Railway safety sector is in a bleak state
THE Railway Safety Regulator has reported that the sector has been exacerbated by security-related incidents following the Covid-19 pandemic – which has caused devastating consequences.
The State of Railway Safety Report 2021/22 was discussed during a webinar this week.
The discussion focused on the rail report and providing analysis on operational occurrences and the securityrelated incidents from 1 April, 2021 to 31 March, 2022.
The panellists on the webinar included Molefi Freddie Kgomari, acting chief operations officer – Railway Safety Regulator (RSR), Litha Mcwabeni, general manager, corporate affairs and stakeholder management, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), Nelson Malefane, acting CEO – Prasa Rail, Tshepo Kgobe, chief operating officer, Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) and the discussion was moderated by Fifi Peters, CNBC Africa Anchor.
Kgomari said the sector had been greatly affected over the past 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The well-being of this sector was further exacerbated by security-related incidents, including theft and vandalism, which had devastating consequences for the railway sector and commuters,” said Kgomari.
He said the report highlighted the reduced rail service in the current reporting period with the combined traffic levels of Transnet, Gautrain, and Prasa Rail declining by a total of 43% since 2010/11.
“There was a 6% reduction in security-related incidents.
“This contrasts with a 2% increase in operational occurrences when compared to the previous reporting period. In terms of injuries and fatalities (there was) an increase in year-on-year fatalities by 21% – that’s from 127 to 154.
“Injuries increased by 47% from 206 to 302.
“People struck by trains saw a 22% increase and 18% level crossing occurrences.
“If you look at security related incidents, for example, we are looking at a 62% long-term increase,” he said.
Malefane said Prasa saw the entire Gauteng network vandalised.
“There has been an impact on other regions but not as bad as in Gauteng.
“This has affected services because we must run limited service to ensure that we comply with safety measures.
“This has affected the number of trains we are operating which affects the number of passengers.
“We have embarked on a rebuilding process; lines have been opened and we are running new trains,” said Malefane.
Speaking on the overall volume situation Kgobe said volumes were sitting at 50% as compared to precovid times.
“People think twice about being in a confined space with other people,” he said.
“The numbers kept climbing, but when Covid numbers come up there is a decrease,” said Kgobe.
Mcwabeni added that Transnet had targeted to do about 200 million tons, but ended with 172m tons in the last financial year.
“The Covid period was a critical factor. We have seen a major spike in incidents of theft of overhead cables and rails in some instances,” said Mcwabeni.