No train to Mitchells Plain: last steps to fully reopen Central Line

Lentegeur station has not operated for more than six years. Some parts are strewn with rubbish, and people have built shelters outside the station. The tracks are unfenced, but security personnel are stationed on the platform. Photo: Yaseen Bardien

• Most of Cape Town’s Central Line has been reopened after it was closed due to vandalism and theft.
• But the line to Mitchells Plain has been closed for six years. Several stations are not operating and have been heavily vandalised.
• PRASA still needs to complete repairs on 2km of overhead traction equipment, and more than 1,250 people living on and around rail tracks in Langa need to be relocated.
• People who formerly occupied parts of the railway, and were temporarily relocated, are disrupting PRASA’s repair work, demanding permanent relocation, electricity supply, and job opportunities.

Trains to Mitchells Plain on the Central Line have not been operational for six years, and several stations on the line remain closed.

The delay in reviving train services has left Mitchells Plain commuters reliant on alternative means of transport. PRASA had promised trains would at least have test runs by mid-2025. But the rail agency is now unable to confirm a specific reopening date.

Two kilometres of railway still needs to be fixed, former rail occupiers are disrupting work, and there are still more than 1,250 people living on the railway lines between Langa and Bonteheuwel.

Stations still out of order are Netreg, Heideveld, Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain, Kapteinsklip, Kuyasa and Lavistown. Lentegeur Station is far from operational. Some parts are strewn with rubbish, and people have built shelters outside the station. The tracks are unfenced, but security personnel are stationed on the platform.

There has been significant improvement in getting the central line working again, but seven stations are still not operational, and the Mitchells Plain track is yet to be fixed.

Safety concerns

PRASA’s cancellation of security contracts in 2019 led to large-scale cable theft and vandalism of the Central Line. The line was further damaged during covid, and people built shacks on some parts of the line.

Most of the line has since been rehabilitated and reopened. However, for the line from Cape Town to Mitchells Plain to become operational, PRASA still needs to complete work on the overhead traction equipment for 2km between the R300 bridge and Phillipi station, according to PRASA spokesperson Zinobulali Mihi.

From Langa to Philippi on the Mitchells Plain line, railway tracks have been stolen and overhead equipment stripped.

Safety concerns for workers in the Phillipi and Stock Road areas have hampered their efforts, said Mihi.

About 900 families who had occupied parts of the Central Line during covid were moved to a vacant piece of land on Stock Road, named Loyiso Nkohla Mabandla Village, in 2023.

They are yet to be permanently relocated by PRASA. Residents we spoke to said they will continue to stop PRASA from rehabilitating the Mitchells Plain line until they get a share of job opportunities and are provided with electricity. They have held several protests in recent months.

“We are not against the rehabilitation of the railway lines, but we also have concerns that we have raised that PRASA must attend to,” said community leader Lizo Magebe.

People have built shelters on the line leading to Mitchells Plain. It is unclear at what stage the plans are to relocate them. Photo: Sandiso Phaliso

Relocation delays

Between Langa and Bonteheuwel, more than 1,250 people are living on and around the track that goes to Mitchells Plain.

In 2023, PRASA acquired two portions of land in Philippi Wedge to relocate people, and applied to the City of Cape Town for the land to be rezoned.

But there has been strong opposition from Mitchells Plain residents, with more than 900 comments registered during a public comment period on the rezoning during October and November 2023.

The City asked PRASA for additional outstanding information, but PRASA kept missing deadlines. Some of the outstanding information was received in October 2024. The City then asked for further information, but this has not yet been provided, according to City spokesperson Luthando Tyhalibongo.

PRASA has missed the deadline to submit two outstanding documents for consideration by the Municipal Planning Tribunal in relation to Philippi Wedge. This includes responding to comments received from the City’s geohydrology department and the public participation process.

Despite the City not having received all the outstanding documents, it will “proceed with finalising the two reports to be submitted to the Municipal Planning Tribunal for consideration,” said Tyhalibomgo.

PRASA spokesperson Andiswa Makanda previously told GroundUp that the “permanent relocation is being coordinated through an intergovernmental structure”.

Asked for comment on the missed deadlines, Makanda said, “We do not engage with the City through the media and from a nameless source. That would be very reckless. We had a meeting with the City on Tuesday, and we indicated that we will be making submissions.”

A commuter waits to board a train at Phillipi station. Trains to and from Philippi started operating earlier this year, five years after they stopped. Photo: Sandiso Phaliso

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