80 buses to help stranded Metrorail passengers
|Published
OFF LIMITS: Chris Hani OFF LIMITS: Chris Hani
Eighty buses will be made available in July to accommodate thousands of train commuters who have been left stranded by the suspended Cape Town Central train line.
In addition, government is spending R1.4 billion on restoring the line, with the aim of being wholly operational again by April 2021, Transport minister Fikile Mbalula and Prasa administrator, Bongisizwe Mpondo, announced on Thursday as they outlined their recovery and alternative service plan for the line.
PLANS: Fikile Mbalula
The line carries 40% of the city’s commuter traffic, but the equipment and infrastructure serving it had been “vandalised beyond repair”, said
Mbalula.
The Central Line, a corridor from Cape Town train station to Chris Hani in Khayelitsha with a connecting line from Philippi towards Kapteinsklip in Mitchells Plain was suspended in November 2019.
The overhead lines between Bonteheuwel and Nyanga, Philippi - Stock Road, Khayelitsha - Chris Hani and Philippi - Mitchells Plain stations have been stripped and stolen, with about 220 000 train commuters left stranded and forced to use alternative transport.
Mpondo said a phased approach will be taken in fixing the Central line, where the first three months will focus on
stability and order.
Metrorail will provide a limited train service between Cape Town and Phillippi in September, with a 30 minute frequency of trains.
“In April next year, a full train service will be restored between Cape Town and Kapteinsklip in Mitchells Plain and Chris Hani in Khayelitsha - 15 minute frequency in peak and 30 minute in off peak,” Mpondo said, adding that over the next six months, Prasa will deal with infrastructure rehabilitation.
He said those included building four-metre high concrete walls to protect infrastructure and demarcate the rail reserve, and installing security cameras and security technology to assist with crime prevention and response.
“We will also restore and/or rebuild sub-stations that have been damaged by vandalism, replace overhead electrical lines and complete modern re-signalling
project.”