I mean the trains weren't great in the first place, but nowadays they're just something else. I would not get on a Metrorail even if someone paid me to do it.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-05-12-muted-response-from-metrorail-as-residents-commuters-endure-squalid-lansdowne-station/

Judt look at that

I've seen some of the new blue modern trains running and they look nice, so there's still a little hope

Probably because there was a lot of theft and vandalism. And it's not like rebounding to 2019 numbers would be much better either, that's still a massive collapse of infrastructure