Company Announcement - The Railway Safety Regulator initiated an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to a rear-end collision between two Metrorail trains travelling towards the South of Johannesburg. The collision occurred at approximately 18h00 on Friday, 17 July 2015. Train number 9934 was stationery at a red signal just before Crown Station at the time of the collision. The second train, number 9404, departed from Booysens Station. The signals were yellow for the second train, which indicated that it should proceed with caution as the subsequent signal would be red.

During the investigation, the RSR discovered that the stationary train was not amply protected due to a defective signalling system. The signals which were supposed to protect train 9934 were observed to be yellow, when instead, it should have been red. This resulted in the rear-end collision between the two trains, where 239 people were injured. All the injured were referred to the nearest hospitals for medical attention. Some, including the driver of the second train, have already been discharged. The collision also resulted in the derailment of some of the coaches, as well as minor damage to infrastructure. The RSR is of the view that the defective signalling system in the section between Kazerne and New Canada Stations is an immediate threat to safe railway operations. The RSR has therefore taken the decision to issue a Prohibition Directive with immediate effect on the utilization of the signaling system as a primary mode of train protection. The Prohibition is issued under Section 36 of the National Railway Safety Regulator Act, 2002 (Act 16, 2002 as amended).

PRASA is required to submit an assessment report to the RSR on the integrity of the signaling system in the entire Gauteng region. The assessment should be conducted by an independent competent individual. The Prohibition Directive for Karzene to New Canada Station will only be lifted once PRASA demonstrates to the RSR’s satisfaction that the immediate threats have been addressed. A preliminary report will be issued by RSR by close of business on Monday, 20 July 2015.  Furthermore, the RSR will also conduct an independent Board of Inquiry to establish the root cause as well as to produce a report with findings and recommendations. As the Regulator of railway safety, the RSR promotes rail safety and works tirelessly to achieve Zero Occurrences.