Johannesburg - Disgruntled commuters torched a train at a Pretoria station because they apparently grew frustrated as it was running late due to a technical fault.
Metrorail spokeswoman Lillian Mofokeng told The Star on Tuesday morning that two trailers and a motor coach were burnt to shreds during the blaze at the Fountains railway station on Tuesday night.
She explained that the train was experiencing a fault and that technicians were called in to attend to it. “The commuters got impatient waiting for the train so they burnt it,” said Mofokeng.
She was unable to confirm what initially caused the fault, which resulted in the train being torched but admitted that the infrastructure was ageing. “These trains are old and from time to time they experience problems,” she said.
Despite the commotion, no one was injured during the incident and the train has since been removed from the track in a bid to avoid delays there on Wednesday.
Tuesday night’s incident comes just four months after enraged commuters torched two trains at the Germiston railway station in Ekurhuleni because several trains were running late at the time.
This amounted to damage estimated at about R30 million and effected operations at the station as the two trains made about 12 trips per day. This meant that many commuters were inconvenienced at the time and were forced to make alternative transport arrangements or wait for another train.
No one was injured in that incident. Meanwhile, several trains around Joburg, including those in Daveyton, Tembisa and Springs, were running late on Tuesday morning due to a technical fault but Mofokeng said that the delays were not more than 15 minutes.
The Star
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