PRASA
Cape Town free of passenger train arson attacks since November 2018, says Metrorail
On Wednesday 27 March, Metrorail released Cape Town crime statistics gathered since the struggling commuter train operator implemented additional security measures to stem vandalism. The success of nearly 350 arrests was dampened by the theft of an overhead cable earlier that morning which caused a temporary service suspension on Cape Town’s Central Line.
On Wednesday morning, train services on Cape Town’s busiest lines — which connect the CBD to areas such as Bellville, Bishop Lavis, Nyanga, Philippi, Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha — were temporarily suspended. The theft of an overhead cable between Langa and Nyanga was the cause, according to the Metrorail Cape Town Twitter page on Wednesday morning.
Metrorail Western Cape regional manager Richard Walker confirmed to journalists at a Cape Town Station media briefing on Western Cape rail safety that the cause of the service suspension was the overnight theft of an overhead cable.
“Our team is busy on that,” said Walker. Metrorail was hoping to re-open the service by late Wednesday. Services had resumed by the afternoon peak, but in some cases, there was a delay of more than 60 minutes.
Walker said at the briefing that 347 arrests had been made between March 2018 and March 2019.
“You’re talking about, basically one arrest per day, ” he said.
“We can’t just depend on the police,” said Walker, who told journalists that combined efforts between the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), Prasa Protection Services, the South African Police Service, the Rapid Rail Response Unit and the new Rail Enforcement Unit had produced 347 arrests, 27 convictions and one 30-year prison sentence.
The combined sentences of all the convictions total 171 years and six months, Walker said.
On the 30-year sentence, Walker said it had been two sentences: 10 years for “the destruction of state infrastructure” and another 20 years for possession of stolen property, which Walker labelled as “essential state infrastructure”.
Over the year to March 2019, the value of stolen Prasa infrastructure stood at just above R22-billion. Damage to Prasa infrastructure was R134-million.
“Since October (2018) we have not seen a train burning,” said Walker.
Arson attacks have plagued Metrorail and its parent body, Prasa, since 2015. By October 2018, 175 arson attacks in Cape Town had been recorded. DM
Read in Daily Maverick: Cape Town to get more train sets as rail unit makes 66 arrests in 100 days.
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