Railroad News and History

Stations identified by a name sign at EACH END of the station and none in between. At 40 km per hour, if you blink, you missed the sign and have no idea where you are, especially at night when landmarks are not visible through said windows. No station identification announcements are made.

Taps have no water due to stolen pipes. A gang often burns trains to get more customers for private kombi microbus taxi operators who receive state handouts.

Seats are all cut up with knives.

Graffiti all over. Stations are looted of assets. Thee used to be dedicated railway police but they were merged into regular police and deployed everywhere else.

Ticket offices are often closed at remote stations so you must pay an inspector on board. A Third World component refused to accept 5c coins YET THEY REMAIN LEGAL TENDER (max 50c).

My trip down-town was urgent so I did not make a fuss and risk being put off at the next station. Otherwise I would have made a fuss - not that they understand the law.

Third World components have no concept of "customer service". They strike without thinking, especially witch-doctors and witch-nurses.

I was in a main library which had signs requesting "SILENCE". Yet there was a wall-to-wall jazz disco throughout the library on their tannoy / intercom speaker system.

Elsewhere I mentioned the 60+ billion rand contract for trains which were too high to interact properly with the overhead cabling system. White warning were ignored because bribes were at stake.

It ain't just railways. The navy wasted ZAR 89 billion to protest coastal swimmers from sharks. Don't take my word for it. Check these links. It was confirmed by a naval spokesperson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3_PrtRzi5Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftZkh3E6wOc