Johnathan Paoli
THE Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has reopened an additional line connecting Soweto to the Johannesburg metro’s central business district, at Park Station.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga took a train with commuters on Friday morning, and said that with a cost of just R7.50 cents, Soweto commuters could once again travel to the city centre, bringing much relief to their pockets.
The Nancefield to Park Station corridor is among 36 Metrorail lines that stopped working due to infrastructure theft and vandalism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
So far, 31 of PRASA’s 40 corridors across the country have been rehabilitated.
Prasa Board Chairperson Nokwe Makama said the agency is working tirelessly to bring the remaining nine back to service.
“We are working on steroids. So they have been working night and day to make sure that everything is back. What we are doing as the Board is an oversight visit to ensure that what is reported to the Board is being undertaken. And secondly, we are interacting with commuters about their feelings. And give feedback to Prasa,” Makama said.
The agency has restored Metrorail services across the country, including services from Cape Town to Stellenbosch (Western Cape); Merebank to Chatsglen (KwaZulu-Natal); Johannesburg to Florida (Gauteng); Johannesburg to Nancefield (Gauteng) and Germiston to Elsburg (Gauteng), by the end of March.
In August last year, Prasa indicated that the full recovery of commuter rail services nationally was its top priority.
This commitment came three years after the country’s 30 000km rail infrastructure, which was one of the most advanced in the world, was stripped down by rail criminals after a decision by the Department of Transport saw the cancellation of private security contracts.
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