Prasa to blame for accident

WHILE train commuters along the north corridor are still reeling from the Mountain View train crash which left several people dead and more than 600 injured, the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) has confirmed its findings that the Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa) was responsible for last Tuesday’s accident.

In preliminary findings, the RSR cited a “breakdown in communication” between the driver and train control officer on the day of the accident, saying, based on data received from Prasa, the section from Pretoria North to Mountain View had been operating under manual authorisation since November 2018.

Furthermore, the RSR said the damage to the coaches of both trains indicated that the train to Pretoria station may have been travelling at considerable speed, something commuter Rebecca Majola took note of before she was freed from the wreckage after the accident.

Majola thought at the time that it was going too fast.

“All I remember before waking up on the floor of the train was this long bell ringing, followed by the bang and I was out of it.”

Majola said when she came to she had blood in her mouth and pain all over her body.

Acting RSR chief executive Tshepo Kgare said accidents such as the Mountain View incident indicated that Prasa was in contravention of its own standard operating procedures, as well as the directives of the regulator. She said the regulator had consistently highlighted the risks inherent in prolonged periods of manual train authorisations.

It continued to compel Prasa to provide proper control and supervision of manual train authorisation.

“However, we keep on seeing a recurrence of incidents attributable to this method of operation,” Kgare added. “Even after being issued with a court order to improve safety in its operations, Prasa continues to demonstrate the highest levels of lethargy and disregard for rail safety in their operations.”

The exact speed the two trains were travelling at will only be confirmed once the RSR has received and had time to analyse the event recorder data provided to it.