Cape Town – Commuters are suffering after the brazen acts of thieves and vandals who caused 27 trains to come to a halt.
Delays of more than two hours have been experienced by commuters since Sunday, leaving hundreds stranded at stations.
Many have had to fork out extra money for alternative transport.
Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said “extraordinary measures” were adopted to ensure the safety of
passengers after cables and infrastructure were stolen or damaged.
“Cancellations are done to create capacity for the stop-and-go system and manual authorised sections; otherwise, the system will be congested. The region operates 444 trains on weekdays, of which 27 had to be cancelled.”
One person has been arrested so far.
“Cables were vandalised and
stolen between Kentemade and Ysterplaat, as well as between Hazendal and Langa. Monday afternoon, a suspect was caught while cutting cabling between Woodstock and Cape Town. He was arrested and a case of theft of essential infrastructure opened.
“Thieves attempted to steal 5m of four pairs of cable at Salt River. Their attempt triggered a high-voltage surge that damaged the equipment room, several components housed therein and the uninterrupted power supply.”
Commuter Ester Abrahams, from Salt River, said that on Sunday she waited at the station for more than 30 minutes before deciding to take a taxi as she was running late for work.
“I don’t know if the intercoms at the stations are working because there were no extended travel time announcements.
"We are lucky the road is just outside the train station. Those who didn’t have money had to wait.”
Commuter activists #UniteBehind called for the Passenger Rail Agency of SA to compensate commuters for delays and cancellations.
#UniteBehind spokesperson
Matthew Hirsch said: “Until the
performance target of 79% to 83% trains run on time and are not
cancelled frequently, monthly ticket holders should be allowed to use their tickets for the next consecutive month.
“When trains are not running, commuters have to fork out extra money for alternative transport. We demand qualified and properly trained security guards on trains and at the train stations, operating on legitimate contracts.
"We need basic security infrastructure. There needs to be security in the trains and at every station.”