Minister Robin Carlisle disappointed as Metrorail cancels depot visit in wake of fare hikes

17 Apr 2012

Metrorail Regional Manager, Mthura Swartz, cites Minister's "negative publicity" behind last minute cancellation.

A scheduled inspection of Metrorail's Salt River depot by Western Cape Transport Minister Robin Carlisle, has been cancelled by Metrorail. The visit was part of a nationwide fact-finding tour and would have taken place on Monday afternoon.

A tour has now been scheduled for the end of the month, and will be accompanied by a delegation led by PRASA Group CEO, Lucky Montana.

Minister Carlisle was informed by Mr Swartz in an e-mail last Friday evening that the trip had to be cancelled because "The Minister will recall that in all instances that the Minister has been in our system it has resulted in negative publicity towards Metrorail".

Minister Carlisle stated that "I find it hard to accept that the negative publicity surrounding Metrorail is caused by me. I had rather thought it was caused by late trains, cancelled trains, trains covered in graffiti, passengers who are assaulted and robbed, and more recently, despite no improvement of any kind in the service, a huge fare hike".

"I have also started to receive complaints from the public that in fact the "glitch" which saw passengers paying increases of 50% or more for their monthly tickets has not been resolved, despite assurances from Metrorail that fares would be correctly calculated and refunds would be issued. I will be investigating this further and will make a statement later this week," said Carlisle.

Statement issued by Hector Eliott, Western Cape Transport and Public Works, April 17 2012

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