Slow trains coming as Prasa commuter services roll up the comeback track

[John Ashworth]

Slow trains coming as Prasa commuter services roll up the comeback track

After nearly two years of bruising lockdowns which saw Gauteng's commuter rail network destroyed by thieves, Metrorail commuter train services continue their slow comeback. Trains from Park Station to Naledi in Soweto were the latest services to resume, with three travelling the route each way daily... While the trains used on the Naledi route are the standard yellow-and-grey Metrorail electric train sets, they are hauled by Prasa-owned diesels as most of the overhead power cables were stolen on the Gauteng commuter rail network...

Ongoing cable theft also raised questions on whether the new electric commuter train sets being built by the Gibela consortium could be placed in service... While the company has already supplied dozens of the new hi-tech Alstom Xtrapolis trains from its purpose-built factory at Dunnottar, south of Springs, many have been stored pending repairs to the overhead power network...