Trains are delayed due to manual authorization, defective
sets and speed restrictions. Allow for extended travel time due to a train that
failed in-section. If you make use of South Africa’s rail operator Metrorail,
these are well-known messages by now.
The daily struggles and frustration of thousands of my
fellow commuters are as a result of not only mismanagement and corrupt
activities but also first no planning and then poor planning by government.
The current state of the service is where you not guaranteed
the train will be on-time and your ticket might or might not be checked. What
you can be sure of is an overcrowded train. After the struggle to get in, comes
the struggle to get out. Picture yourself a scrum, better yet wrestling’s royal
rumble.
Another challenge for both rail operator and consumer is
that some of the tracks are not owned by Metrorail. Much of it is rented from
Transnet and therefore Metrorail cannot legally do repairs and maintenance.
This often leaves the operator and commuters frustrated with delays or a
suspended line, pending TFR maintenance.
While the daily numbers of commuters have increase, the
number of trains decreased with many trains sabotaged by arson and vandals.
This led to some trains being cancelled and the remaining trains shorter to
ensure a service on all lines.
Metrorail needs more than 90 train sets to have a normal
service in the Western Cape, for the four lines that stretch over 490km tracks.
With all the arson incidents the past two years, there was a time the province
had less than 60 train sets.
I am of the opinion that the arson and cable theft is a
well-organised syndicate, deliberately destroying Metrorail.
Unfortunately there is no security compliment to have a
guard of honour next to the railway line, and there is just not enough manpower
for all the stations and points.
Security guards are deployed to hot-spot areas, but families
of the men and women are victimized and their lives threatened. Many of the
unarmed guards step back when the criminals target the areas. These guards
don’t speak, out of fear for the lives of their loved-ones. Many of the guards
are also not trained to use a firearm. And we cannot just go and give every
Hendrik, Jason and Thabo a gun.
Cable theft is a reality. Between the 21st and 25th of July
2017 eleven suspects were arrested. Rail crime is however not viewed as serious
enough by our justice system. If it was how many criminals caught, or against
whom there is enough evidence were successfully prosecuted?
One of the positives is there has not been a single
derailment with fatalities in the Western Cape and compared with other regions
train incidents are fewer. Delays and cancellations are also lower, and lines
suspended for service (after a major incident) last a few hours – compared to
days in other regions – and as hard as this is to believe, commuters here
receive better communication.
However the reality is that Metrorail operates in an open
environment, making it not immune to and thus vulnerable for criminal
activities. Social ills in communities play a big role in the many challenges.
Often criminals use the tracks as an escape route. There are also areas where
the railway line is a border for rivalry gangs.
Railway police don’t resort under Metrorail – but SAPS – and
having no jurisdiction over them or their deployment adds to the safety
headache.
The past month also saw a number of level-crossing
incidents, despite having booms and Metrorail appealing in their statements for
motorist to be vigilant when approaching a level-crossing.
Part of addressing the problem is not only government making
more funding available, but also making rail more than just a priority on
paper. We will also have to start addressing crime, social challenges and
unemployment. If we don’t do this and continue to play the blame game,
commuters and Metrorail will continue to be the biggest loser and hooligan
criminals laughing all the way to the bank.
Metrorail is a division of the Prasa, a state-owned entity
of the national government that resorts under the Department of Transport
(DoT). Metrorail is funded by treasury with a small percentage through ticket
sales. The railway service is the backbone of the Western Cape economy, yet it
gets about a R6 subsidy per passenger as oppose to MyCiti bus service who gets
about four times as much.
The past three decades very little to no upgrading was done
to our rail network. This is besides all the repairs. In 2009 Prasa launched
Project Modernisation, a 20 to 30 year project that not only includes new
trains but also upgrading of infrastructure. We have to wonder though what a
setback every cable theft, arson and vandalism incident has. The arson
incidents are condemned in press statements, but commuters need more than a
sentence from their leaders. Commuters, like trains and the infrastructure that
are destroyed are government assets. One needs to ask why our defence force –
who protects rhinos – cannot be deployed to protect our trains and stations,
against the hooligans who are destroying the assets of our future.
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