20 October 2023
Okuhle Mtulu, who goes to school in central Gqeberha, took the train from New Brighton. Photo: Thamsanqa Mbovane
There have been no scheduled passenger train services in Gqeberha since September 2022, due to “operational challenges”. But now, since Monday, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) has managed to introduce just one train service in the Nelson Mandela Bay region, departing Kariega at 6:15am for Gqeberha and departing Gqeberha at 5:15pm for Kariega, weekdays.
The full journey takes over an hour and costs R9.
On Saturdays it departs Kareiga at 7am and Gqeberha at 2:30pm.
On Thursday afternoon, no more than 100 commuters boarded the ten-carriage train, leaving it almost empty.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union has welcomed the service. Regional secretary Samkelo Msila said on Friday morning, trains would bring relief from the high cost of travel for the working class.
“We hope that at this stage, elements of corruption in PRASA have been rooted out, so that no further compromise can affect the movement of trains,” he said.
Commuter Thembelani Zondani, from Red location in New Brighton, said many people had quit jobs because they felt that they were working just to pay transport. Whereas the taxi cost him R19, his train ticket was just R7.50.
Grade 11 learner Okuhle Mtulu also paid R7.50 to get to school. But he was unable to buy a ticket at New Brighton station, because the ticket kiosks are vandalised. He bought his ticket on the train. “There are not even toilets or shelters … It’s bush and asbestos lying around as rubble,” he said, describing the station.
Provincial PRASA spokesperson Mimi Katsio, said while facilities and protection services employees are deployed, customer service employees have been doing refresher training, while train operation employees have been training for the change to new locomotives. The staff complement is 607 for the East London and Gqeberha corridors.
She said PRASA security is working with law enforcement agencies and railway SAPS to have crime prevention teams patrolling stations and platforms.
“Our focus now is to restore services, trust from our commuters, and patronage numbers,” said Katsio.
In a statement on Tuesday, PRASA Group CEO Hishaam Emeran said, “The Gqeberha–Uitenhage area is one of our most important regions.”