Cape Town – One person has been arrested after eight train carriages were set alight by arsonists at Cape Town Station, following Monday night’s chaos which also saw shops vandalised and looted.
Thousands of commuters were left stranded after trains were delayed due to technical problems.
Damage to Cape Town Station and trains was expected to run into millions of rands.
On Tuesday, Riana Scott of Metrorail confirmed they had to repair four electrical power feeds.
She says structural engineers quickly repaired the damage at Platforms 14 and 17, which were reopened.
However, platforms 15 and 16 remain closed for the removal of burnt wreckage until after an assessment was done.
Picture: Leon Knipe
Regional manager of Metrorail, Richard Walker, said he understood commuters had service concerns but that criminal acts would not be accepted.
“The delays were as a result of defective 11kv electrical feeds,” he explains.
“The defective power feed at Maitland in particular affected all routes out of the usual."
“Technicians managed to restore power feeds at [8.52pm] and trains started to operate."
“Trains had no sooner started to move when the torching occurred and the entire service had to be stopped.”