The Gautrain is back to work as South Africa slowly begins moving into level four of lockdown.
Reduced train and bus services are running between 5:30am and 9:30am and then again between 3pm and 7pm. This will allow workers to get to their jobs and home without breaking curfews.
In the run up to this re-opening, extensive health and safety measures were put in place to avoid the spread of the coronavirus through the train.
Today aboard the GauBus and the Gautrain, I’m impressed by the work Management here has undertaken to adhere with our Transport Regulations.
From the bus, to the station and the train itself. Measures have been put in place to ensure safety of commuters. pic.twitter.com/8JxBS5rMT1
— Minister of Transport |Mr Fix (@MbalulaFikile) May 4, 2020
‘The safety and wellbeing of our employees and passengers remain of paramount importance to us and we have therefore taken great care to implement numerous precautionary measures to ensure that we avoid the spread of COVID-19,’ said Gautrain in a statement.
These measures include:
– Mandatory face masks by passengers and staff
– Social distancing onboard encouraged by floor decals
– Trains and busses disinfected at regular intervals
– Special cleaning staff employed at stations to wipe down touch points.
– Screening of the staff for fever or signs of illness
– Hand sanitiser in stations
– Disinfecting spray booths will be installed at the entrance of stations which passengers will be required to walk through
Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula inspected the Gautrain on its first opening day, Monday 4 May.
‘From the bus, to the station and the train itself. Measures have been put in place to ensure safety of commuters,’ Mbalula said in a tweet.
Image: ZATwittPolls/ Twitter
