Desperate commuters that were delayed for more than six hours whilst travelling on Mainline Passenger Services (MLPS) operating as Shosholoza Meyl had to be rescued by two Executive Council Members of the United National Transport Union (UNTU) on Saturday upon their return from Cape Town to Johannesburg.
The train the tour group were travelling on first had to be rerouted after angry community members threw stones at it. To make matters worse a car collided with the train near the Oberholzer Station near Carletonville.
Sonja Carstens, UNTU’s Media, Liaison and Communication Officer, was alerted to the delay as she was waiting to fetch her mother, Hettie Deysel, from the train after she completed the tour.
Carstens phoned C.L. Botha, UNTU Executive Council Member for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) of which MLPS is a division of. Botha immediately phoned Andre Bester, national train crew manager, who confirmed the accident.
According to Botha Prasa had to wait for Transnet Freight Rail to clear the railway line. He advised Carstens to phone Scott de Koker, UNTU Executive Council Member for Transnet Freight Rail.
When De Koker phoned Transnet, they were not even aware of the accident. The operations teams were deployed to a scene near Magaliesburg where a similar incident occurred.
It took Transnet almost an hour to locate the second accident near Oberholzer. Only then an operational team were disposed to go and assist.
The train, which was supposed to arrive at the Park Town Station in Johannesburg around 12:00, only reached the Krugerdorp Station at 18:05 where Carstens picked up her exhausted mother.
“Was it not for the help of Botha and De Koker, who knows how long it would have taken Transnet to realize there was a stranded train on one of its railway lines for hours. The lack of proper communication between Transnet and Prasa is unacceptable. Both state owned companies have an obligation to commuters to ensure a rapid response to any incidents,” says Carstens.
According to Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, there is supposed to be a procedure in place to follow if incidents like this one occurs. “This is pure negligence. These delays and the unreliable railway system are the reason why commuters prefer travelling by bus or aeroplane rather than train.
“This also created a very dangerous situation for the train crew as they had to work long past their 12-hour shift without a release being sent to take over from them. If the train driver would have had an accident due to his or her fatigue, Prasa would have charged the driver for negligence without considering the inhuman hours he or she had to work,” says Harris.
UNTU has repeatedly called on Government in the past to appoint one Minister for both Prasa and Transnet to enforce better co-operation between the two state owned enterprises.
For more information phone Harris on 082 566 5516.
Issued on behalf of UNTU by Sonja Carstens, Media and Liaison Officer. For UNTU Press Statements phone 082 463 6806 or e-mail sonja@untu.co.za.
