TRAIN SAFETY
Cape Town to upgrade security on crime-ridden railways
A huge security operation was unveiled on Friday for Cape Town’s collapsing and crime-ridden railway system. Steps agreed on at a summit in Woodstock between the City of Cape Town‚ the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and the Western Cape government include: • A 1‚500-strong security unit costing R45m a year; • Two bulletproof walls to seal off a 15km stretch of Cape Town’s central railway line‚ which has been closed since the beginning of the year due to concern about security; and • Drones to be deployed "within days" to monitor criminal activity on railways. Cape Town mayoral committee member for transport Brett Herron said: "A lot still needs to happen, but I think we have achieved our goal for the summit by agreeing on a plan of action that can be implemented as soon as possible." The central railway line was been shut down on January 9 after the murder of a security guard in Khayelitsha. On Thursday, members of the United National Transport Union threatened to halt northern...
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