City would do a better job of running trains

ONE OF the best suggestions to have come from the Cape Town authorities recently is for the Cape Town City Council to take over the operation of the suburban railway system. Let’s face it, the commuter rail system is in tatters under the shaky hand of Metrorail. Many commuters have been so angry about regular train delays they’ve been burning railway carriages in frustration.

I travelled to work happily by train every day when I used to commute to and from Sunny Cove station. It was a peaceful and relaxed way of getting to work without the hassle of traffic jams. I think I read more books on my daily train ride than I have ever read before or since. I can’t remember ever arriving late for work. It was only when the monthly train ticket became more expensive than travelling by motorcycle that I took to the road.

My children travelled to and from school safely and economically by train for many years. I don’t think they ever arrived late for school or traumatised by criminals in all the years they used the train.

I went to and from boarding school on the overnight passenger train between Noupoort and Grahamstown for 10 years without mishap.

What happened to train travel? It used to be he natural choice of travellers across the country.

I believe that improved efficiency and safety could turn the trend around and make rail travel popular again – not as a fancy luxury tourist adventure, but simply as a logical way to get around.

The city could employ thousands of people to ensure the safety of rail passengers and guard the parked trains again graffiti sprayers at night. If the trains were maintained in a clean and attractive state, the suburban railways could become an internationally popular tourist attraction. Where else in the world can you travel by train along the rocky edge of the ocean to an historic fishing village and naval town bristling with interesting shops and restaurants?

I don’t believe Metrorail has the interests of Cape Town at heart. They certainly don’t seem willing or able to invest in the system to make it attractive.

If Cape Town took over the suburban train system, they’d probably do a lot more to attract passengers than the sleepy Metrorail folk seem to be doing.

It might even be worth the city’s while to run the railway as a non-profit organisation. The reward would be in safer, less congested roads and more parking space in the city.

Last Laugh

A little boy approached his grandfather and said: “Granddad, we have been learning about riddles and I can already make up lots of riddles.” “Okay, Billy, ask me one of your riddles.” “What’s the difference between an umbrella and a sausage?”

“I give up. What is the difference between an umbrella and a sausage?” “I don’t know.” “So how come you make up riddles and don’t know the answers?”

“We haven’t been taught how to make up answers yet.”