Cape Town – Train commuters on the Northern Line’s other route between Eerste River and Bellville will today, on Monday, once again be able to utilise Metrorail’s services.
Metrorail Western Cape this on Sunday morning announced that it will be reintroducing train services back on the Easter River line on Monday.
In a statement, Metrorail said that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) had worked tirelessly to ensure that communities in and around Eerste River could also wake up to the long-awaited train service, just like other communities that are once again being serviced by the rail transportation company.
Metrorail Western Cape spokesperson Zino Mihi said bringing back the service of the Eerste River line is part of Prasa’s planned recovery of the train service in all corridors.
However, she said that in the meanwhile Metrorail would be running a limited service until it was able to introduce more trains on the line.
“The next phase is for us to do trial operations on the line with the people’s train,” she said.
Mihi also revealed that Metrorail would as yet not be instituting any train fare increases for the service.
“The Eerste River line was one of our busiest corridors on the Northern Line; we referred to it as the corridor-A due to the high commuter volumes.
“It also served as a feeder to the Strand and Stellenbosch lines and before lockdown regulations were instituted during Covid-19 in March 2020, Metrorail had several thousand commuters travelling from Strand, Muldersvlei and Eerste River to Cape Town,” Mihi said.
Mihi added that since the train was scheduled to operate between Eerste River and Bellville, commuters would be able to take a connecting train from Bellville to Cape Town via Goodwood and Monte Vista.
“The Eerste River train service will be available for now only during the week, and we will give further updates as we monitor and improve the service. As Metrorail Western Cape is re-introducing more lines in phases, we call upon our customers and stakeholders to work with us as we are restoring rail in the region,” she said.
The all-stations train will depart from Bellville to Eerste River, stopping at Kuils River, Blackheath, Melton Rose and Eerste River. Metrorail has also assured its commuters that they will be able to access train timetables on Metrorail’s online platforms and at available stations.
Metrorail also revealed that it is currently working on plans to repair the Strand Line, followed by an introduction of the Strand Line service.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has tentatively welcomed Metrorail’s partial resumption of the train service between Eerste River and Bellville.
Winde said while news of the return of the train service was good news for residents, he said he was, however, concerned about the impact of load shedding in keeping the service running.
“Fixing rail and restoring all services remains a top priority as trains were once the backbone of public transport in the Cape Metro and the province, transporting goods and people while enhancing economic opportunities. Transport is a disproportionately large part of households’ spend.”
“Providing affordable and reliable public transport is not only an economic imperative but is also critical to rebuilding the social fabric of our society. Apartheid spatial planning segregated our cities and public transport is a key way in which we can rebuild our communities and break down those divisions,” he said.
Winde also revealed that the Western Cape’s Energy Council, which he chairs, was still committed to looking at all options to stabilise and increase alternative power generation in the province to further economic recovery, and protect small businesses.