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The Department of Transport, the Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) and PRASA have been locked in meetings the whole afternoon today to deal with the Prohibition Directive suspending the use of manual authorisation during degraded condition.

The meeting was meant to highlight the huge impact of the Prohibition Directive on train operations across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape provincial services.  

Approximately 2.6 million passenger trips will be affected across the 3 provinces with Gauteng alone undertaking 1.5 million passenger trips per day. The Order will effectively push all those passenger numbers onto road-based public transportation.  Traffic volumes will also increase thus stretching the demand for road based movement.

The Western Cape, Metrorail with more than 40 percent of public transport market share and undertaking 650 000 passenger trips per day and KwaZulu-Natal undertaking 475 000 passenger trips (running 12 car train configuration) will also be affected.

The use of manual authorisation by Metrorail is not by design but arises out of the ongoing attack on the rail infrastructure by thieves who continue to damage our signal infrastructure by stealing cables and signalling equipment.  The scourge of cable theft and the continued support of that theft by clandestine industries continues to cost PRASA and government millions of Rand that could be used to upgrade passenger rail, create job opportunities.

The crime against the country’s rail infrastructure cannot be managed by PRASA but requires us to treat it as national crisis which requires national intervention, PRASA cannot fight this battle alone.

Should the Prohibition Directive hold, Metrorail can expect a huge backlash from the public that might result in trains being set on fire or vandalised.  Millions of passengers who have bought tickets, which are the only tickets they can afford, will be severely affected while Metrorail will be unable to provide alternative transportation or refunds due to the sheer scale of the number of passengers.

PRASA respects the authority of the Rail Safety Regulator in terms of its powers, according to the Section36 National Railway Safety Regulator Act 16 of 2002 notwithstanding that  RSR should have still given notice before issuing a prohibition.

The meeting agreed that PRASA will submit corrective measures to the RSR that will ensure the safety of passengers during degraded conditions where manual authorisation is in operation.

Issued by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa