There is a ”massive” service crisis within rail-passenger company Metrorail, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday.
There are also concerns about the Transnet division’s readiness for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, DA MP Mpowele Swath said in a statement.
Responding, Metrorail on Tuesday denied the party’s claims that it was experiencing a service crisis.
Swath said Metrorail was ”decreasing the number of trains it runs, and the delays and cancellations are increasing, leading to fewer trains and an even poorer service for commuters.
”In addition, the Railway Safety Regulator recently released a report condemning railway safety and emphasising the poor state of the railways in the country.
”It is clear that commuters are getting the worst service they have ever had, at a time when the rail services need to be drastically improved for the Fifa World Cup, and for the legacy that our transport systems are supposed to be left with after the games,” he said.
In 1998, Metrorail was running 787 713 trains a year. In 2006, this had decreased to 700 141, a loss of almost 90 000 trains.
Over the same period, the number of trains cancelled had gone from 6 301 trains to 16 333, an increase of almost 40%.
Also over the same period, the number of delayed trains had increased from 68 629 to 93 933.
”This is indicative of a massive service crisis within Metrorail, where the public-transport needs of millions of South Africans are being completely unmet,” Swath said.
Contacted for comment, acting Metrorail spokesperson Zilo Mihi told the South African Press Association there was no crisis.
However, the company had experienced a spate of bomb threats at the beginning of this year — up to three a day — which had led to ”delays and cancellations”.
Metrorail had a duty to protect its customers, and the security delays had been unavoidable, she said. — Sapa