A Kensington resident has lashed out at Metrorail following a recent train trip which he describes as \u201cpathetic service\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Kevin Alexander, a community activist, when he made his way to Century City railway station at 07:00 on Monday 6 March, he was met with poor service from the word go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI arrived at the station and the ticket office could not sell me a ticket due to their ticket machines being off or faulty and I was told to purchase a ticket at my destination in Cape Town. They were also unable to tell me what time the next train would be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alexander said none of the information boards at the station are working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe just waited and eventually boarded the train at 07:30 to Cape Town. At Cape Town Station the ticket inspector delayed us further because he was waiting for his colleague to bring him a ticket machine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alexander says the trip back home later that evening was an even \u201cbigger nightmare\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe information desk could not tell me the train times and said I must wait for announcements to be made. I asked the woman at the information desk on which platform I can get the train and she told me I can wait anywhere. There were many other commuters, they were also confused and had no idea what was going on, so we just waited for the announcement to be made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEventually the train arrived and the first thing I noticed was that the train was in bad shape. The door handles were broken off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen the train stopped at the Century City station we got up and tried to open the doors, but the doors could not open. We ran to the next carriage. Then the train pulled away. So, we could not get off.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He explains that the train eventually stopped at Monte Vista station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt Monte Vista Station we waited for 45 minutes for another train back to Century City. Once again, no announcements at all.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alexander appeals to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) to fix its services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrasa desperately needs to do something about their service, especially at Cape Town Station. The service is totally pathetic. No one can give you information, the information boards aren\u2019t working. They need to revive the train system so that we have reliable public rail transport, it gives us another option instead of the buses and the taxis.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Sindisiwe Chikunga as the new transport minister. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This appointment has renewed the City\u2019s call to devolve the passenger rail \u201cfor the City of Cape Town to run\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says: \u201cPresident Cyril Ramaphosa has promised \u201csolid progress within a year\u201d, and we back this 100% when it comes to devolving passenger rail for the City of Cape Town to run. Passenger rail has collapsed in Cape Town and is now servicing just 2% of commuters daily when it should be the backbone of an affordable, reliable, and safe transport system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hill-Lewis has vowed to ask Chikunga to fast-track rail devolution as a top priority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCapetonians need to know where the new transport minister stands on the delay in national government\u2019s devolution strategy with no definite deadline, and recent anti-devolution statements by the ANC,\u201d concludes Hill-Lewis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zinobulali Mihi, the spokesperson for Prasa, says the claim that their ticket machines were not working \u201cis not true\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have received the records of our ticket sales information (TSDB) that the ticket selling machines were operational at both stations. Our ticket offices have timetables displayed at the ticket windows and information desks for our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mihi admits that their Electronic Information Boards are faulty at Century City station, and says: \u201cAs an alternative option, we display train timetables at the ticket office windows and the information desks. Also, audible announcements are constantly made at the station.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mihi encourages commuters to follow their social media platforms for information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnnouncements are constantly made at the station. There are commuter\/customer WhatsApp groups where train service information is shared by customers and Metrorail WC as well for all the lines. We also have social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), where we share service relation information.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Kensington resident has lashed out at Metrorail following a recent train trip which he describes as \u201cpathetic service\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":50533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavistanews":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"d5abb7e4-61b1-4824-bc6c-0b2f98e7f8c5","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":[],"_yoast_wpseo_video_meta":[],"activation_date":"","archive_insertion_is_repeating":"","archive_insertion_posts_count":"","article_feature_media":"","article_feature_type":"","article_main_image_caption":"","article_media_icon":"","article_template":"","author_byline":"Kaylynne Bantom (@bantomkaylynne)","background_color":"","block_editor":"","byline":"","cmplz_hide_cookiebanner":"","competition_end_date":"","contact_advertise_email":"","contact_advertise_phone":"","contact_editorial_email":"","contact_general_email":"","contact_general_phone":"","contact_office_hours":"","contact_physical_address":"","enabled":"","featured_image_custom_caption":"","featured_video_url":"","fields":"","font_body":"","font_header":"","frequency":"","headline":"","hide_border":"","icon":"","is_wp_suggestion":"","issuu_download_url":"","issuu_embed_url":"","language_version_url":"","large_border":"","name":"","nm_contact_name":"","nm_contact_number":"","nm_date_lost":"","no_overlay_background":"","node-url":"","obituary_born_date":"","obituary_died_date":"","obituary_memoriam_text":"","origin":"","overlay_color":"","overlay_opacity":"","overlay_size":"","placement":"","plural_label":"","post_author":"","post_id":"","post_language":"en","secret-key":"","sponsored_utm_campaign":"","sponsored_utm_content":"","sponsored_utm_medium":"","sponsored_utm_source":"","sponsored_utm_term":"","start_date":"","utm_suppression":"","video_embed_url":"","wp_pattern_sync_status":"","data_version":[],"enclosure":[],"pongrass_image":[],"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"publication":[],"class_list":["post-50531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n