The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) announced that some routes on the Cape Town Central Line are operational again from Tuesday 26 July after being closed since 2019.
The Central Line is one of the most important routes that connect the city to big townships such as Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain. It was closed in 2019 due to vandalism and cable theft and has remained closed since.
However, some routes on the Central Line will resume operations on Tuesday: routes between Cape Town to Langa via Pinelands, and routes between Langa and Bellville via Sarepta are set to open, as reported by EWN.
According to IOL, the reopening comes a month after the rail agency’s management briefed Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) about recovering in “priority corridors”.
Their deadline for the resumption of the lines was set for the end of July.
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Phase one of Central Line recovery programme
Reopening routes on the Central Line has proven to be a complicated process. In order to make the line fully functional, illegal occupants who have been living on the Central Line must first be removed, which forms part of the phase one of the Central Line recovery programme.
“The resumption of the service on the lines is a major milestone for Prasa given the difficulties experienced with the relocation of households on the rail reserve and criminal syndicates’ constant attacks on security personnel. Certain sections of the Central Line were volatile, posing a threat to our staff and contractors,” said Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda.
She said while the Housing Development Agency (HDA) was finalising the relocation process, Prasa had cordoned off the informal settlements for the safe running of trains ahead of schedule.
“To resume this service, Prasa had to rebuild the infrastructure from the ground up. Vandalised or stolen electrical cables, per way or tracks, and railway clips, including the foundation that supports the rail network have been replaced,” Makanda says. To repair damaged infrastructure countrywide, including train stations themselves, will cost Prasa about R4 billion, as per SABC News.
Minister Fikile Mbalula takes a train ride
The Minister of Transport, Mr. Fikile Mbalula, together with the PRASA Board and Management, and other key stakeholders, have taken a train ride on the reopened lines as part of the Minister’s oversight visit. They disembarked from the Cape Town station at 9am and travelled to Bellville station.
The Minister will also undertake a visit to the earmarked land for the families who will be relocated from Central Line in phase one of the relocation process and engage with the affected communities illegally occupying the railway network.
A TRAIN RIDE ON THE CENTRAL LINE AS SERVICES RESUMES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS.
We are excited that the central line is coming back. I must emphasize that the leadership to ensure that trains are on time and infrastructure is in place is required. pic.twitter.com/LOR9LpAwT0
— FIKILE MBALULA | MR FIX (@MbalulaFikile) July 26, 2022
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Picture: @MbalulaFikile / Twitter