Train crash waiting to happen findings ‘not new’

THE findings of the Railway Safety Regulator into the deadly train crash near Pretoria’s Mountain View station were nothing new, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has said.

Prasa said it had made the same remark before the regulator released its report in which it blamed the entity at the weekend.

Last week, it emerged that a breakdown in communication between a control officer and a driver led to the crash.

This according to a preliminary report by the regulator, which said that after the driver repeated the authority incorrectly, the train control officer acknowledged the incorrect authority.

The regulator said this resulted in the train entering the section between the Pretoria North and Mountain View stations wrongfully.

In a statement, the regulator said based on the data received from Prasa, the section had been operating under manual authorisation since November last year.

However, Prasa spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng yesterday said it was nothing new. Mofokeng said Prasa made the findings first.

“At the time of the accident, trains were authorised manually and we also picked up that human error was also part of the contributors.

“However, the board of inquiry will go deeper into all issues and key

We are totally disgusted by the incompetence of Prasa and its arrogance over commuters’ lives

Steve Harris Untu general secretary

contributors to the accident,”she said.

The United National Transport Union (Untu) said it was disgusted by the findings. “We are totally disgusted with the total incompetence of Prasa and its arrogance about the lives of millions of commuters and thousands of employees,” general secretary Steve Harris said.

He added that the accident would not have happened had Prasa implemented the plan that addressed its implementation of manual authorisation as set out in a court order. According to the order, all manual authorisations had to be overseen by a train control officer and a section manager to limit the risk of human error occurring, “as has been the case in all five collisions in Gauteng over the past two years”, Harris said.

At least four people died and 620 were injured in the collision between the two trains on January 8.

Commuters complained that the alternative transport provided by Prasa was not enough for all passengers and they didn’t have the resources to find other means of transport.