Yesterday President Cyril Ramaphosa headed to the Mother City to test the new state of the art trains introduced to the region by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) which reportedly will give the public transport system a huge boost.
Chief executive of Prasa, Dr Nkosinathi Shishi told Cape Talk Radio that the new model is being tested to see if Cape Town’s current infrastructure compatible with the new trains.
Mr President @CyrilRamaphosa and minister of Transport @DrBladeNzimande arrived in @CapeTownTrains for The people’s train . We cannot wait for the Train ride . #TheFutureIsHere pic.twitter.com/pJu75lwomJ
— Cape Town Twins (@CPTtwins) April 9, 2019
“This is a trial operation which means the safety operator is going to be given an opportunity to look at how they respond to the current infrastructure.” Dr Shishi said, “Our engineers will have an opportunity to ensure that the performance of these trains is at the best they could be.”
But not everyone celebrated the unveiling yesterday – protesters gathered outside the CT station and blocked the president’s convoy from leaving. The protest was lead by #UniteBehind who want to see previous Prasa board members charged for alleged corruption.
Take a look at the President ushering a new era of public transport below as well as the protests.
Read more local news right here.
#TheFutureIsHere
Look out for something Blue . The EMU , look out for The people’s train. We are commuting to the #SouthernLineCT ? pic.twitter.com/o0sp1PlsKb— Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) April 9, 2019