Commuters will experience the luxury of affordable transportation using trains! This after the Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa (Prasa) re-opened the Pretoria to  Pienaarspoort line. However, it will be  running a limited service as part of trial runs. Metrorail plays a critical role in the economy, transporting the country's workforce to their work places at very low ticket fares.

AFFORDABLE FORM OF TRANSPORT

According to  PRASA, Metrorail services many low-income households from the outskirts of the economic activity. They said their  primary mandate is to be the backbone of public transport and they promise to bring back trains corridor-by-corridor. The cost of public transportation has gotten too high over the years following the Covid-19 pandemic. Many people complained that they spend a lot of money on transport which puts a serious strain on their bank balances. Some said it seemed like they were going to work just to be given transport money as a stipend because they could no longer afford even basics for themselves.

A CONVINIENT MODE

Nomsa Mazibuko who lives in the West Rand and works in Joburg said she has had it hard. "Trains are cheap and using them I was never late for work. Right now I spend R120 a day on transport and get stuck in traffic almost every day. I'm forever broke and late for work. I need trains to come back so that things can get better for me." A varsity student who only wanted to be identified as Leano said she doesn't stay at res because her mother is not well. "After trains were stopped and their copper cables stolen, I had no choice but to relocate to a student accommodation. There's no way I was gonna be able to afford a daily taxi fare," she said.

GOOD TO GO

Prasa spokeswoman Andiswa Makanda said: “The work between the Pretoria and Pienaarspoort measures 53km and has 16 train stations. A total of 70% overhead traction work is complete, at a cost of R206 million. The substation repair work stands at 90% complete, costing R93m.                                                                          “Some of the substations that were badly vandalised, such as the Koedoespoort substation, boast new technology, increased power of its traction transformer, meaning more trains can be powered on the line. The technical team also has reduced the copper content at the substations and substituted copper where possible with aluminium.” She said the cost for electrical projects only stood at R300 million and at least 200 job opportunities were created through the rehabilitation project.
Makanda said to curb copper theft, the new lines are made of plated copper, which has a much lower value than the traditional copper used in the past. She said  rail infrastructure has a budget of R2.7 billion, from the Department of Transport headed by Minister Fikile Mbalula, that will go towards fixing multiple stations and corridors.