No to runaway trains
2007-08-30
Malané Bosman
SACRILEGE. That’s how Wellington residents describe the latest events at the town's railway station.
When Wellington station was built in 1863, Pieter Malan, owner of the farm Versailles, offered to make more land available for the extension of the railroad to the North.
There was but one condition: he insisted on a servitude which stipulated that all passenger trains stop at Wellington in perpetuity.
This stipulation has been rigorously adhered to, except for a single oversight in 1938 when a train failed to stop at the station.
Upon notification, the matter was considered serious enough to reach the desk of the then transport minister.
Thereafter all passenger trains, even the Blue Train, have complied with the condition.
That is until recently, as pointed out by ANC MP Pierre-Jeanne Gerber, who lives at Malan station, one train stop further along the line to the North.
“As a frequent train traveller, I unfortunately have to bring it to your attention that certain passenger trains are now refusing to stop at Wellington,” Gerber wrote to the present minister of transport last week.
“I have personally been on one such train recently and have made a video recording of the train ignoring this servitude stop.
“It is my duty as resident MP, living in Wellington, and also my duty as a proud citizen of this area, to bring this matter to your attention so that the situation can immediately be rectified.”
The transport minister, Jeff Radebe, replied that he “forwarded the letter to the chief executive officer of Metrorail for further investigation on how the matter can be resolved”.
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