Cape Town - Metrorail has suspended services on Cape Town's Central line "until further notice" with no trains operating on the Chris Hani - Kapteinsklip and Bishop Lavis lines.
Vandalism, cable theft and the continuous destruction of infrastructure have caused chaos and has "reached a stage where no further service is possible", said Metrorail regional manager Richard Walker.
"Vandals targeted several mini sub-stations, cables and back-up batteries over the weekend leaving us no option but to suspend services. The rate of vandalism simply outstrips the rate of repairs," he said.
Stations will be closed and no tickets will be on sale until further notice. Metrorail also had no buses to offer as alternative transport.
Golden Arrow buses are assisting weekly/monthly ticket holders and no singles/returns are being sold.
Walker said the Bonteheuwel-Netreg-Nyanga area was "in the grip of an escalating crime wave with no evidence of law enforcement officials winning the battle against criminals.
He condemned the attacks and the vandalism and calls on assistance from law enforcement agencies as well as citizens to help fight the scourge.
"Teams will be sent in under armed escort tomorrow (on Tuesday) to assess the situation before any attempt to recover the service is possible."
On Monday, there were also reports of signal power failure at Bellville, effecting the Northern line but that power outage has been restored.
Trains from Strand and Muldersvlei Line will terminate at Kuils River, all trains from Cape Town operating on the Northern line will stop at Parow and all trains from Wellington are expected to stop at Kraaifontein.
Commuters are warned to expect delays of over 60 minutes.