Cape Town - The Public Transport Voice is calling for an investigation into safety-related incidents, as the Western Cape recorded most fatalities and injuries in the annual safety report.
The Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) 2016/2017 report said safety-related incidents in the rail environment had increased by 13% to 6379 incidents, compared with the 5520 incidents in the previous year.
Safety-related incidents primarily related to crime, and included equipment and infrastructure theft; arson; malicious damage to property; train hijacking; personal safety and crowd-related incidents.
Public Transport Voice, an organisation advocating for quality and equality in the public transport sector, said: “Security, especially on the notorious central line with its crime hot spots needs to be beefed up resources like CCTV must work.
“Cape Town train commuters are risking their lives daily by squeezing into overcrowded trains in peak hours and hanging outside open doors,” said Mthuthuzeli Dutyulwa, spokesperson for the group.
He said thieves and pickpockets “fleece commuters”.
Research general manager at the Railway Safety Regulator Cornel Malan said occurrences of people being struck by trains rose by 17% from 541 in 2015/16 to 651 occurrences in 2016/17.
She said theft, including cable theft, has increased by 13%, the highest since 2010.