METRORAIL passengers yesterday said they had no reason to celebrate following the reintroduction of train services along the Pretoria northern corridor.
The services had been suspended after the January 8 train collision at Mountain View Station, which claimed three lives and left hundreds of passengers injured.
Passengers said that all they had witnessed since the reintroduction had been the same old three-hour delays, fewer trains, hour-long breaks in-between trips and a painful reminder of the horrific crash.
William Bodigelo said that even though the station had been reopened, the service from Metrorail was terrible; he said they had to wait for hours before a train arrived.
To add insult to injury, Bodigelo said bus services were suspended even though there were still hiccups with the rail route.
“These people have no idea how to run things at all. I think we were better under Spoornet, to be honest. The signals and robots don’t work, no announcements are made or any explanation as to what is going on here.”
Katrina Zitha said the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) was inconsiderate. She said train wreckage from the accident was still there.
“They need to remove those things because it hurts us to see it all the time. My child is still at home injured and might even lose her job.
“Nothing is running smoothly; the trains come late and then they don’t even go the entire route; some passengers have to walk the rest of the way.”
It has emerged that the accident was caused by a breakdown in communication between a control officer and the driver of the second train.
This is according to a preliminary report by the Railway Safety Regulator, which said that after the driver repeated the authority incorrectly, the train control officer acknowledged the incorrect authority.
The regulator said this resulted in the train wrongly entering the section between the Pretoria North and Mountain View stations.
Even though it was initially anticipated the damage would take some to repair, Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng said that due to the tireless work of the technical teams, they were able to open the line. “The technical teams worked tirelessly to remove the wreckage and conduct all the necessary tests prior to reopening the line.”
Mofokeng said the line, which services commuters from Mabopane and De Wildt had, as of Tuesday afternoon peak time, resumed services. “Metrorail would like to thank all loyal customers for their understanding and patience during the repair phase.”