Metrorail: We apologize for the inconvenience

“Trains in the Region are delayed in an excess of 240 minutes”, the sms that Saturday morning that made the warning signs go off.

Metrorail was given a heavy blow, just hours after #BlackFriday. Not even three consecutive arson incidents in April could stop the service. But cable theft, at a juncture where all signal cables converge, brought the train service to a standstill.

At our first meeting, the current Metrorail Western Cape regional manager, Richard Walker said he would try his best to never stop trains from moving – even if that means driving a train himself. And then came Metrorail’s darkest hour in more than five years.

Technicians tried their best to restore the service and by the Wednesday afternoon Richard (yes we on a first name basis) informed me all lines are now open, but things will still be hectic.

The next morning criminals again targeted Salt River and to complicate things even more four carriages were destroyed in an arson attack just outside Thornton station.

There are more than 120 train stations in the province, of who just under a 100 have ticket offices. Metrorail needs more than 90 train sets to have a normal service, for the four lines that stretch over 489km tracks. With all the arson incidents the past 15 months, there was a time the province had less than 70 train sets.

Apart from not having the security compliment to have a guard of honour next to the tracks, there is just not enough manpower for all the stations and points.

And then there is the issue of no funds, because Prasa – the motherbody of Metrorail – is in tatters from mismanagement and financial irregularities. Our hope and prayers are now on acting group chief, Collins Letsoalo, to get all sets on the tracks.

The arson and cable theft are forcing me to dare say there is a well-organised syndicate out to destroy Metrorail – especially in the Western Cape.

Securities 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 thieves target the areas. Because is a life not more important than cables?

They don’t speak out, out of fear for the lives of their loved-ones. Many of the guards are also not trained to use a firearm. And if we go and give every Hendrik, Ivor and Thabo a gun, we might sit with the same problem as the Americans.

Then there is the sad fact that rail crime is not viewed as serious enough by our justice system. Because how many criminals caught, or against whom there are enough evidence are successfully prosecuted.

The past decades very little to no upgrading was done to our rail system – apart from fixing problems. For decades our rail infrastructure was neglected. In 2009 the need was identified and Prasa launched Project Modernisation. This 20 to 30 year project 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.

Very notable with all the incidents, is the silence from the government benches. Both President Jacob Zuma and transport minister Dipuo Peters condemned the April arson incidents. Commuters however need more than a sentence from their leaders. Commuters, like trains and the infrastructure that are destroyed are government assets. Now why can our defence force – who protects rhinos – not be deployed to protect our trains and stations against the hooligans who are destroying the assets of our future?

Metrorail, or the railway service, is the backbone of the Western Cape economy and there is a light though for commuters.

The service in the province is much better than in other. The Western Cape might be the only not to make a profit, but in the province there are no rail derailments with casualties and train incidents are fewer, as well as crime activity. Delays and cancellations are also lower and we have the best and most proactive communication.

Our defence force might however be a temporary solution. If we want to address Metrorail’s problem, we will 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.

• This is the English version of a Post Scriptum that appeared in Paarl Post of Thursday 8 December 2016.

#BeMoved together

Prasa on Tuesday successfully carried out #TestTrain2 at Pretoria station. What makes it even more awesome is that the #TrainReport team from @CapeTownTrains got the opportunity to be part of this and boast their tech savvy skills.

It would appear as if modernization has now boarded an express train. Looking at the video clips and images, it all looks nice and I share the excited of minister Dipuo Peters and the team. We however not yet in first world gear and I have to be realistic.

Mindful of the arson and vandalism incidents of the past six months in the Cape Region alone, it is clear commuters and indeed Metrorail is not ready for the new trains.

Maybe important to also mention new trains does not mean all challenges will suddenly disappear. New trains are now closer to a reality but we still have old infrastructure, tracks and signalling equipment – but that is not what this blog is about.

As commuters we not ready because:

We have to start educating ourselves to look after our [state] assets and not vandalize them.

We have to start familiarizing ourselves with the current train lingo and operations.

We need to become activist and ambassadors of our trains, to protect ourselves and our assets.

Metrorail is not ready because:

They struggle to communicate with existing communication tools,

Departments and some staff still operate in segregation and not as one united unit,

They see modernization but don’t operate pro-active [although small progress here has been made].

#MovingSAforward requires all hands on deck.

Should we get the new trains tomorrow, some will be upset because it is not on their line and others angry that they cannot stand between the carriages. 

There will be those who would be frustrated that the train is not moving because they keeping the door open and someone will complain about windows not opening. I won’t even exclude a complaint about the air con in the train being too cold. And I’m not even at delayed announcements…

#MovingSAforward requires #CommuterEducation and an integrated Metrorail to #BeMoved

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.

Metrorail's new shock

I haven’t penned anything about Metrorail for a few weeks now... Feels like months!
I have been engaging with Metrorail Western Cape on a daily basis though and had a visit to the regional manager, wait former regional manager Mthura Swartz, twice already. An announcement on Friday 30 May is forcing me to write this though.

I should start with the announcement has nothing to do with Swartz leaving Cape Metrorail. He was one of the best regional managers the parastatal has had in the past few years and acknowledges the importance of communication and also engaged with commuters. This is a legacy that I personally hope his successor, Richard Walker, will continue. Apparently I’m meeting him once he’s here, because I’m Metrorail’s biggest critic. I’ve vowed to teach him how to communicate with commuters and tweet.

Anyway……

In March, after a third train derailed that caused a massive headache for Metrorail with massive delays, leaving thousands of commuters frustrated, I wrote four blogs. In one of those blogs I said the harsh reality is that ticket prices will increase in July and that is unfortunately the case. Train fare increases

As a commuter I cannot, nor will I ever support the increase of ticket fares, while trains are delayed on a daily basis.

Having visited Metrorail and engaging with the outgoing RM and other senior staff, I understand the dilemma Metrorail Western Cape is in and also, that they have to generate an additional income to deliver a credible service.

It is also important that commuters take note it is not Metrorail Western Cape who decided on the increases, but Prasa. To tell me new trains will be operational by the first semester of 2016 and that all lines in Cape Town will have free wi-fi are not making things better.

I cannot blame Metrorail Western Cape for the increases but I do wonder what happened to the increases the past few years? They were not used for the recently announced emergency interventions to better the service.

How and did the current management explain to the Prasa executive the current situation in the Western Cape and that not increasing fares this year would be a better/safer bet?

I have also not yet received an answer from Metrorail/Prasa Management if they would decline a salary increase this year until all the constant delays were sorted out!

What is the answer? Well besides the minister’s urgent intervention to ensure commuters benefit and not Prasa from the delays? It would be best if Prasa revise their decision to increase fares and keep it the same for atleast another year.

Since March: Metrorail staff were held hostage, frustrated commuters stormed the offices more than once, more than one train have been torched; stoned and staff assaulted (some even ended in hospital). If the minister and Prasa really cared about both staff and the commuter it is these factors that would make them call an emergency meeting to revise the decision increase ticket tariffs. Guess their response is what they think of staff and commuters