Train commuters making use of the Stellenbosch line can breathe a sigh of relief as the service is expected to be up and running by February.
This was revealed by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) as it is on a mission to restore the train service in the province.
The service was set to resume operations at the end of 2023 but due to floods during the year, the tracks washed away.
Prasa acting regional manager, Raymond Maseko, confirmed that the line will be opened before the end of next month, saying: “The Stellenbosch line has not been open yet. The programme was delayed due to the floods that happened from on 24 September to 25 September.
“A substantial part of the track was washed away. We are now recovering from this.”
According to Maseko, both Stellenbosch and Du Toit stations require basic cleaning and repairs have taken place.
“We repaired the major vandalism on both stations already. However, they just need their facilities to be cleaned.
“Prasa has a refurbishment programme that will address additional platforms at Stellenbosch. This programme will run in the 2024/2025 financial year,” Maseko says.
The Stellenbosch line is one of several train routes gradually reopened by Prasa since the public entity took a massive knock during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Southern line somewhat resumed in July 2020 and turned out to be generally functional in January 2022 but there was a reduction in the number of trains.
The Northern line continued to slowly open up in 2022 and further expanded the service in January 2023, while the notorious Central Line is still not operational as Prasa is still in the process of relocating the squatters in Philippi.
The Stellenbosch municipality has welcomed the potential commencement of train services, which could help relieve some road congestion.