Trial runs of Centurion train lines underway
“Relevant tests and compliance processes with the rail safety regulator are underway. A date will be announced once we are ready to implement the operations.”
The Metrorail train service between Centurion and Pretoria will be resuming soon.
Metrorail Gauteng announced that their Rebuilding Rail campaign is moving along with limited train services.
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) previously announced that it would reintroduce the line, and was expected to be opened as early as the end of March.
Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda said the move was part of the agency’s plans to reopen the Pretoria to Johannesburg train service.
Gauteng Metrorail management conducted station visits on Wednesday, March 22, as part of their readiness for service for the resumption of the line.
Management visited the Centurion, Kloofsig and Sportpark stations to check in on repairs and the state of the stations, as well as trial tests of the line as the train took them from station to station.
Spokesperson Lillian Mofokeng confirmed that the station was getting ready for the reopening.
“Relevant tests and compliance processes with the rail safety regulator are underway.
“A date will be announced once we are ready to implement the operations,” Mofokeng said.
“We are currently doing system integrity tests.”
A concerned resident, Ben Marais, was sceptical about the reopening of the line, telling Rekord that he thought that squatters had moved in at Centurion station.
Mofokeng, however, said that the line was clear and the track was unobstructed.
Prasa previously suspended the Johannesburg to Pretoria corridor after large-scale theft and vandalism of Prasa infrastructure spiralled out of control during Covid-19 lockdowns.
The reopening of the Centurion line comes after a series of reopenings since late 2022.
In October last year, former minister of transport Fikile Mbalula reopened the Pretoria-Pienaarspoort line, which featured new electric trains and increased power capacity along the line.
Addressing the media at the time, Mbalula vowed to recover rail services in all the rail corridors in the country.
He further said the resumption of services would ensure that South Africans, who have been severely impacted by the suspension of commuter rail services, will have access to a safer and more reliable public transport system.
“This is in line with our commitment to return 10 priority corridors to service this year. Prasa is on track to rebuild and recover these commuter rail corridors, three of which are in Gauteng, with a budget of R2.7-billion,” the former minister said at the time.
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