Cape Town - Government is paying special attention to improving security measures within the rail environment, says Transport Minister, Sibusiso Ndebele on Tuesday.
Addressing the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on his Budget Vote, presented to the House last week, Mr Ndebele said: "it is of no use to spend billions of Rands in transport infrastructure and services without making sure that transport users are safe.
"We are therefore paying special attention to improving security measures within the rail environment."
According to the former Kwazulu- Natal Premier, through the co-operative agreement with the South African Police Service (SAPS) they are building security-related infrastructure required for the rollout of a dedicated Rail Police Unit.
He said the rollout is on course with more than 1700 rail police currently active in patrols in the rail environment.
Mr Ndebele informed the NCOP that the construction of rail police stations in Cape Town, Retreat, Bellville and Phillipi in the Western Cape has been completed.
Construction is advanced in Durban, Reunion, Cavendish, KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal; Tshwane, Denneboom, Mabopane, Germiston, New Canada and Johannesburg in Gauteng.
The Cape Town network has already seen a 32 percent reduction in crime-related incidents and fare evasion has reduced from 9 percent to 4 percent.
The benefits of the initiative are clear and it will be rolled out to all the nine provinces.
