The last time I wrote about the troubles at Metrorail, a train driver has been shot dead at Netreg station and Metrorail was forced to cancel 40 of their peak hour trips.
The reason: vandalised trains, mostly those that have been set alight over the past few months.
Whenever I take the train, I notice those charred carriage shells standing as we leave Salt River and it always reminds me of who’s to blame for Metrorail’s problems.
In April, two trains were set alight and 10 carriages, as well as signalling equipment, were destroyed at Cape Town station.
The trains were already problematic before people started setting them alight.
Now it’s going to be a lot worse. It’s going to take almost two years for the train services to return to normal.
But that’s only if the mindless vandalism stops and no more trains are burned.
The funny thing is, I still hear people complaining about Metrorail and how unreliable they are.
Of course they can be blamed for a lot, but the vandalism is really what’s making it a whole lot worse.
So it’s about time that we start piemping those responsible, because it affects us all.