PRASA says work to recover Cape Town’s central line gaining momentum

CAPE TOWN - The Passenger Rail Service of South Africa (PRASA) says the work to recover the central line between Langa and Khayelitsha in Cape Town is gaining momentum.

Almost 900 households between Nyanga and Philippi that previously held back the work were removed from the railway tracks to a pocket of land near the Stock Road train station.

The route - which runs from the central business district (CBD) to Langa and then onto Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Belhar - has not been operating since November 2019 due to theft and vandalism.

PRASA CEO Hishaam Emeran told Parliament's standing committee on public accounts on Tuesday that Transnet was busy removing and rebuilding the tracks on that corridor.

Emeran said electrical work to replace the overhead traction equipment is also under way.

 "All this work, particularly between Nyanga and Philippi where a lot of construction activities need to happen, most of that we want to complete in the month of March, to ensure that significant progress has been achieved and the ability to bring those services on the central line." 
 
Emeran said they put measures in place to protect the infrastructure from theft and vandalism.

"We have made an award of three of the walling packages, walling and fencing that will be undertaken, and importantly part of that appointment is the section between Langa to Nyanga, which is a high-risk area in terms of theft and vandalism. In the case of the trenches that we have, the cables are being covered by concrete to protect and secure those assets."