At about 6.08 yesterday, two passenger coaches and a motor coach
derailed on the Kuils River side of Bellville station on the Northern Line. The
train derailment of a Cape Town-bound train at Bellville station are being
investigated by Metrorail that left 42 passengers injured.
Riana Scott, Metrorail spokesperson said the recovery of the three
carriages involved in the derailment was complete. “Forty-two commuters
received on-site treatment by emergency personnel for minor injuries. The rail
network is stable and trains are operating as scheduled, subject to prevailing
operational measures, i.e. speed restrictions and manual authorisation in some
sections of the network. The cause of the incident is being investigated to
determine corrective and preventative measures,” said Scott.
The Northern line was reopened after technical crews finished a safety
assessment of the overhead infrastructure and rail tracks. Metrorail recovery
crews and emergency services remained on-site to help passengers and recovery
efforts. Steve Harris, general secretary, United National Transport Union
(Untu) said: “Although no commuters were seriously injured, this derailment
could have been prevented had President Cyril Ramaphosa kept to the personal
promise he made to Untu a month prior to the election.
“The president gave a personal undertaking to consider Untu’s demands
about the safety of passenger rail commuters, its members working for the
Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa).” Harris said the incident happened a mere
three days after the union informed South Africans that the recently launched
“war rooms” had to date had zero impact at ground level.
Unique Fillander, Western Cape Commuters Forum chairperson said: “Prasa
has failed the commuters for decades, but it is worse since (they took) over
from Metrorail.
By: Ellouise Muller
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