GroundUp reports that about 100 people marched through Gugulethu on Wednesday, demanding that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) fully restore Metrorail’s Central Line in Cape Town.

The Central Line has not been fully functional for years due to vandalism, theft of infrastructure, and the occupation of the tracks and rail reserve owned by Prasa. While part of the Central Line has since been restored, several train stations and part of the route along the Cape Flats have yet to be recovered. Currently, the Central Line only runs from Cape Town to Nyanga. So many commuters who previously used trains have had to find alternative and more costly public transport. The march on Wednesday, organised by #UniteBehind, started at the Heideveld train station and ended in Nyanga. Marchers, some in wheelchairs, came from different areas like Gugulethu, Nyanga and Crossroads. The protesters brought a memorandum of demands addressed to Prasa. Their demands included that Prasa should publicise a detailed plan to fully restore the Central Line immediately, have transparent tenders, and should sign a service-level agreement with the City of Cape Town outlining the responsibilities of each party in the restoration and future maintenance of the Central Line.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Mary-Anne Gontsana at GroundUp

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