Vrou wins Prasa case

THE Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) will have to pay up for a damages claim in which a woman suffered serious injuries after jumping from a moving train to escape knife-wielding thugs.

The incident happened in February 2020, when the 27-year-old woman made the desperate move of jumping off the train between the Vasco and Goodwood train stations.

According to court records heard at the Western Cape Hig Court, the vrou sustained a skull fracture, cerebral contusion and blunt trauma to her right shoulder, back, and neck.

The woman submitted that her injuries were caused by the negligence of Prasa and/or its employees.

She argued on three grounds: namely that Prasa failed to ensure the safety of the passengers on the train by failing to deploy security guards at the station or on the train; that they allowed the train to move while the doors of the carriage were open and failed to avoid the incident when, by exercising reasonable care and diligence, they should have done so.

According to the woman, who boarded the train at 7.50pm with a companion, she jumped out of the open doors of the carriage after three assailants stabbed the commuter standing next to her.

In their arguments, Prasa denied that the woman was a fare-paying passenger and denied knowledge of the alleged incident.

However, Judge Ajay Bhoopchand ruled that Prasa is “liable for the damages” based on precedent.