No easy ride for passengers as Eastern Cape trains hit the buffers

This file photo shows a long-distance passenger train in the Karoo in the Western Cape. Prasa has not given dates on when service between Cape Town and Johannesburg will resume.It was no easy ride home after the first long-haul passenger trains to run for almost a year were so delayed that passengers had to complete their journeys by bus.

Meanwhile, the northbound train from East London reached as far as Vereeniging before it, too, was halted by cable theft, said Passenger Rail Association of South Africa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda.While the trip got off to a good start, unfavourable weather conditions, sabotage of the rail network and cable theft forced management to put in place a contingency plan to get passengers safely home,” she said.

“A train was also dispatched from Johannesburg to carry the large luggage of some of our passengers to their destinations,” Makanda said. As most of the overhead power cables from which electric locomotives draw power on Prasa's network in Gauteng have been stolen, the agency has had to hire diesel locomotives from private operators to haul its trains.

The first six months of operations, which began on December 15, will see Prasa focus on employee and customer safety, bringing back customers, generating revenue and sustainability, the rail agency said.

Will keep on asking same question.....afterall public reps need to give answers....When is the Mahikeng to Kimberley railway line services going to be 'fixed' Mr Minister Mbalula?

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