In 2016, Metrorail said that plans to make trains accessible to disabled people in Cape Town were virtually complete. Nine years later, though the new trains do have spaces for wheelchairs, platforms at most Cape Town stations are inaccessible to wheelchair users. Even those who do manage to get onto the platform cant get onto the trains without help.
The trains are simply not accessible, says Jeremy Opperman, a board member of the Western Cape Network on Disability.
In 2016, then Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott told GroundUp that universal accessibility was one of the acknowledged priorities of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa PRASA. A universal access policy, inclusive of design, norms, standards and guidelines, is virtually complete. PRASAs new trains will take into account the special needs of passengers.
Nine years later, the new trains do indeed have space for wheelchairs. But access to platforms is near impossible for wheelchair users at many stations GroundUp visited.