When the first long-distance train in three years left Joburg’s Park Station en route to Durban recently, little did I know it would be a full 30 hours before I’d be able to look back with a sense of pioneering pride on the journey just completed.
My trip was fraught with challenges, but it was also a chance to witness first-hand a first small step towards reviving a rail sector ground to a halt by incompetence, criminality, state capture and vandalism.
Our trundling junket to the coast by rail, courtesy of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), was a giant leap towards rediscovering a sense of pride in a railway service that works. It was a necessary rite of passage in the revival of something we once took for granted.
Prohibited by the safety regulator from running its trains after at least two deadly crashes in 2020, Prasa was dealt a death blow by Covid-19. Now, in much the same way as the country is trying to move away from the devastation left by corruption and the hollowing out of state-owned companies, Prasa is trying to put itself back on the tracks that haven’t been stolen.
The results, while far from spectacular, attest to what appears to be a genuine attempt by many within Prasa’s ranks to perform the task they are so ably resourced and paid to do.
The pride among Prasa staff on the inaugural Joburg-Durban run was palpable along the entire route, beginning in Germiston, our first stop on a journey pencilled in at 14 hours but which took 30. Prasa employees lined the platform, cheering and filming our arrival on their phones. Their pride in the resumption of service was almost tangible.
It was a weary group of travellers who finally pulled into Durban station at midnight on Saturday, after leaving Johannesburg at 6pm the previous day. Of the four Shosholoza Meyl train lines — running between Johannesburg and Durban, Queenstown, Musina and Cape Town — only the Durban train made it to its final destination on its own track.
There were countless unplanned stops due to Transnet signal failures. Water ran out on the train because the tanks were not refilled. Hours were wasted waiting for authorisation to reverse to a previous station so a halted oncoming Metrorail train could pass.
Prasa staff did everything in their power to make the journey as enjoyable as possible, while battling every step of the way with failing infrastructure owned and managed by Transnet.
I spent a total of 54.5 hours in transit. But, given the chance, I would do it again — although I would leave a day earlier than planned to allow for the many delays.
There are few more relaxing ways to travel than rumbling across the beautiful South African countryside on a train. If time is not a consideration, a wonderful experience awaits you.
The price is also highly competitive. On our train the economy seats were R170 one way, giving passengers access to airliner-style chairs with decent leg room. Tourist class sleeper tickets, at R360 one way, get you a spot in a four-person compartment with comfortable benches that convert to beds.
We stopped at various stations — Germiston, Standerton, Newcastle, Ladysmith and Pietermaritzburg — along the way. Most of these historic red-brick buildings are in a state of disrepair. None of them have any shop facilities that can be reached by passengers without leaving the station.
My journey began at 6pm on Friday, December 8, when our train pulled out of Park Station. The first sign of trouble was at our first stop in Germiston. After the additional passengers had boarded, the train remained stationary. I went hunting for answers.
“Transnet did not have the locomotive we needed for this trip, so we started out with a weaker one, but tonight they let us know they had one available, so we stopped to change locos,” a crew member whispers in my ear.
Half an hour later we began rolling with a whistle and the screech of metal on metal, only to halt again just outside Germiston.
“There is a goods train that must cross and according to Transnet, who controls the network, they have priority above passenger trains,” an insider says.
Back on the move, but not for long. This time it is signal issues apparently. The insider explains: “Only one train can move in a certain section at a time. You have signal lights, similar to traffic lights at an intersection. When the light is green you can go.
“When the signal lights aren’t working, the driver has to call the Transnet command centre on his cellphone for permission to continue.” These unannounced stops occur countless times during the journey. My plans for my short stay in Durban begin to fade.
Plan A was to arrive around the scheduled time of 12.45pm on Saturday and meet family friends for lunch. Plan B was for a late arrival, in which case I would still make it for the 5.15pm kick-off time for the Champions Cup rugby match at Kings Park stadium, Sharks vs Pau.
By Friday evening I am already worried. On Saturday morning I stroll to the dining car for a delicious breakfast of bacon, eggs, wors and toast.
In the passageway, kids are playing hide and seek. Their laugher follows me as I walk half the length of the train. Ntombiyeqiniso Ndlovu, 46, has her daughter, 5, and eldest sister’s son, 10, with her. “My youngest sister will meet us in Durban and then we are all going on holiday together.”
A smiling Ndlovu shakes her head. “Eish, these kids. They love the train. They can get away from the grown-ups and just play. It is so much more child-friendly than a car.”
Ndlovu loves long-distance trains. “I want our children to share this experience. Trains are part of our South African soul.”
The day crawls past at a deliciously slow pace. For lunch I order a perfectly grilled piece of chuck with rice and gravy. It costs R75. Veggies or pap are among the side options. Other choices include chicken wings with chips and salad (R55), a plain burger served with a cold drink (R60), a Russian with chips (R40) and toasted sandwiches ranging from R25 to R40.
A cold 330ml local beer, costing R35, eases my thirst. There is a respectable drinks menu that includes hard tack, ciders and wine at standard prices.
As I sip on my beer, a Prasa staff member stops next to me. I tell him how much I am enjoying the leisurely pace of the trip. “We are all doing everything we can to make this a success. Every single person on this crew needs this job,” he says.
After lunch I return to my compartment for the real hero of the trip: the landscape. The view from the window frames our journey, changing from beautiful to spectacular at times. It gradually changes to the lush green of KwaZulu-Natal.
Plan B fades with every passing hour.
Shortly before 5pm we come to a stop 34km from Pietermaritzburg, a tunnel in front of us. I’m told a goods train is approaching “very slowly”. The oncoming goods train arrives, but stops before exiting the tunnel.
