The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) promises to adhere to the demand of the
United National Transport Union (UNTU) to deploy armed guards on the notorious Central Line in the Western Cape to protect train drivers.
PRASA also promises to improve its contingency management in the Cape Metrorail Operations Control Centre (CMOCC). According to PRASA’s turnaround strategy, managers will remain in the CMOCC till the last train to prioritise repairs, security responses, service continuity and communication to commuters.
The strategy was presented to Labour at the Prasa Bargaining Forum by Lindikhaya Zide, Prasa’s acting chief group executive. It includes improved involvement by the South African Police Service (SAPS) on trains in the Western Cape and improved communication to commuters by sending them SMS-messages. This has proven to be a very effective communication system by Bombela, the operator of the Gautrain.
Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, has welcomed the turnaround strategy, but says the proof is in the pudding.
“This is not the first time that PRASA promised to deploy armed guards to protect its employees working on the Central Line. Richard Walker, the regional manager of PRASA in the Western Cape, made the same promise in January this year, but up to now nothing materialized.
“UNTU is continuing with its application in the Western Cape High Court for a court order to force PRASA to deploy armed guards,” says Harris.
Zide gave details of the extent of the crisis in PRASA in the strategy. According to the strategy 2 081 (46%) of the train coaches of PRASA’s fleet across the country is out of service. Of these coaches 375 were vandalised.
The result is that there is a train set shortage daily with only 248 sets per day available against the required 287 sets. This is the reason why 10% of trains is cancelled at peak times and trains are on average delayed by up to 30 minutes.
In Gauteng only, more than 9 000 manual authorisations must be issued per month. This means that 35% to 40% of the passenger trains in the province functions on manual authority, contributing to further delays and an increased safety risk.
Zide says the directive issued by the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) prohibiting PRASA from operating on manual authorisation at various signals in Gauteng, affects the entire system of the province.
The RSR issued the directive against PRASA on 2 June 2017 after an investigation into the crash between two Metrorail trains at the Elandsfontein Station on 1 June 2017 revealed that the two trains were authorised into a section at the same time, thus indicating poor management and unsafe execution of the manual authorisation process. Manual authorisation was necessary because the signals were not working due to cable theft. A commuter was killed and more than 50 others injured in the crash.
Harris says UNTU remains of the view that safety comes first. It is not in the best interest of UNTU members working on the trains or of commuters if the manual authorisation process is poorly managed.
For more information contact Steve Harris on 082 566 5516.
