SUBSIDIES BENEFIT RICH COMMUTERS PRASA
THE acting group executive officer of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) yesterday made a shocking revelation about the public transport subsidisation system, saying the rich benefited when compared to the poor.
During a press briefing at Prasa’s head offices in Hatfield, Pretoria, Collins Letsoalo said Gautrain commuters were subsidised for R60.30 per passenger per trip, while Metrorail passengers were getting R3.73 a passenger for a single journey.
“We are subsidising the rich. If you look at the LSM levels, those subsidised by Gautrain is not the same as LSM levels of those using the Metrorail,” Letsoalo said.
The high-speed Gautrain caters for upwardly mobile commuters who travel to destinations in affluent areas.
Metrorail is for poor commuters who use it mainly to travel to and from work.
Letsoalo also admitted that Metrorail was rendering poor services.
Although he mentioned that the parastatal was looking into releasing a turnaround strategy by the end of October, he could not say when they would start giving customers satisfactory service.
He also admitted that there was a bitter relationship between Metrorail staff and commuters, in which “frustrated” customers attacked its employees.
The animosity was caused by the poor service the company provided.
“We have hard-working people, 17 000 men and women who are working very hard. Some of them get beaten up by frustrated commuter[s],” he said.
Letsoalo cited trains travelling behind schedule as a cause for hostility between commuters and staff.
“You go to a train station, the train is not there. Stations are dark, our people are not safe. The service we are giving is not intended for our people.”
While it hopes to improve things when it implements its turnaround strategy, Letsoalo said new coaches which had been bought as part of the rail recapitalisation programme would only be fully operational in five to eight years.
The trains, he said, would not be operational since they were still part of litigation.
Prasa has opened a case against the supplier for not meeting the country’s operational requirement.