The New Age reports that Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi has ordered the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) to speed up the investigations into two train accidents that happened only five days apart.
The second accident in Germiston happened on Tuesday on the day that relatives of the 19 people who died in a train crash in Kroonstad last week were due to identify the victims. The latest crash left 226 commuters injured, 67 with moderate injuries and the others with light injuries. The two trains that collided were both authorised to travel on the same line to Springs from Johannesburg. Most of these injuries were as a result of the emergency brakes being applied by the driver of the oncoming train. A comprehensive investigation is underway. Maswanganyi said Prasa should expedite its plans to modernise rail services in SA, including expediting the process to replace all existing interlocking signalling, which consists mainly of obsolete mechanical and electromechanical systems, with electronic interlocking as the technology of choice. He also said that cable theft remained one of the major challenges “that keep on undermining our determination and efforts to provide a safe and secure railway experience for all South Africans.”
- Read this report by Keitumetsi Motlhale in full at The New Age
- Read too, Transport minister orders expedited investigation of SA’s railways, at BusinessLive
- And also, Rail still the safest mode of transport, says Metrorail following Germiston collision, at News24
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page