News24.com | Commuters get their ticket to ride as Cape Town's Central Line rises from the ashes

• Prasa has officially added the Nyanga to Langa route to its Central Line service to the Cape Town CBD. 
• This three years after no service, and significant vandalism and theft. 
• The reconstruction teams had to build some sections of the line from scratch, often being threatened by armed robbers.

The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) has officially launched the Nyanga to Langa stretch of the Central Line, completing phase one of the reconstruction of the train service to Cape Town.

Early morning commuters from Nyanga station were amused by the spectacle of the enormous delegation of the who's who in the public transport sector on a still dark Tuesday morning. 

They included newly appointed Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga and Prasa chairperson Leonard Ramatlakane as well as a massive retinue of private security, bodyguards, and police, including an armoured vehicle which was parked outside the station.

Commuters sat snoozing or chatting, while in the dignitaries' coach, there was standing room only as the train rolled out of the station smoothly.

As darkness lifted to reveal a pink sky, the Prasa delegation beamed as the R422 million Nyanga to Langa phase of the central line reconstruction lay before them.

READ | High hopes for next phase of Cape Town's Central Line railway revival

Margaret Gelderbloem had walked from Manenberg while it was still dark with a group for safety reasons. 

A textile industry machinist, Gelderbloem said she was pleased to finally take the train, which is less than a taxi, to work and free up money for food. 

"It used to cost me R18 one way," she added. "Now it is R8."

Said another passenger. "I am saving, so I don't even mind standing."

Not all the stations are open yet on the 50km line.

Tuesday's launch marked the completion of phase one on the Central Line and includes services between Langa and Bellville. 

From Nyanga, the train stopped at Langa, Pinelands, Maitland, Ndabeni, Koeberg Road, Salt River, Woodstock, before pulling into Cape Town station.

The station itself almost burnt down when stationary coaches were set on fire at the height of arson attacks, and much of it is also being remodelled.

Phase two of the restoration will include Nyanga, Chris Hani, Khayelitsha and Kapteinsklip stations.

Prasa Group CEO Hishaam Emeran said the restoration team had to start from scratch, putting in new substations, and in some places, new tracks. 

"That is why the train is so slow at the moment," he added. "It can only do 30km an hour because the tracks have to settle."

In its heyday, Prasa moved around 600 million commuters annually.

Still, its rapid destruction saw this drop to 13 million per year as it limped along with more and more services cancelled due to seemingly unchecked vandalism and passengers migrating to taxis. 

Said one person in the delegation doing a walkabout at Langa station, "this unsettled the taxi industry, too, because fights started over who would get the business as new taxi commuters swelled".

The cancellation of a security contract in 2019 and continued arson attacks and cable theft led to Prasa stopping services on 23 November 2019. 

READ | Mbalula promises to get back nearly 500 million lost train ticket sales

The company's leadership was in turmoil amid widespread allegations of corruption and state capture, but the worst was yet to come. 

In the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a total shutdown at all stations, followed by the widespread plunder of anything with even marginal resale value.

"We watched in horror," said Prasa regional manager Raymond Maseko. "We watched people rip it apart."

During Tuesday's launch trip, many of the signs were still visible at some stations where the train does not stop yet. 

At one, steps and metal supports had been removed, while entire power boxes were stripped and pieces of track, roofs and bricks from station buildings were gone. 

In places, graveyards of torched trains are set against the sweeping vista of Table Mountain.  

Lean-tos and cardboard shelters of the homeless neatly line the external fence in some parts, with piles of torn and partly burnt rubbish scattered around. On other sections, a big clean-up has taken place.

About 5 500 people also built shacks on railway tracks, notably in Langa and Philippi, during the pandemic and will not budge until they are given an alternate location, despite a court interdict. 

This means sections of the track in one direction are still unusable along the Central Line. 

Prasa has negotiated with the shacks' occupants to move their shacks back slightly so trains can still use part of the track, while government agencies and departments search for 40 hectares of well-situated land in Cape Town to resettle them.

"We could not wait two to three years for relocation," said Maseko. 

Prasa's strategy was to get lines and stations that serve industrial and factory areas up and running first so that workers could save on transport costs and the economy could get moving.

But armed attackers descended on and rob them, halting construction for five months. 

"At Netreg [station], they would just come out and ask 'Wie's julle? [Who are you?]'. They would tell us 'Jou ma se… [your mother's…]'. I won't finish the sentence. They were carrying guns," said Maseko.

Netreg is still not open.

READ | Prasa declares Southern line open, safe and ready for tourists

Prasa approached the police, ward councillors, and community forums for talks.

Law enforcement was brought in, a specialised security company was roped in, and small, medium, and micro enterprises and residents were hired as contractors alongside Prasa's team. 

But, Maseko said two of his colleagues were shot and were severely disabled in the process. 

"It will be one thing for me to tell you this was easy. To me, that was the cost of the recovery of the network," he added. 

Emeran, whose job title changed from acting GCEO TO CEO on 1 April said: "When we say threatened, we are talking about serious armaments that came on the site."

So far, resurrecting the Central Line has cost R650 million of the R1.2 billion budgeted for the project. 

However, Emeran cautioned commuters should not expect London Tube speeds and frequencies yet, as the new train tracks settled into use, and new trains were brought in. 

A new development for Prasa is its investment in a 3 300-student accommodation "revenue generator" being built next to Cape Town station, plus 7 000 square metres of retail floor space around the terminus concourse.

Rounding off the ceremony after the launch ride, Chikunga praised everyone involved in the restoration. 

"Restoring passenger rail service in the country is a key priority that will put us back on a path towards the realisation of our long-term objective of positioning passenger rail as the backbone of our public transport system," she said. 

Chikunga implored residents and commuters to take care of the network and trains.

When the formalities were over, employees who were involved in the line's resurrection, were given certificates of recognition.

The hugs and the anecdotes shared, from those in suits to grease-covered mechanics, gave some insight into the enormity of what they had achieved.