being centralised is the reason for the delay. One should welcome the maintenance done at Bellville but criticize Transnet for not communicating with Metrorail. 

Had there been better communication between the two SOE’s that Sunday afternoon, things would not have been chaotic the Monday morning.

While Transnet should be held accountable for this month’s chaos, minister Peters and her Public Enterprises counterpart, Lynn Brown, can apply corrective measures. They can do this by approving the transfer of the lines from Bellville to Wellington and Bellville to Strand from Transnet to Metrorail. This will allow Metrorail to not wait on Transnet but do repairs without any delay.

On the interim the solution is what I identified and suggested more than a year ago: better communication to commuters, different Metrorail departments to work together and communicate better and for better communicate to, with and from Transnet. Note the latter should come from Ministerial level and not regional level.

Currently goods trains get preference between Wellington and Bellville and this have on many occasions led to delays of commuter trains when the goods trains fail in section.

Things that neither Metrorail/Prasa nor Transnet will admit though is that money speaks and Transnet will get preference as they generate more income than Prasa – even if every single person in the overcrowded train have a valid ticket.

So what is the solution? Government will have to decide what is more important: freight or people. What should be kept in mind when answering the question is that the thousands of commuters on trains contribute towards the economy and every minute many of us are late, not only do we lose out on income but our employers lose out on production and the economy ultimately suffers.

Metrorail is not always to blame, but Metrorail should take responsibility for their customers and account.