A SPECIAL train coach, serving as an SAPS Rapid Rail Unit mobile police service centre, was recently launched to aid in combating and curbing crime.
The coach will be travelling with the train on the main line between Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg, and will function as a portable SAPS Community Safety Centre.
The head of main line security of PRASA (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa), Zodwa Macozoma, handed over the train coach to the commander of the EC Rapid Rail Unit, Colonel Elias Senatle.
The Motherwell Cluster Commander, Major General Dawie Rabie, attended the handover and visited and inspected the new coach which is fully branded in SAPS logos.
The coach is also fully equipped with registers, safes and holding facility (cells), as well as a kitchen and two sleeping compartments for the SAPS members manning the coach.
The main purpose of this joint partnership and initiative is to combat and prevent crime that takes place on the train while travelling between Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg.
Cases registered and arrests made on the train will be handed over and transferred to the relevant station areas through which the train moved when the crimes were committed.
Rabie applauded the initiative and added that the SAPS would continuously strive to streamline and upgrade its service delivery to the communities they serve.
“The community travelling on this specific train will benefit from the extra policing and will enjoy a safe and secure passage to their relevant destinations,” Rabie added.
