Like every other night last night, I set my alarm for 4:30, made sure Silent Mode was off, left my phone on the other side of the room, then fell asleep. I woke up at 6:15 this morning with my phone in hand, Silent Mode engaged, and with no recollection of what had happened. This is just typical of me.
So instead of working from home (which I couldn’t, since I had several important meetings lined up), my dad offered to take me to Strand Metrorail station, and catch a train to work. I was more than a little apprehensive at this, given all the negative publicity Metrorail has recieved. But eventually I figured something along the lines of “damnit, other people take the train, so can I”.
I rocked up at Strand station a few minutes before the departure of one of the early morning trains, got a first class (aka. Metro Plus) ticket at the excruciating cost of R14.50 [/sarcasm], boarded, and waited.
The interior of the first class coach was a little greyer and bleaker than I had hoped for. Plastic seats (like the fake-leather kind in cheaper cars) with graffiti scrawled all over them, printed walls, and the odd accretion of rubbish on the floor. I’ve been in worse situations before, so none of the before bothers me. At least the ventilation was doing a proper job, and the coach was entirely odorless. But to give you an idea, this is what it looked like:
A few more people boarded after that shot, and we were off. We stopped at about 7 or 8 stations between Strand and Cape Town, and my coach filled to capacity. In between spells of closing my eyes and resting, looking out the window, or checking my email (I do that alot), I was also observing the people - the journey takes about an hour and a half, so I had to kill the time somehow.
Eventually we arrived at the Adderley Street station in Cape Town, I disembarked, and promptly got lost on the way to work, but that’s a whole other story altogether. In that hour on the train, I spent a lot of time thinking about all of this, and I realised that many people hold the same preconceived notions about train travel that I did. So, to summarize:
- I was not beated, mugged, raped or thrown off the train. That happens to very few people, and in very extenuating circumstances.
- No one train-surfed (to my knowledge) - all in all, the journey was clean and pleasent and safe.
- Trains are not expensive. The cost of a Strand -> Cape Town (60km) ticket was R14.50, and they get cheaper as you buy weeklies and monthlies.
- Trains are not filled with delinquents and crack dealers - at least not in the class I traveled. There were pensioners, students, professionals, sales staff, and an American national.
- Trains are on-time. For once in my life, I didn’t have to pad their arrival times with 15 minutes.
Due to the anti-gravitational trends displayed by the inflation rates, interest rates and fuel prices, more and more people are starting to use the trains. Ever heard the phrase “there’s safety in numbers”? If you take a train in a major metropolitan area, chances are you’re going to be travelling with a group of people that are as uninterested in robbing you as you are them (I hope). And just like anywhere else in South Africa, if you just stick to common sense, keep your head level and your eyes open, you’ll be fine. In other words, don’t let your iPhone dangle out your pocket in the middle of Langa station.
All in all, I’ve seen the value of travelling via (at least) the Metro Rail. Given that it’s cheaper, safer and more reliable than the heavily-trafficked roads in and out of Cape Town, I’m seriously considering it as an option for transport. All I need to do now is make sure I don’t get lost in Cape Town CBD again :/
MOT? NBT? Looks like basic graffiti in SA is also lacking originality like it is here in LA. Trains are good as long as they run in accordance with your work schedule. Unfortunately for someone like me who’s job takes them into the wee hours of the night, trains don’t run late enough to take me home.
Thats dirt cheap, my car is a diesel , and with the current prices it costs me about R30 for 60k’s(0.50c per k) .
Although I still don’t reckon I’ll trust the trains up here in Gauteng though, except the business express train from PTA to JHB which is for execs etc. but that is unfortunately not on my route.
That expensive? Wow …
Yeah, the Blue Train (I think?) is a little on the expensive end. Metro Plus is decent down here, don’t know about there (since I never took the train when I was living in PTA).
Why not perform a social experiment and catch a return trip? Should make for an interesting blog post :)
Wogan,
I haven’t travelled by train in years, are there still those redskin peanut sellers around?
What about the crazy guys who preach with their bibles on the carriages?
There was also an old man who used to sing bad Tom Waits standards.
Damn, I miss those guys.
Unfortunately, Shaun, the train platforms aren’t so interesting anymore. Just a lot of standing around and waiting - much like the Home Affairs office, and it almost smells the same, too…
I think we do need to spice it up a little. But how on earth could you brighten up a train station?
I discovered the Cape Town metrorail a few years ago… I was also pretty nervous my first few times travelling on it - paranoia that I would miss the train or miss my stop once on the train or be mugged. But now I just think its fantastic. More people should take it. And they should do away with the first class/third class (metro raid and metro rail plus or whatever?) distinction. Really its all the same train, there is no point in dividing it like that.
@Laura The difference is in the seating - and that more crimes happen in the normal Metro cars, as opposed to the Plus cars. I’d rather pay more for a safer train ride - don’t know how you feel about that :)
More and more people are taking the train, what with the rising fuel prices and all. I think it’ll become safer much quicker now.
[...] morning I take the train, I inevitably run across this billboard in the Cape Town Metrorail [...]