Cape Town - A major traffic snarl-up on the N1 and an accident involving two taxis and four cars at the intersection of Duinefontein Road and Govan Mbeki Avenue caused serious traffic disruptions on Monday – just as Metrorail was fighting to recover from severe damage to five train sets due to an arson attack.
The arsonist, believed to have been a thief who stole copper wire, fittings and equipment from the Metrorail Salt River depot, was caught and arrested at the scene on Sunday afternoon.
Metrorail technical staff worked through the night to put together three train sets, but the morning peak still ran with two sets short. Another set would hopefully be put together today to further ease pressure on the evening peak hour supply of trains, Metrorail said.
The incident on the N1 happened at 5.40am today at the Durban Road bridge in the incoming lanes towards the city centre, said city traffic spokesman Richard Coleman.
A truck appeared to have jack-knifed and another truck and a car smashed into it. All lanes into town were closed and hard-pressed traffic officers had to direct peak hour traffic onto an already inundated Durban Road. Two slight injuries were reported, Coleman said.
The road was only reopened by about 8.40am.
The accident at Duinefontein Road and Govan Mbeki Avenue involved four cars and two taxis. Nine slight injuries were reported, but the accident forced traffic officials to shut one lane of Duinefontein Road from 6.50am to 7.30am, Coleman said.
Metrorail reported that three train-sets were severely damaged by the fire reported in its Salt River depot at 4.40pm on Sunday. A fourth train-set was also fire-damaged by the arson attack as well as a fifth module undergoing repairs that was destined to be returned to service within days.
In total 16 carriages or plain trailers and three motor coaches are out of commission due to this incident.
No one was injured and the fire was contained at 8pm.
Regional manager Richard Walker condemned the loss of the trains in the strongest possible terms. “If not for this latest set-back, we would have been able to offer our commuters on the Central line the full complement of 33 train-sets within weeks – sadly this latest loss affects in the main, our busiest corridor,” he said.
The suspected arsonist was arrested on-site on one of the trains and found in possession of goods apparently stolen earlier from the depot.
“We will strenuously oppose bail and press for the harshest possible sentence”, Walker said. He also said that Metrorail Protection Services employees will co-operate fully with the police investigation.
The Khayelitsha/Kapteinsklip service is optimally serviced by 33 train-sets.
Cape Argus