CHARLES MOLELE
TRANSPORT Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Saturday that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) was not ready to operate from June 1 under Level 3 lockdown.
“When we presented Level 4 Directions, we indicated that commuter rail will resume operations gradually on an incremental basis, based on detailed plans submitted by operators,” said Mbalula.
“Through our ongoing engagements and evaluation of PRASA’s state of readiness to resume operations, we have concluded that PRASA is not ready to resume with the Metrorail commuter service. We continue to work closely with PRASA in assessing each line and put measures in place to achieve an acceptable level of readiness.”
Mbalula said if Prasa was a ‘well-oiled machine’ government would not be asking many questions about the viability and its capacity to deliver passengers in times of COVID-19.
“We have therefore revised our timelines in respect of the resumption of the Metrorail commuter service,” he said.
“The revised target date is now 1 July 2020, on the following lines: Pretoria to Pienaarspoort; Cape Town to Simonstown; East London to Berlin; and Port Elizabeth to Uitenhage.”
Long distance trains remain prohibited, Mbalula said.
“The revised target date is now 1 July on the Pretoria to Pienaarspoort; Cape Town to Simon’s Town; East London to Berlin; and Port Elizabeth to Uitenhage lines.”
He added that Gautrain resumed its operations at the beginning of May and as on June 1, it will resume the airport service.
“Indeed, the Gautrain resumed its operations at the beginning of May 2020. As on 1 June 2020, the Gautrain will resume the airport service,” he said.
(Compiled by Inside Politics staff)
