IN 2022, Fikile Mbalula, the then Minister of Transport, revealed that it would cost the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA) about R4b to repair and rehabilitate railway stations and damaged infrastructure.

KwaZulu-Natal was among three provinces (Western Cape and Gauteng) to have suffered the most devastating vandalism of rail infrastructure, Mbalula revealed.

Since then the agency has spent billions to rebuild rail corridors and upgrade its security.

While remedial and repair work was carried out to the railway line servicing parts of Queensburgh (Wards 63, 64 and 65), questions still linger over the Seaview Station. Residents have pointed to the main entrance gate to the Seaview Station on Sarnia Road being locked for more than a year.

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What is more, while remedial work was carried out inside the station and to the ticket office, it is not operational.

Last week Queensburgh News met with residents who questioned why this had been the case and also pointed to how some of the vegetation at the entrance and around the station were overgrown, leaving commuters vulnerable.

Local residents Khaleel Kazi and Derek Nicholson explained that commuters either have to walk to the old iron entrance archway (also on Sarnia Road) or walk to the back of the station on Medway Road.

“PRASA spent millions on the work carried out at the station but the ticket office isn’t operational and the main entrance gate is locked,” said Kazi.

“If commuters choose to use the old iron arched entrance, which is no longer the official entrance, they are at risk because they are so close to the railway line before they reach the main platform. We are questioning why the entrance gate is locked and why the green areas around the station haven’t been cut back.”

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Nicholson echoed those sentiments.

“The station is not in a bad state but the entrance-way is overgrown. The green areas closest to the platform are overgrown and the gaps in the fence lower down just add to the absurdity of it. The station is being presented to the Sea View residents for us. I spoke to a passenger who was waiting for the train and she mentioned she didn’t feel safe because the station is so quiet,” he said.

At the time of publishing there was no response from PRASA.

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