Transport minister wants train crash investigation
It was not clear how two trains came to be on the same track at the station
TRANSPORT Minister Dipuo Peters has instructed the Railway Safety Regulator to immediately investigate the cause of Monday’s Metrorail train accident in Pretoria in which over 200 people were injured.
“The Railway Safety Regulator must conduct a thorough inspection of the collision scene, call witnesses and produce a report and recommendations to ensure that proper action is taken at the conclusion of the investigation,” said Peters.
She instructed the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to take immediate measures to improve safety and the reliability of trains.
Peters added that Prasa had to impose severe consequences and ensure that incidents such as this were prevented.
Two Prasa trains were in a head-on accident in which 20 passengers sustained serious injuries on Monday night at the Lynn Ross Station in Rosslyn.
Metrorail’s Lillian Mofokeng said technicians had worked through the night and the train was operational again.
Mofokeng said the train service for Ga-Rankuwa commuters had been restored, but it was not yet clear how two trains had come to be on the same track at the Lynn Ross Station.
De Wildt trains are using a single line between Rosslyn and De Wildt stations.
“Of the 216 commuters who suffered minor to moderate injuries, 207 have since been discharged from various hospitals around Pretoria,” said Mofokeng.
She said a board of inquiry would conduct a comprehensive investigation into the cause and circumstances of the accident, to prevent future occurrences.
DA spokesman for roads and transport, Fred Nel, said the head-on collision raised serious concerns about rail commuter safety in Gauteng.
“This is the second incident in a week after a Gautrain carriage derailed between Hatfield and Pretoria last week,” Nel said.
“The DA calls on the Rail Safety Regulator to expedite its investigations into these two matters so that the root causes can be addressed without delay.”