Station closure, renovation has residents fuming
“Mass vandalism of electrical wires and the destruction of Prasa infrastructure has resulted in vast sections being closed down due to lack of electrical lines.”
The shutdown and subsequent renovation of a non-operational train station in Pretoria West has left residents stranded.
The railway station in Schutte Street has been closed for years and had now become a place for criminals to loot scrap metal, according to local crime activist Eric Cordier.
Metrorail is a network of commuter rail services in Gauteng province in South Africa, serving the commuters from Mabopane, Johannesburg and Pretoria metro area.
“There used to be so many people who used the services to travel daily to work using the train,” said Cordier
The Mabopane and Technikon stations had stopped operating since December 2019, due to frequent cable theft.
According to Cordier, the people steal the train station cables at night when police have difficulty to catch them.
He said other equipment at the station was also disappearing, such as the benches.
READ MORE: West railway cable thieves armed
“The railway sealed the station with a brand new steel fence. It never seemed to help because the cable thieves cut through it,” he said.
“They take the cables to go and sell at scrap metal shops.”
Pretoria West police spokesperson Constable Sibongile Vuma said they have been trying to catch the perpetrators who were stealing cables.
“Through our stop-and-searches done by our patrol vehicles, we are managing to make arrests of the people who steal cables on the railway,” she said.
“We also send out officers to monitor the area daily to avoid more collateral damage to the station.”
Vuma said that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) was called to identify the Eskom cables which has been stolen from the station.
“Without electricity cables, trains are not able to resume with their transport operation,” she said.
Gauteng Metrorail spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng said cable theft was an ongoing challenge in the environment.
“It will take working closely with all relevant stakeholders including the police, commuters, the public and other relevant civil organisations, such as CPF’s,” she said.
“Mass vandalism of electrical wires and the destruction of Prasa infrastructure has resulted in vast sections being closed down due to lack of electrical lines.”
She said cable theft resulted in the temporary suspension of trains running between Pretoria station and Saulsville on Wednesday.
The transport minister Fikile Mbalula together with Prasa administrators held a short meeting at Mabopane train station on Thursday.
The minister said that the refurbishment of the train station from Mabopane to Technikon Rand station should be expected to be completed by April 2021.
“The two stations will remain closed until the cables have been recovered,” said Mbalula.
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