Train driver pays the price for Metrorail inefficiency
Woman driver injured when commuters stoned her cabin
A train driver was attacked by irate passengers at Olifantsfontein station in Midrand, Johannesburg on Sunday after railway inefficiencies caused a two hour delay.
According to a press statement on Tuesday by the United National Transport Union (UNTU), Lerato Mmothlana, 46, was driving a train from Braamfontein station in Johannesburg to Pretoria. She was stopped at Olifantsfontein station by the train control office and was waiting for authorisation to continue on her route.
UNTU said for the past two months all train drivers from Metrorail and Transnet Freight Rail had to use a single railway line after the overhead cables of the adjoining railway line had been stolen and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) had not replaced them. Mmothlana’s train was stopped to allow another train to go past.
According to UNTU, no announcement was made to passengers about the delay so they assumed the driver was at fault.
“The commuters were getting very angry. They accused me of playing on my phone while they have been left waiting,” Mmothlana told UNTU. She had to use her cell phone to call the train control office as the radio inside the train was not working.
Her cabin was stoned and threats were made that the train would be set alight. She was slightly injured.
Asked why the cables on the adjoining line had not been replaced, PRASA spokesperson Nana Zenani said PRASA had struggled to stay ahead of the high rate of railway vandalism. “The vandalism has made it difficult to keep up with the financial demands as a result,” said Zenani.
She said no announcement could be made as the trains did not have onboard communication facilities. “When trains get stuck in the middle of the section, it is difficult to communicate with commuters onboard.”
Sonja Carstens, deputy general secretary for UNTU, claimed that attacks on PRASA employees on the ground happen daily but are not reported to SAPS by PRASA. “These attacks have never been reflected on the SAPS annual crime statistics,” Carstens continued.
Mmothlana decided not to make use of PRASA’s employee assistance programme after the attack. “They debrief you and send you back to endure more of the same the next day. Something must be done before we die,” she told UNTU.
Zenani said the vastness of the railway system makes it difficult for PRASA to monitor attacks. She said that on some routes, but not all, drivers have security guards in the cabin with them. “PRASA currently deploys security personnel to escort train drivers on corridors that have been defined as hot-spots. Security personnel are at all turn-around points for the escort of train crews as they change coaches.”
According to UNTU statistics, less than 30% of Metrorail train drivers are women.
“Over the last three years, UNTU has been reporting serious attacks on all our members. It is difficult to say how many were women, but it is an alarming figure. Not only on Metrorail train drivers, but also on guards accompanying the train drivers and female train drivers and assistants employed by Shosholoza Meyl and Transnet,” said Carstens.
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Letters
Dear Editor
Recently in December I was on a steam-hauled trip between Germiston and Irene, and in the process our train had to run on regular "wired" routes. We could see how much damage to the "wires" has been caused by cable thieves.
A friend from Port Elizabeth - who is a qualified electrician working for Transnet - and I were sitting together and he pointed out every part of the route where overhead wires were stolen by these scumballs, thus rendering normal travel on Metro trains impossible.
I have the utmost sympathy for the drivers of the Metro trains as they actually risk their lives trying to do their jobs, as many, if not most, passengers attack them when trains are delayed due to signals out of order caused by cable theft or plain inefficiency. It's high time the railway police were resuscitated to maintain law and order not only as far as rioting passengers are concerned, but also to arrest those criminals who think nothing of torching trains as has been the norm for a long time now.
Our once proud railways, like everything else in this country, used to be the main artery of our once vibrant economy. It has deteriorated into a third-world slum in every respect since 1995 and frankly I don't expect any miraculous recovery under the present regime.
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