Metrorail (South Africa)
Encyclopedia
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
s of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. It is a division of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA), a state-owned enterprise which is responsible for most passenger rail services in South Africa. The Metrorail system consists of 471 stations, 2228 kilometres (1,384.4 mi) of track, and carries an average of 1.7 million passengers per weekday.
Metrorail was formed as a business unit of Transnet
Transnet
Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on April 1, 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department of Public Enterprises, or DPE, of the South African...
and was transferred to the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC), the predecessor of PRASA. In the early 1990s Metrorail was placed under Spoornet
Spoornet
Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of 'South African Railways and Harbours', a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century and was widely...
, another business unit of Transnet but on 1 January 1997, Metrorail became an independent business within Transnet and the Metrorail regions were formed. In 2006
2006 in South Africa
- January :* 10 January – 3 miners are killed and 4 others are injured when a magnitude 2.4 earthquake traps 12 miners underground at the TauTona gold mine near Carletonville...
Metrorail was transferred back into the SARCC; in 2008 the SARCC became PRASA.
Regions
Because Metrorail operates services in several separate cities, for operational purposes it is subdivided into four regions.
Previously were two regions Witwatersrand in the south and Tshwane in the north.
The southern area covers the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area
Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area
The Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan Area is the name of the area surrounding the city of Johannesburg, in South Africa. It includes Johannesburg and the areas of the East Rand and West Rand. It is often referred to as the Witwatersrand, or Rand, after a low mountain range that runs through the...
(also known as the Witwatersrand
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...
). Trains run from Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
and Germiston outwards to Springs
Springs, Gauteng
Springs is a city on the East Rand in the Gauteng province of South Africa.It lies 50 km east of Johannesburg. The name of the city derives from the large number of springs in the area; it has a population of more than 200,000, and is situated at 5,340 ft a.s.l...
, Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
(in the Tshwane region, see below), Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
and Krugersdorp.
The northern part covers Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
and surrounding suburbs. Trains run from Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
station outwards to the various suburbs of the city, as well as southwards to Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
(in the Witwatersrand region).
Durban region
This region covers Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
and the surrounding suburbs and towns. Trains run from Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
station outwards as far as Stanger on the north coast, Kelso
Kelso, KwaZulu-Natal
Kelso, Kwazulu-Natal is located in the Umdoni Coast region of South Africa facing the Indian Ocean. Kelso is located 65 kilometers south of Durban, the largest city in Kwazulu-Natal.-History:...
on the south coast, and Cato Ridge inland.
Eastern Cape region
This region operates two separate lines in the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
: one running from East London to Berlin, and one from Port Elizabeth
Port Elizabeth railway station
Port Elizabeth railway station is a railway station, located in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.Work commenced on connecting Port Elizabeth to the developing national railway network in 1873, resulting in the station complex being located in the historic central district, near the harbour...
to Uitenhage
Uitenhage
Uitenhage is a South African town with 275,185 inhabitants in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. The town's name is pronounced by English speakers and in Afrikaans...
. Plans are in the pipeline to connect to Coega
Coega
The Coega Industrial Development Zone covering 110 km² of land , is situated in the Nelson Mandela Municipality, Eastern Cape province of South Africa in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality near Port Elizabeth...
This region covers the Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
metropolitan area and surrounding towns. Trains run from Cape Town railway station
Cape Town Railway Station
Cape Town railway station is the main railway station of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It is located along Adderley and Strand Streets in the city's central business district....
southwards to Simon's Town
Simon's Town
Simon's Town , sometimes spelled Simonstown; is a town in South Africa, near Cape Town which is home to the South African Navy. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been an important naval base and harbour...
, southeastwards to Mitchell's Plain
Mitchell's Plain
Mitchells Plain is a largely coloured township about 20 km from the city of Cape Town. It is one of South Africa's largest townships. It is located on the Cape Flats on the False Bay coast between Strandfontein and Khayelitsha...
and Khayelitsha
Khayelitsha
Khayelitsha is a partially informal township in Western Cape, South Africa, located on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town. The name is Xhosa for New Home...
