Iconic yellow trains make way for new blue People’s Train, enhancing commuter convenience and safety

Tbe new Peoples Trains also come with an alarm system through which commuters can engage through intercom. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

By Bheki C. Simelane

22 Aug 2024

In a welcome shift, the iconic yellow trains in Gauteng have now been replaced by their blue counterparts, promising both convenience and increased safety.

A far cry from their yellow counterparts, the new blue People’s Trains come with much improved features to enhance convenience and safety.

While the design and operations of the old yellow trains might have been consistent with design specifics at that time, they had become more of a curse than a blessing.

“The majority of the yellow and grey fleet is ageing and unsafe for commuters. The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is introducing world-class high-tech trains that come with built-in safety features, major technological improvements from the yellow-grey fleet, contributing to green mobility,” said Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa national spokesperson Andiswa Makanda.

The new blue trains are equipped with security cameras. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

“These trains will ensure that the public has access to modern, reliable and safe services.”

Commuters were also tormented by criminals on a daily basis in the old train operations.

“The new trains are a breath of fresh air. People do not have to clutch their belongings and can freely use their phones,” Tebogo Musi, a vendor along the Johannesburg to Vereeniging rail line, said of the new trains.

“School children have their own couch. They cannot sit with the adults and make noise,” Musi said aboard a Johannesburg to Midway train as a group of learners strode from coach to coach all the way to the front couch, which they had been allocated.”

This is an operational decision taken by the region for the safety of minors.

Makanda said: “This is an operational decision taken by the region for the safety of minors. Additionally, the dedication for coaches is to assist unaccompanied minors not to miss their stops and for their convenience and comfort.”

This is one of several changes that have been implemented on the new trains.

Provisions have been made for various groups of people, including the elderly, children, pregnant women and mothers with babies. These groups of people are entitled to priority sitting. Anyone who sits on their seats must give way to any individual belonging to these groups of people. There are security guards on the trains who enforce the implemented changes.

Provisions have been made for specific groups of people to find seating, specifically children, the elderly, pregnant women and mothers with babies. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

The new People’s Trains are also equipped with an alarm system for commuters. Provisions have also been made for people who are wheelchair bound. The doors are automatic, and the train cannot move when the doors are open.

The interior is neat and equipped with cameras. The seats have been partitioned, which means there can no longer be any jostling for sitting space.

“Believe me when I tell you that this is the Gautrain,” said Celine Mahlangu, a loyal customer. “It’s a reprieve from the daily exposure to crime, if you don’t fall victim yourself. There is nothing I hated more than the guys who would prevent the door from closing while the train was in motion. Prasa has been thoughtful,” Mahlangu, from Sebokeng in the south of Johannesburg, said delightedly.

Security

“The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has an integrated security plan, making use of its own protection services personnel and private security, working with the SAPS,” Makanda said.

One of the crucial aspects of the rail operations currently missing is rail robots. Security personnel assist trains on departures and arrivals.

“As part of the passenger rail rebuilding work, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is resignalling the rail network. Six of the operational lines have been re-signalled. Re-signalling work continues in KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Gauteng,” Makanda said.

There is also a strong presence of security and law enforcement officers on board.

The sparkling interior of the new blue trains. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

Prasa had not responded to questions regarding the deployment of law enforcement officers along its rail routes.

Asked what prompted the improvements in the new trains, Makanda said it was a decision arrived at following a feasibility study in 2011.

“The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa embarked on the modernisation of rail services through its Rolling Stock Fleet Renewal Programme, with the aim to replace its ageing and unreliable fleet,” said Makanda.

The iconic old yellow trains

The old trains are being overhauled to substitute the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s rolling stock needs while the balance of 600 new blue trains are being delivered. Additionally, it is intended that this fleet can be sold either to Southern African Development Community railways operating on Cape Gauge, or to any other railway operator looking for passenger rolling stock.

The overhauling is taking place for the first time since the fleet’s introduction in the mid-2000s.

According to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, this activity should take place every eight to 12 years and is an essential aspect of ensuring the continued safe operation and reliability and availability of the rolling stock.

The new trains are also equipped with automatic doors. Unlike the old trains, the blue train will not move when the doors are open. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

And, while the old yellow trains were crucial in getting the ordinary person from point a to b, customers were sitting ducks for criminals.

Criminals cut open women’s handbags at the bottom with razor blades and emptied them during the rush hour commotion. They pick-pocketed commuters during rush hour.

They kept the doors open with their feet while the train was in motion so that they could escape after robbing commuters of their bags, jewellery or phones.

They openly harassed commuters.

The People's Trains come with an alarm system through that commuters can engage through an intercom. (Photo: Bheki Simelane)

“I will never forget 15 August 2016 when I lost a pair of gold earrings. The guy just ripped them off my ear and left me with streams of blood from both ears. The old trains were hell,” said Thando Dlamini from Chiawelo in Soweto.

The revival of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa network followed wholescale looting of its assets, which culminated over the Covid-19 period.

Read in Daily Maverick: Stripped bare: Looting till there is nothing left of Gauteng’s rail network

In December last year, Prasa told Daily Maverick that it had spent R4.6-billion during its ongoing recovery process. It further said 6,000 job opportunities had been created in the process.

But the migration to the new trains has not been without any challenges as an investigation by amaBhungane revealed that the notorious Gupta family and Duduzane Zuma attempted to profit off the R51-billion contract and get the parastatal into their grip by purporting to represent a Chinese company in the supply of 600 trains in 2012.

Meanwhile, recovery of the rail network continues across the country. To date, 31 of the 40 rail corridors have been recovered.

“In Gauteng, we are using the new trains, Isitimela Sabantu, on all the recovered lines,” said Makanda. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

South Africa

Security

The iconic old yellow trains