Metrorail’s continual delays have infuriated passengers, writes Suzan Chala
On Monday I saw a woman knocked down by a train at Longdale station in Johannesburg. She was flung across the railway line, covered with blood. Part of her dress was left hanging on the front of the train.
The nightmare started in Naledi when about 5000 people were waiting for a nine-coach train. “I waited an hour for the train,” said Zandi Mazi- buko, who also saw a woman knocked down by a train at Ikhwezi station in Soweto on Monday.
The train travelled for more than 30 minutes before it stopped between New Canada and Longdale stations. Commuters got off to walk to the nearest station in an attempt to get another train.
As we were approaching the station, I heard a siren and people screaming. A train was approaching and people were running from the railway tracks, but one woman did not get off the tracks on time and was hit by the train.
“I don’t have a full report of what happened, but she might be charged for illegally walking on the railway track and will not be covered by our commuter insurance,” says Metrorail chief executive officer Honey Mateya. He claims he travels by train twice a month and has never heard a single commuter complaining.
On Monday evening angry Metrorail customers burned down Pretoria’s main station. The fire is believed to have been started when 6000 passengers went on the rampage after trains failed to arrive on time.
On that same evening, while I was travelling home, still traumatised by seeing the woman knocked down by the train, I had another scare. I watched hundreds of people leaping off the train near Phomolong station because they thought it was burning. It had stopped abruptly and there was smoke pouring from underneath.
“I don’t blame those people who burned the station. You pay for a ticket and half the time you have to walk to and sometimes from school,” says Thuli Mkhize, a grade 12 student who missed a test on Monday because of the delays.
Mkhize has been walking from Naledi to Dube every Monday. “The trains are delayed every Monday, and sometimes even three times a week.”
Nomsa Zondo says she has been given two written warnings by her employer for being late on Mondays. She has been travelling by train for 10 years. “Where are the buses they used to provide when there was a problem?” she asks angrily.
According to Mateya, Metrorail issues letters to commuters on request at customer service offices at all stations that they can take to their employers as proof that it is not their fault they are late for work.
At stations commuters are entertained by the sound of kwaito and jazz music, announcements of acceptable behaviour in trains and Metrorail advertisements with the slogan “Metrorail gets you home safe, noma kanjani”.
“Who needs to listen to this stupid music in the morning anyway? They should use these radios to announce the delays,” shouts Crassock Prince. “Metrorail is failing. Trains are filthy and have been shortened.”
Metrorail has introduced express trains, which stop at certain stations, and take 50 minutes from Naledi to Johannesburg. “What is the use? It might as well stop at all stations, it never gets us on time,” says Thabo Lebowa, a student at Astra College.
Delays are also caused by stops at stations for long periods while passengers are strip-searched by Metrorail security guards and to allow ticket examiners to check whether every passenger paid.
“We don’t have examiners at every station, we can’t afford it. It is difficult to search when the train is moving,” says Mateya.
It is also very difficult for passengers to move or even breathe properly in the crowded carriages.
On Wednesday morning, from a crowd of about 600 people screaming “Halleluya!”, someone shouts: “Mu shayeni [hit him].” An elderly man had been caught pickpocketing from a member of the church group in that coach. He was taken to the priest and the passenger prayed for him.
Perhaps the prayer worked for Metrorail as well. This train arrived on time.