President Cyril Ramaphosa to unveil Cape Town’s new trains

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s latest destination on his crusade to remedy South Africa’s broken rail commuter network will take him to Cape Town on Tuesday.

There the President will unveil the new sets which are set to make their testing debut this week.

President Ramaphosa will also meet with PRASA heads in a meeting that will “look at ways to stimulate economic activity and industrialisation through PRASA’s modernisation programme”.

We’re looking forward to the testing of @Prasa_Group new train sets in Cape Town pic.twitter.com/BcdXvhYgG3

— Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) April 8, 2019

“The President’s visit to Cape Town follows his recent personal experience of commuter frustration and technical problems with rolling stock between the Mabopane and Bosman train stations in Pretoria earlier this month,” noted SA Gov News in its release.

That particular journey became quite the cultural phenomenon, resulting in memes and an outcry of disgruntled Metrorail customers from Pretoria and other areas in South Africa.

The train sets due for testing in Cape Town have been manufactured in South Africa, and are part of PRASA’s larger renewal scheme. More than 7000 sets are expected to flood the country’s railways within the next 20 years.

#TheFutureIsHere :
Something Blue – Electrical Multiple Unit (EMU) arrived in Cape Town. Watch this space…… pic.twitter.com/J3LGpLUci0

— Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) March 30, 2019

It’s not yet clear when these sets will make their passenger debut.

Feature image: Two trains stand at Woodstock Station, Cape Town by Andy Walker/Memeburn