Cape Town – The luxurious Blue Train derailed at Union Station in Germiston, Gauteng.
According to reports on Sunday, the train derailed overnight and had no passengers on board.
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) confirmed to Citizen that it was investigating the cause after 19 empty coaches of one of the Blue Trains derailed at the Union Station in Germiston, just after midnight on Sunday.
“This was a staged (unmanned) train with no passengers on board. No injuries were reported on-site,” Transnet was quoted as saying.
— Karin Morrow (@rinmor) November 7, 2021
TimesLive reported that TFR said it would apply remedial action where necessary but said there would be no cancellations and it’s freight operations were not impacted.
Famous Blue Train derails - no passengers on board
— SA emergency reports (@MARIUSBROODRYK) November 7, 2021
November 7, 2021
The luxurious Blue Train derailed overnight at Union Station in Elandsfontein, near Germiston in Gauteng.
No passengers were on board. pic.twitter.com/dZ5VQqpC1h
In May, the Blue Train said that it was starting to see an increase in the number of international guests travelling for leisure.
“Since returning to operations, we have had the great fortune of overwhelming support from local guests. We kicked off with fully booked trains as per new capacity dictates well into the first quarter of 2021, and we continue with that winning streak,” Transnet’s executive manager of tourism, hospitality and heritage, Nomasonto Ndlovu, said at the time.
“Worth mentioning is the increasing number of international guests from the United State and European countries , that we have been hosting on board The Blue Train over the last few weeks.”
IOL