Rail crashes a cause for concern

News of the second passenger rail collision in less than a week, this time in Germiston on the East Rand yesterday, leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, not only for commuters but the nation at large.

Luckily, no fatalities were reported in the incident yesterday when a passenger train crashed into a stationary one, but that more than 200 passengers were reportedly treated for injuries is a situation that cannot be tolerated.

That the incident took place a few days after 19 people perished when a train and a truck collided at a level crossing near Kroonstad, Free State, should be cause for even greater concern about safety on SA railways .

Given the gruesome task of identifying the burnt remains of victims of the Kroonstad tragedy, the Germiston incident is totally unacceptable.

Last week’s crash happened because the truck failed to stop to allow the long-distance train to pass. The two incidents point to an urgent need by the authorities to improve rail safety.

Rail safety has become part of public discourse, mainly among the poor classes, because of the spate of accidents in recent years.

These discussions invariably include frustrations over the unreliability of trains, a phenomenon authorities blame on technical aspects such as ageing infrastructure and vandalism. It is with huge disappointment some of them, notably Transnet and Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa), have been in the news for alleged corruption and incompetence involving billions of rand.

By pumping so much money into such state-owned enterprises, the government should be viewed as having good intentions for rail infrastructure development.

However, as seen by the financial mismanagement sagas at Transnet and Prasa, the intentions of those trusted by government to do good with railways is questionable.

We have a noble constitution that fosters public safety and personal rights of citizens and other individuals.

It’s about time the government pronounced clearly on its disappointment that, despite so much money having been pumped into railways to ensure comfort and public safety of users, avoidable crashes still happen at the great cost of human lives.

The time – we insist – to crack the whip is long overdue.