The long-suffering Metrorail travelers were stranded again on Thursday at Parow station when trains in both directions were delayed, according to GroundUp.
Metrorail own statistics show that very few Cape Town trains operate on time and at least 40% of scheduled trains do not work at all.
In its newspaper MyLine distributed in stations, Metrorail reported that in the week of November 30 to December 6, only 14% of the trains in the central line arrived on time in the mornings and only one train for every three at night. The center line runs from Cape Town to Kapteinsklip, Khayelitsha, Chris Hani and Sarepta.
It was during this week that Councilman Brett Herron wrote in GroundUp about his experience taking a train from Khayelitsha.
He wrote: “For the morning peak, the trains are scheduled to depart from the Nolungile station at 05:19, 05:34, 05:41, 05:49, 05:56 and 06:04. We arrived at the Cape Town station 50 to 60 minutes later, however, not a single train arrived before 06:00. ”
The failure of the commuter train is a crime against the urban poor In that week, 57% of the trains were canceled, both in the morning and in the afternoon.
On the southern line, which runs from Cape Town to Simonstown, only 40% of the trains arrived on time in the morning and 54% at night. Around 40% of the trains were canceled.
Metrorail passengers on the north line fared a little better: “only” 18% of the trains were canceled. Less than half of the trains arrived on time in the mornings or at night. The northern line runs from Cape Town to Monte Vista, Bellville, Wellington, Stellenbosch and Strand.
On the North Line on Thursday around 07:50, two trains heading to Cape Town stopped, one behind the other, between Parow and Tygerberg stations. A train heading in the opposite direction also stopped when it reached the same point.
Travelers walked along the railway line to the Parow taxi stand. When a train arrived from Cape Town, it was full and some people could not board it.
Look: massive delays, overcrowded trains and theft frustrate Cape passengers
A traveler who works at Somerset West said he was worried that “Metrorail incompetence” would cost him his job.
He said that when his usual train had not arrived at Parow station, he had taken a taxi to Bellville and a train, which had been delayed for 45 minutes, from Bellville station to Somerset West. He said the train had stopped again for about 20 minutes near the station of Sarepta.
A domestic worker working at Camps Bay said she had been forced to take a taxi. In the last two years, his relationship with his employer had soured because he was always late for work due to train problems, he said.
List of problems
Metrorail spokeswoman Riana Scott explained the delays on Thursday:
North line: low air power between Huguenot and Soetendal, defective trains, speed restrictions and signal equipment failure at Firgrove and between Kuils River – Elsies River required some trains to be rerouted via Monte Vista while others could only Proceed with manual authorization which results in more than 60 minutes of longer travel time.
Cape Flats line: defective track circuits in Southfield, faulty signals / cable theft between Hazendal and Pinelands resulted in an additional travel time of 40-50 minutes.
South line: manual authorization between Retreat and Fish Hoek, speed restrictions and defective signals at the Observatory resulted in an additional travel time of 30-40 minutes.
Central line: manual authorization for vandalism, cable theft between Nyanga, Mitchells Plain and Kapteinsklip and signal equipment failure in Bellville resulted in more than 60 minutes of travel time.
