Editor's Note

I did it: I upgraded. I just could not take it anymore. Ordinarily, upgrades are best treated with caution, particularly ones that come at two-year intervals. Cellphones, tablets – somehow something much better comes along as soon as you have renewed your contract. But that is not likely to happen with Metrorail.

It was an interesting year, 2011. I undertook an experiment: ride Metro for 12 months.

Metro, formerly known as third-class, costs R99 a month for unlimited trips between Cape Town and False Bay – a saving of R92 by comparison with MetroPlus (“first-class” – what happened to second class, I just do not know). For that reason, it is very popular among people for whom R92 goes a long way: that is, the majority of Metrorail commuters.

The same number of carriages is usually allocated per class per train, but the number of Metro passengers is disproportionate. The more the merrier! Particularly at rush hour, when two previous trains have been cancelled. MetroCrush. MetroFail.

I have got up close and personal with hundreds of complete strangers. Short people have snuggled up to my armpits. Babies have squatted between my legs.

I have stared death unflinchingly in the face (when the stampede for the exit began before the train had stopped). I have been entertained by blind singers, the zany merchants of “sweeties and tsokolits”, child dancers and preachers of the Word.

My understanding of the Cape Town commuter has been immeasurably enriched, as has my appreciation of the vital role of public transport. A city without decent public transport is no city at all (with bus rapid transit, Cape Town is getting there).

I started getting angry when I noticed that sometimes there are fewer carriages on Metro than on MetroPlus. More than once I have boarded MetroPlus for sheer lack of space. But commuters caught travelling the wrong class are detained in cages. R40 to be released. Appeals to reason fall on deaf ears.

So I upgraded. It is a different world. Even when I have to stand, I am not in close personal contact with my fellow commuters.

But the anger remains. It is time to do away with the class system on Metrorail. Make a better plan – it’s the right thing to do.