By Nangamso Mabindla
15 May 2008

BY the end of the year the cost of the trip between King William's Town and East London will be slashed by more than half - after the train line between the two towns is reopened.

Metrorail's regional marketing and communications manager, Mamnkeli Ngam, said that the aim was to re-open all train stations in the province so that people could use trains to commute.

He was speaking at a rail safety campaign organised by the provincial government and rail company Metrorail at the Dimbaza and Tembisa taxi rank on Wednesday, 14 May. The campaign was part of the department of transport's Back to Rail strategy, which aims to encourage people to think about using trains. It was in King William's Town earlier this week.

"We have already started the Amabhele and Mthatha stations; now we are going to focus on opening the line between East London and King William's Town. We will have a daily service between the two towns and this will start towards the end of the year."

And, with the price of fuel increasing, it is expected that people travelling between King William's Town and East London to work will welcome the service when it opens.

It would have first and second class carriages to cater for everyone. "The first class will be for those [people] who have cars but prefer to use our trains. It will have tea served and there will be facilities for them to use their laptops when on their way to work," Ngam explained.

Once the King William's Town - East London line is operating, it will be the cheapest form of transport between the two. A taxi trip is R20, and commuters pay R40 to get to and from work.

"The train will cost R7 between the two towns; however, if people buy monthly and weekly tickets, they will get a discount," Ngam explained.

The provincial department of transport would also provide a bus to transport people from the station to their homes.

However, Ngam said that before the trains started running, it was important for people to be made aware of safety on trains. "We started this campaign to create awareness so that we ensure that people are safe when using our trains."

During the safety campaigns, residents are told what precautions to take regarding trains. These include warnings not to cross the railway lines, not to stand too close to the edge of the platform, not to jump in and out of moving trains, and not to stand between coaches, among others.

"We [also] advise people to buy weekly and monthly tickets," Ngam said. People were often still stuck in the ticket queue when the train was leaving the station, and they then tried to board moving trains.

Ward 34 councillor Ndileka Ngedze encouraged residents to support all the transport modes available to them. "We want to use all the transport modes available to us. I urge you to support all them, our taxis, buses and train when it starts operating."

The safety campaign ended with a play about safety at the station and on the train.