Anele Gxekwa, from Crossroads, who earns R3,500 a month as a cleaner, spends R1,200 of it on transport. This is because Metrorail’s return to service in Cape Town has been so limited it has left most commuters dependent on minibus taxis and buses which are much more expensive.
A return Metrorail trip from Nyanga to Cape Town, which costs R18, costs R50 by minibus. The weekly Metrorail ticket is R59, by minibus it costs R250. A Metrorail monthly ticket costs R175, while cab fare is about R1,000.
Work-seekers are also very hard hit. Mkhuseli Sishuba, who is unemployed and from Philippi, said it “is killing us”.
During the week, trains on the Central Line only provide a limited service with two trips – one in the morning and a return trip in the evening. And it takes long. Commuters travelling to central Cape Town boarding at Nyanga maintain to change trains at Mutual.
On Saturdays, the central line only runs from Cape Town station up to Langa, leaving commuters living in Bonteheuwel, Netreg, Heideveld and Nyanga without a service.
And Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha, the city’s biggest townships, gain no train service at every because the Central Line servicing them is broken.
A signalling system is currently being installed to safely increase trains to Nyanga by terminate of April. “All other systems gain been repaired and additional lines believe been built between Nyanga and Cape Town,” said Metrorail spokesperson Zinobulali Mihi.
Trains in Cape Town finish not operate at every on Sundays. And last Friday, 26 January, rail computers were left stranded as services were suspended on the Southern, Central and Northern lines due to early morning cable theft near an Eskom substation that affected the stabling yard. “No trains could depart from the yard to the outer stations to start the service,” Mihi told GroundUp.
“Trains finish not operate on Sundays and public holidays for now, due to the region performing heavy maintenance and repairs to the majority of the recovered infrastructure,” she said.
A return to service on these days will depend on demand, which was not supported during the last December holidays when trains did rush on Sundays and public holidays.
“The travelling patterns of commuters acquire changed post Covid,” said Mihi.
People living in Philippi, Stock Road, Nolungile, Nonkqubela, Khayelitsha, Chris Hani, Mitchells Plain and Kapteinsklip maintain no option but to continue using expensive minibus taxis and bus services.
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