Ramaphosa takes a ride in new Prasa train as he leaves Mabopane disaster behind him
President vows amid protest in Cape Town to make trains run on time and ensure they are safe
President Cyril Ramaphosa put his Mabopane train disaster behind him on Tuesday by taking the first ride on the first of locally built commuter trains that were commissioned in 2013 to modernise the passenger rail fleet. The Passenger Rail Association of SA (Prasa) unveiled the sparkling blue new train at Cape Town station, where Ramaphosa cut the ribbon and took a ride to Mowbray station. The journey was not entirely incident-free as protesters blockaded his exit from the station for nearly an hour. Speaking at the launch, Ramaphosa made a big promise. “I promise that we are going to make our trains run on time and most importantly make sure they are safe,” he said. As part of an election campaign event in March, Ramaphosa took the train from Mabopane to Pretoria, a 30-minute trip that lasted three hours when the train broke down. The new trains are part of Prasa’s modernisation programme, which includes the manufacture of 7,224 trains in the next 20 years at a cost of R123bn. T...
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