There is no communication from Transnet, I am told. Eventually our train manager and the driver walk the 200m to the other train. An insider later tells me the goods train had activated its emergency stop and could not continue its journey without outside assistance. By now it is dark outside and we begin to feel vulnerable.
Nervous crew members wait for news. Rumours begin swirling that the oncoming goods train is being looted by inhabitants of a nearby informal settlement. Prasa officials remain calm and our on-board South African Police Service members and Prasa security are deployed outside the train, ordered to ensure all doors are locked from the inside. We are on a double line, but on the same line as us, behind the halted goods train, waits a metro train.
The solution suddenly seems simple: we must move back to the closest station, change track, wait there and let the metro train pass. Then we can change track again and continue our journey. The catch? We need permission from Transnet. This takes more than four hours.
During the wait, I call my friend to tell him I won’t make the rugby.
Just before 10pm, we get the green light and reverse back to the previous station. A passenger, who does not want to be identified, is travelling in the seated section one way to Durban, which costs R170. “My kids last had food at 8am,” he laments. “We expected to be in Durban by lunchtime. This is a serious problem.”
Another passenger chimes in: “We have people travelling long-distance to meet us, now we have no idea what to tell them.”
At about midnight we finally roll into Durban station, exhausted. I spend Sunday with the family friends before I board the same train back to Johannesburg at 6pm.
We are barely out of Durban station when the water on the train runs out. I am told that the water tanks had not been refilled by Transnet staff as they were supposed to be. Train staff hand out bottled water to passengers.
Again, we have several stops due to signal issues, but sometime after midnight the train rocks me asleep. I don’t know how long we’'ve been stationary when I wake up at 5am on Monday, but I immediately hear we’ve been the victims of the dreaded cable thieves.
At 7am, still stationary, I am told that Prasa has booked buses to take us from Newcastle to Johannesburg. We start moving again and just after Ladysmith the electricity in my section of the train goes off, never to return.
At 4pm, 21 hours after leaving Durban, we arrive in Newcastle where the buses are waiting. Three and a half hours later I am back in Johannesburg, after a round trip of more than 54 hours.
The final challenge is getting home from Park Station. Having had no electricity since that morning, my phone battery is flat. I manage to hustle a lift.
An insider later tells me that the train to Cape Town made it to 80km from the mother city before they also ran into cable theft and passengers had to be bused the rest of the way.
“They also couldn’t do the return because of a locomotive that was supposed to do the leg between Beaufort West and Johannesburg that failed. So people were bused back as well.
“The Queenstown train at one point in the Free State had to switch tracks. Before the journey, Prasa asked Transnet if they could put a Prasa employee there to work with the Transnet person. That request was denied, and when the train arrived at that point, there was nobody from Transnet on duty.
“The Polokwane [Musina] trip did not even happen. There was no locomotive available and people were bused all the way from Johannesburg.”
Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makanda told The Sunday Times the agency has received additional locomotives from Transnet “to address the issue of unreliable locomotives that disrupted some of the trips on the recently reintroduced mainline passenger services (MLPS).”
“Prasa and Transnet have also held productive discussions aimed at effective mitigations that ensure trains can reliably arrive at their destinations,” Makanda said. “A revised timetable has been drawn up that reflects the impact of the operational challenges that have been experienced in the first week since the service was brought back.”
She confirmed the changing of locomotives in Germiston.
“The shortage of reliable locomotives has had an impact on the MLPS operations. A decision was taken to use Prasa’s diesel locomotive from Johannesburg to Union station [Germiston]. At Union, we used the electric locomotives provided by Transnet due to the suitability of electric locomotives from Union to Durban,” Makanda said.
She added that the route from Union station has many tunnels where a diesel locomotive’s fumes may be hazardous to passengers.
Responding to queries, Transnet said in a statement that 23% of signalling systems between Johannesburg and Durban were unoperational, due to theft and vandalism.
“The safety critical nature of the equipment results in Transnet resorting to manual authorisations, which is a process that ensures all ambiguity between train driver and train controller is eliminated.
“While the delays encountered by these authorisations are inconvenient and reduce operational efficiency, it is a necessary safety precaution to mitigate the potential of conflicting train movements on the network, which could have dire repercussions.
“Transnet is in the process of reinstating stolen signalling systems with more resilient alternatives.” The rail utility said its agreement with Prasa was to provide access to the rail network, and also to assist with resources (locomotives and drivers) when required during peak periods on two routes.
It said, as an example, the agreement for December was to provide two locomotives on the Durban route and two diesel locomotives on the East London (Queenstown) route until the end of January.
“Transnet Freight Rail does not have extra resources. Our train drivers are mostly qualified freight operators and are not all equipped to drive passenger trains.”
Responding to the stand-off with the goods train near Pietermatrizburg, Transnet said: “Passenger trains will always take priority over a goods train, unless the goods train is on a line that is blocking all movement. In such instance the goods train will have to move to clear the route and priority will be given to the passenger train.
“All stakeholders are aware of the required and agreed upon reporting process and must always follow this. Prasa has its own contingency technical support. In case of a deviation request for Transnet to assist, this will happen as and when the resources are available.”
Commenting on the delay during the trip to Queenstown, Transnet said it did not resource any Prasa trains in the Free State or Eastern Cape Provinces with train crew.
“The network failure which caused Shosholoza Meyl’s delay occurred in Vereeniging [Central Corridor] before reaching the Free State. When the train reached the Free State, it experienced a locomotive failure twice, in Theunissen and Springfontein, where passengers were eventually disembarked onto buses. The locomotives belong to Prasa.”
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