Heathfield Train Station introduces subway hours to enhance community safety

Set operating hours for the use of subways at Heathfield Train Station are among the measures being introduced to address ongoing safety concerns at the site. 

The decision follows a meeting on Monday, May 26, between ward councillors Eddie Andrews and Kevin Southgate, the City’s Energy Department, and officials from the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).

In a letter to the Bulletin in December 2023, Heathfield resident Leon Oosthuizen said residents on both sides of the railway line felt unsafe in the area and had personally witnessed muggings in the station’s parking lot. (“Heathfield station in a sad state” Bulletin, December 14, 2023)

Issues raised at the meeting included poor lighting in the parking area, frequently stolen or non-functional subway water pumps, and unrestricted access to the subway after hours.

Ward councillor Eddie Andrews said further communication would follow once all stakeholders had confirmed the final plans.

“In the coming weeks we will make an announcement of the operating hours of the subway. It can’t be business as usual. We can’t be replacing the pump every single time.

The subway will close after the last train and reopen before the first train arrives at Heathfield Station.

“It will be a slight inconvenience for those residents who use it in the middle of the night and we recognize that but I think the bigger picture is more important to us at this stage to ensure a safer subway for all of our residents and also for the parking area to be well lit.”

Enver Manneveld, chairperson of the Princess Vlei Civic Association, welcomed the reintroduction of subway operating hours but noted that a similar initiative launched by PRASA three years ago was abandoned after just six months.

He added that an even more pressing concern is the damaged wire fencing, which has been cut and is now being used as an informal crossing point over the railway lines. He called for a permanent solution, such as palisade fencing.

Manneveld cited the death of Baleina Kunonga, a partially blind woman who was struck by a train and killed on a Saturday morning in January 2023, as a preventable tragedy.

“If they closed the fence, then no one would be crossing that railway line. It has become more of a priority because lives are at stake. Why is Prasa not doing the necessary fencing off of the railway line itself?”

He said the civic association had raised its concerns with PRASA multiple times. While acknowledging budget constraints, he said the lack of proper fencing continues to endanger the community.

“If there's no fencing, people will continue to use it as a thoroughfare and it's highly dangerous crossing the railway line.”

“You can't see the train, you can't hear the train most of the time, so my concern is that fencing needs to be replaced. 

“The old wire fencing that used to be there is non-existence anymore, and Prasa just refuses to re-fence with something more permanent.

We've approached them many times, we've written to them, especially after that fatal incident. Two children have been left orphaned. It really hits the community hard when tragedies like this happen,” Manneveld said.

• PRASA did not respond to The Bulletin's request for comment by the time of publication.