The trains are coming!
Last Thursday (29 February), Metrorail Western Cape announced the first test on the Eerste River/Stellenbosch lines are underway as part of the recovery of the Northern Corridor.
Trains to and from Stellenbosch have been suspended since the Covid-19 pandemic. The service in the greater Stellenbosch area has remained suspended due to vandalism, which included damage to overhead traction equipment, rail tracks, substations and station facilities.
Zinobulali Mihi, provincial spokesperson for Metrorail and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), previously told Eikestadnuus around 60 000 commuters per month were affected by the service’s suspension.
The local line was last operational in March 2020.
Trial operations are now underway for the next two weeks to ensure operations are running smoothly before limited service on the line is re-introduced on Monday 11 March.
For the past few months Metrorail has worked on station upgrades, per-way rehabilitation, OverHead Traction Equipment (OHTE) repairs, including signalling work between Lynedoch and Vlottenberg.
Repair work was further hampered by flooding in the Lynedoch area last September.
“In line with the Railway Safety Regulator’s (RSR) permit conditions, the line can be operational only once the testing period is completed, including adherence to safety standards and regulations,” the rail agency said in a statement on Thursday.
The Stellenbosch line is the last stop on Metrorail’s northern line recovery project. Work is also being done on the second line between Bellville and Eerste River to add more trains on the corridor. This will increase the train scheduling and frequency on the line.
“We are looking forward to seeing our commuters return to our service,” Raymond Maseko, Western Cape acting regional manager, said. “The service resumption is a huge relief to commuters residing in the area.”
Commuters’ concerns about safety will also be addressed, with Metrorail promising that “effective security deployment at stations and hot-spot areas” will be in place to protect those travelling as well as its assets.
Metrorail’s service design team is finalising the new time-table for the Stellenbosch train service.
