BDFM Online
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
COMMUTER rail service provider Metrorail is set to embark on a nationwide campaign to raise rail safety awareness among train users and communities living near railway lines and reserves.
The launch of the campaign comes at a time when Transport Minister Jeff Radebe and the National Railway Safety Regulator have raised concerns about the rising number of train accidents in SA.
The latest accidents happened earlier this month, when a Metrorail train smashed into a truck carrying farm workers at a level crossing near Somerset West, killing 27 people.
Two staff riders and two train surfers have been electrocuted this month. Staff riders are people who try to get into a moving train, and train "surfers" try to ride on top of trains.
Metrorail and the South African Rail Commuter Corporation, the custodian of commuter rail assets, said yesterday that the R2m campaign would focus on combating staff riding, train surfing, cable theft and the importance of not standing over the yellow safety line at train stations.
The campaign will run for the next two months.
Metrorail CEO Lucky Montana said 30 former staff riders and train surfers would be part of the 100-strong team that would help spread the rail-safety message.
More than R20m is spent annually on trying to combat arson, vandalism and theft of commuter rail assets.
This month, R200000 went towards medical and funeral expenses of the people who died in the Somerset West accident.
The Railway Safety Regulator said rail utility Spoornet had also experienced a number of accidents involving its freight and passenger trains.
"Similarly, Spoornet has reported alarmingly high incidents, which rose substantially in the 2005-06 financial year," the regulator said.
"While no conclusive statement can be made on the cause of this trend, it raises serious concerns on railway safety affecting both passengers as well as freight, which may also affect the cost of doing business for Spoornet and the freight consignors."
Spoornet has attributed some of the causes of some of the accidents to ageing rolling stock, poor signalling systems and driver fatigue.
Most accidents take place at level crossings, but "a number are suicide cases", the Rail Safety Regulator said.
"A number of contributing factors led to the high number of occurrences, including the mushrooming of informal settlements along the railway reserve, the removal of fencing, ignorance of the dangers inherent in railway operations, and the ignoring of the law," said the regulator.
Spoornet has invested more than R30m in public safety-awareness campaigns aimed at educating people about the dangers of loitering near railways or building shacks near railway reserves.
Railway operators that continuously fail to imp-lement safety procedures face the possibility of having their operating lic-ences revoked or a 15-year prison sentence imposed on officials responsible.
Railway regulators globally are taking a no- nonsense approach to safety. In the UK and Canada, offenders face stiff penalties if they are found liable.