Metrorail Regional Manager, Richard Walker, has lauded the newly launched Railway Enforcement Unit (REU).
Speaking during a joint briefing with the provincial transport department and the City of Cape Town on Thursday, Walker reflected on the impact of the new unit launched late last year to combat crime on trains across Cape Town.
The formation of the unit follows a memorandum of agreement between the three entities to jointly fund the R47.9 million needed to establish and operate the unit for a year.
Commenting on the success of the unit to date, Walker says the unit has conducted 133 operations, executed 66 arrests, 517 confiscations and 11 041 searches.
He says while they recorded more than R107 million worth of damages from March to September 2018, there have been no damages to trains since the unit was instituted.
“Since October, which coincides with the launch of the unit, there has not been major or significant losses.”
Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, says the unit also consists of plain-clothed officers who are tasked with crime prevention, but also infrastructure protection through patrols and scrapyard inspections.
“This group has made 67 arrests in the last three months. Apart from commuter safety, the onslaught on Metrorail’s infrastructure and its debilitating impact on service is the other big focus area, and this is where the plain-clothed contingent can play a massive role.”