ANA reports that a collision involving a passenger train and a tamping machine in Mamelodi on Saturday night affected the service between Pienaarspoort and Pretoria.  

Train services were expected to be up and running as usual on Monday morning.  The collision left 57 passengers badly injured, 14 of them in critical condition.  Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula on Sunday instructed the Railway Safety Regulator to prioritise its investigation into the collision.  “I will soon meet all the rail and road entities to deal with this matter as a priority.  The time has come for new and fresh ideas to stop the carnage,” Mbalula commented.  He also instructed the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) to submit a report urgently regarding the incident and provide the injured and their families with the necessary support.  In addition, he requested the Deputy Minister of Transport, Dikeledi Magadzi, to monitor the recovery progress of passengers who were injured and ensure they received further medical attention where necessary.  Mbalula further commented:  “It cannot be that our rail network is taking the same path similar to the crashes on our roads.  Our rail network is slowly becoming the killing fields, just like our road network. It is unacceptable.”

• Read the full original of the report on the above at Pretoria News

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