Cape Town - Should the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) not get its act together in time to meet the Rail Safety Regulator's deadline of August 31, there could be no trains in use from September.
The regulator gave Prasa until the end of the month to make good on promises to protect its customers, particularly in light of recent arson attacks on trains and the continued vandalism and theft of infrastructure.
Travelling in to Cape Town CBD by train is still the most cost-effective commute.
At least one Independent Media journalist, who travels to the office by train daily from Eerste River, would spend thousands of rand more on his commute, if he had to use any other means of transport.
A monthly train ticket in a third class carriage costs him R190 per month, while his commute by car would cost him that daily.
If you were unable to travel by train, how much more would your monthly commute cost? #TrainArson
— Cape Argus (@TheCapeArgus) August 3, 2018
We asked our readers how much more they would spend if they used any means of transport other than trains, and the results were surprising.
More than 130 people voted, with 24% saying they would have to fork out more than R2000 extra every month.
The majority of respondents, 28% would spend R500-R1000 more while a further 28% would have to find between R200 and R500 in their already-stretched budgets to get to work.
@CapeTimesSA