Prasa issued with prohibition following train crash

Prasa issued with prohibition following train crash

The Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) has forbidden the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to manually authorise trains.

Train Collide 4
Sibahle Motha

The directive comes after a Metrorail train collided with a stationary train at the Gelenhuys station in Germiston on Tuesday leaving over 200 commuters injured.


The regulator says the directive was issued after it was found that Prasa was "operating under conditions which are a threat or might be a threat to safe railway operations".


ALSO READ: [WATCH] Germiston train collision leaves scores injured


RSR's Madelein Williams says Prasa has now been prohibited from manually authorising its trains.


"This accident convinced the RSR that PRASA Rail does not have the means to prevent accidents from happening during degraded mode when manual authorisations are undertaken."


The United National Transport Union (UNTU) has labelled the rail agency's conduct as reckless.



UNTU's general secretary, Steve Harris, has called for criminal charges to be brought against both the RSR and Prasa.


"According to the legal test of dolus eventualis must be applied. By allowing the trains to be manually operated, the RSR and PRASA objectively foresees the possibility that their acts might cause deaths and persisted with it regardless of the consequences."



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