Thieves mar return of Shosholoza Meyl train service

The resumption of the Shosholoza Meyl rail service, with passengers booked to travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town, was marred by the theft of overhead wires in the Western Cape on Thursday night.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) said the train managed to arrive in Wellington on Friday morning, from where the journey would be completed by bus.

The trip had to be halted because of the discovery that soon after midnight overhead wires had been stolen between Kraaifontein and Muldersvlei, affecting the Wellington metro service.

Prasa said it was determined to revive its long-distance services and would engage with Transnet on how to effectively combat cable theft.

The intercity rail operation was suspended in 2021 but is rebooting with travel between Gauteng, Durban and Cape Town.

Earlier this week the company acknowledged it was facing several challenges, including the quality of infrastructure and a shortage of locomotives.

“This may result in delays and, in some cases, even cancellations,” it cautioned, but said contingency plans are in place for its mainline passenger services.

“Prasa believes acknowledging and addressing challenges openly is essential to rebuilding and maintaining trust in our service. We know long-distance travel via rail is the most affordable. During this phase of reintroducing the long-distance mainline passenger services, Prasa will provide regular updates on our progress and seek feedback from our passengers and other stakeholders,” the agency said.

“The agency is determined to deliver a reliable, safe and comfortable long-distance train experience.”

TimesLIVE