ANA reports that Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato on Wednesday said the Rail Enforcement Unit (REU), which provides an additional 100 law enforcement officers to the existing security personnel in meeting Metrorail’s security challenges, has been a success story.
He indicated: “The REU’s successes to date give me a good reason to believe that this unit will assist us in stabilising the urban rail service over the next few months. With less crime and vandalism, we can expect a decrease in delays and cancellations, and with that, we can expect more commuters opting for trains as opposed to road-based transport.” REU was launched in October last year. It is jointly funded by the City of Cape Town, the Western Cape Government and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa). The unit has recorded about 36 arrests on a range of charges including assault, possession of drugs and stolen property, malicious damage to property and theft, and has confiscated 379.5m of cable and 800kg of railway signal cable, among other successes. Western Cape MEC for transport and public works and chairperson of the RMTT, Donald Grant, commented: “The initial results and arrests are testaments to the initiative’s effectiveness and our officers’ commitment on the ground.”
- Read the original report in this regard in full at The Citizen
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