Do transport MPs dare take a train?
AS A COMMUTER using the Southern Suburbs Metrorail line to commute to work on a daily basis, I have decided to communicate to you my utter disgust at the state of affairs of Metrorail carriages, lines, staff, structures etc.
My tipping point came when I boarded a train and went to find a seat and there was a human turd on the train. The trains are becoming unfit for human transportation. The seats are cut out and apparently used as toilets, which would account for the stench of urine.
The graffiti is rife, the windows are broken, there is no self-respect left of the once proud rail system!
There are constant muggings and knife-point robberies. We are all living in constant fear of our lives on the trains. There is no security on the trains.
There are no ticket checkers on the trains or at the stations. As a good citizen, you are expected to buy a ticket and commute with all those who catch the train without purchasing tickets. There will come a time when the good citizens will stop buying tickets too, and then what will Prasa do?
Due to the ongoing cancellations and delays, I have had to catch a taxi or Uber on numerous occasions. What about those who cannot afford this option?
This morning I caught a train from Muizenberg and it chugged its way to Retreat. Once there, it stopped and we were told to change to platform 3.
Commuters of all ages, races, and genders (including a little boy of 5 on his way to Red Cross Hospital with his mother) crossed the railway line in front of the train and climbed up the platform from the lines to board the train.
Not a single Metrorail staff member stopped this action. Thus it has become each man for himself and complete and utter lawlessness. The ongoing cancellation of trains and utter disregard for the people catching trains has to be addressed, it cannot continue unabated.
The commuters themselves have created their own WhatsApp groups to inform one another where and when trains are departing. It is the only way for them to ensure that they stay sane in this insanity. They need to do this to ensure that they get to work as their jobs are threatened.
Last weekend I volunteered my time to assist Petco to clean up the railway line from St James to Muizenberg. I am a citizen who cares, who believes in community and giving back even to Metrorail/ Prasa, which does not care about me, their customer.
What I ask you, chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport, Ms D Magadzi, and you, secretary of Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport, Ms Valerie Carelse, and you, transport committee members, M De Freitas and L Ramatlakane, is when last did you catch a train to work?
When last did you visit the Metrorail stations? When last did you take time to find out what is going on, on the ground with the people? Or do you not care? Are your titles merely titles with no substance?
Do you have no pride? What are you going to do about the status of Metrorail?