More vandalism misery for Cape Town rail commuters
No trains will run on Cape Town’s busiest commuter line for the rest of the week‚ and possibly over the weekend.
An inspection of the central line‚ between the city centre and Mitchells Plan and Khayelitsha‚ had revealed extensive damage to the tracks‚ an electrical relay room and other infrastructure‚ said Metrorail spokesman Riana Scott.
Repairs would require additional equipment‚ which would have to be brought in from elsewhere.
A train carrying out a test run on the line‚ following an eight-day closure sparked by the murder of a security guard in Khayelitsha‚ derailed on Wednesday evening.
The derailing was caused by vandalism that happened during the closure.
“Technical teams will work around the clock to repair the damage to enable another test run before services can resume progressively as anticipated at first‚” Scott said on Thursday.
“It is anticipated that repair work will take up most of tomorrow and the weekend.
“Regrettably‚ Metrorail has no buses to assist and commuters are requested to make alternative arrangements until the service is able to resume. Commuters in possession of monthly tickets may utilise Golden Arrow Bus Services outbound from Cape Town after 6.30pm and inbound from 8.30am tomorrow.”
The central line has been closed since Tuesday January 8‚ when a guard was killed during an armed robbery at Chris Hani Station.
The City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for transport‚ Brett Herron‚ said on Thursday: “We are doing all we can to assist the rail commuters from the metro south-east by deploying more MyCiTi buses on the N2 Express routes.”