CAPE TOWN – “My balls are still sore from this morning’s commute to work,” an online commentator posted on social media.
He was referring to his first train ride on the newly reopened Mitchells Plain section of Metrorail’s Central Line.
The Central Line, which serves the Cape Flats townships, was forced to shut down in November 2019 following extensive cable theft and vandalism that cost Prasa approximately R364 million that year alone. The situation worsened during the Covid-19 lockdown when security contracts were cancelled, exposing the infrastructure to further damage and illegal occupation on the tracks.
Mixed emotions
Sections of the line was reopened piecemeal and last week, after a six-year closure, the Mitchells Plain section was reopened on Monday 23 February.
However, after a week of the new blue trains riding regularly on the revamped line, not all residents are ready to embrace the return. A Rocklands pensioner who did not want to be named said that even though the service is up and running, she would not be using it due to a series of bad experiences in previous years.
The 70-year-old had previously used the service on Tuesdays when trains were free for pensioners.
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Many commuters also took to social media to express their concerns, pay compliments and ask questions of Metrorail and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) official channels.
In response to a publicity photo posted of Metrorail staff posing in an empty train on Facebook, one commuter replied: “Looks great except you’re not travelling in peak hour with 2 000 people on the train. Give that a try and let me know how you feel. My balls are still sore from this morning’s commute to work.”
Affordability
Another posted a picture of his ticket, showing how cost effective it was to travel by train.
Before the line’s closure in 2019, thousands of commuters made use of the rail service due to its affordability.
While most of the commentary was positive, some of the commuters’ questions about safety, the frequency of trains and the extension of lines went unanswered.
Attempts by TygerBurger to contact both Metrorail and Prasa also went unanswered.
New timetable in operation
Metrorail has also implemented a new Central Line train timetable for passengers travelling between Mitchells Plain, Kapteinsklip and Lentegeur.
The schedule includes express services during peak hours, with some trains bypassing Mandalay and Stock Road stations to reduce journey times for commuters travelling to the city centre.
Mayor welcomes restoration
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis welcomed the reopening, describing it as “another step towards devolution of the rail system”.
“We welcome Prasa’s reopening of passenger rail services along the Mitchells Plain corridor. This long-awaited progress is a big boost for public transport services to communities along this line,” Hill-Lewis said in an official statement.
The mayor said Capetonians urgently need an expanded, affordable and reliable rail service integrated with other forms of transport via one ticketing system.
“In time, we want to see residents use the same ticket to hop from this rail corridor to the new MyCiti route expansion that the City is developing along the metro’s south-east,” he added.
Devolution push
According to the City’s recently adopted Rail Business Plan, a viable devolution handover of rail to the City requires Prasa and national government to restore rail network operations to 2012 levels of 620 000 daily passenger trips.
Hill-Lewis said Prasa’s restoration of the rail service is “one of the critical first steps towards devolution of the system to the City in line with our Rail Business Plan’s long-term vision to massively scale up passenger numbers, new train sets, new routes, upgrade stations, and develop surrounding precincts with affordable housing over the next two decades”.
He added: “We look forward to Transport Minister Barbara Creecy’s release of the draft National Rail Bill and Masterplan,” he said.
Long-term vision
Mayco member for urban mobility Rob Quintas said the City’s Rail Business Plan explored nine devolution scenarios and identified three viable options.
“All viable options involve the devolution of rail services, associated assets and infrastructure to the City with the participation of the private sector operating services on a contractual or comprehensive concession basis,” he said.
He added that the plan rules out scenarios where infrastructure remains owned and managed by Prasa whilst the City operates the rail service rather than the private sector.
“Crucially, the plan concludes that devolution is only possible with funding from the national fiscus, with no room within the rates base of the City to cross-subsidise rail,” Quintas said.
Under the Cape Town Long-Term Plan, which sets out the City’s strategic goals until 2050, 75% of passenger trips are to be made with public transport, with rail as the backbone of an integrated system under City control.
The City regards passenger rail takeover as essential to improving integrated public transport across the metro, supporting its broader target of 110% GDP growth by 2050.
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