The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has been granted a commercial licence by the Railway Safety Regulator to run the "People’s Train", a type of new, blue-coloured electric train, on the Southern line, in the Western Cape, and the Saulsville line, in Gauteng.
"Metrorail Western Cape has been running the off-peak operations of the new electric trains on the Southern line since November last year, while running the yellow-and-grey trains during peak time.
“What the regulator's decision means is that the new trains can now run on both peak and off-peak hours,” says PRASA acting CEO David Mphelo.
“The decision comes as PRASA ramps up efforts to bring more rail corridors back to operation across the country. The People’s Train is part of its modernisation programme that will bring state-of-the-art rail service to South Africans. It is part of our brand promise to deliver modern, faster, reliable and cost-efficient train services,” he says.
The commercial licences are key milestones in PRASA’s work to recover the corridors that were left decimated across the country due to theft, vandalism and Covid-19.
PRASA has taken a phased-in corridor approach in the recovery of the services and will communicate details of the recovery plan for the 2022/23 financial year in due course.
“The road to recovery is a painful one, but all the work put in is starting to bear fruit. Some of the successes are very encouraging,” says Mphelo.
The agency says it is committed to the safety of employees, passengers and communities, and endeavours to protect its assets.