, and eastwards through Bellville to Strand, Stellenbosch and Wellington; occasional services run to Malmesbury and Worcester
Worcester, Western Cape
Worcester is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. It is located 120 km north-east of Cape Town on the N1 highway north to Johannesburg....
.
Track & Equipment
Metrorail trains, as with the rest of the South African rail network, run on track. Some routes run on track owned and operated by SARCC; other routes run on track operated by TransnetTransnet
Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on April 1, 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department of Public Enterprises, or DPE, of the South African...
and also used for long-distance and freight traffic.
Most Metrorail services are operated by Electric Multiple Unit
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
train sets of the type 5M2A
SAR Class 5M2
The South African Railways Class 5M2 and Class 5M2A are electric multiple units that are used to provide commuter rail services by Metrorail in the major cities of South Africa. The original Class 5M2 trainsets were built by Metro Cammell between 1958 and 1960...
. Since 1999, these trains are being refurbished. Everything above the underframe is completely removed, and replaced by new, prefabricated wall and roof modules.. In 2007 alone more than 300 coaches were refurbished. The new trains are designated 10M3 (Cape Town), 10M4 (Gauteng) or 10M5 (Durban).
The Metrorail services on the Eastern Cape are operated by four diesel trains, each consisting of ten coaches and a diesel locomotive.
280 train sets operate on the system, each able to carry up to 1800 passengers.
Safety concerns
In recent years, much concern has been raised about the safety of passengers on Metrorail trains, both due to crime and accidents.Serious incidents include murders and assaults on board trains; several level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
accidents, and a crash in Soweto
Soweto
Soweto is a lower-class-populated urban area of the city of Johannesburg in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for South Western Townships...
. An organisation called the Rail Commuters Action Group instituted a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
against Metrorail and the government to force them to invest more money in security. The case reached the Constitutional Court
Constitutional Court of South Africa
The Constitutional Court of South Africa was established in 1994 by South Africa's first democratic constitution: the Interim Constitution of 1993. In terms of the 1996 Constitution the Constitutional Court established in 1994 continues to hold office. The court began its first sessions in February...
, which declared that Metrorail has "an obligation to ensure that reasonable measures are taken to provide for the security of rail commuters". Despite this, safety on the trains remains a concern.
Metrorail services have also suffered from instances of train-burning by disgruntled passengers, in some cases forcing the closure of lines; as well as incidents of cable theft disrupting services.
In 2006 a serious level crossing accident killed 19 people. See 2006 Cape Town truck-train collision
2006 Cape Town truck-train collision
The Faure level crossing accident occurred at approximately 8 a.m. on 13 November 2006 when a Metrorail train collided with a truck that had stalled on an uncontrolled level crossing at Faure near Somerset West, a town outside Cape Town, South Africa...
.
See also
- TransnetTransnetTransnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on April 1, 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department of Public Enterprises, or DPE, of the South African...
- SpoornetSpoornetTransnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of 'South African Railways and Harbours', a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century and was widely...
- GautrainGautrainGautrain is an mass rapid transit railway system in Gauteng Province, South Africa, which links Johannesburg, Pretoria, and OR Tambo International Airport...
- Metrorail (Western Cape)Metrorail (Western Cape)Metrorail Western Cape is a network of commuter and suburban rail services in the metropolitan area of Cape Town, South Africa. It is operated by Metrorail, which operates commuter rail service in the major cities of South Africa...
- Johannesburg-Durban High Speed RailJohannesburg-Durban High Speed RailIn April 2010, the South African Minister of Transport proposed a Johannesburg-Durban high speed rail system. There are concerns about the cost and engineering difficulty of the project, which would have to cross the Drakensberg mountains. but the minister repeated proposals in June 2010...