Pretoria - After the two week closure of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa) Mountain View station following a fatal crash that left three dead and hundreds others injured - the parastatal has announced the re-opening of the line.
The Pretoria north corridor was closed on January 8, following a collision between two trains at the Mountain View station which left three dead and over 600 other passengers injured.
Following the crash it emerged that the cause of the accident was a result of a breakdown in communication between a control officer and the driver of the second train.
This was according to a preliminary report by the Railway Safety Regulator, which said that after the driver repeated the authority incorrectly, the train control officer acknowledged the incorrect authority.
The regulator said this resulted in the train wrongly entering the section between the Pretoria North and Mountain View stations.
Even though it was initially anticipated the damage would take some time to repair, Gauteng Rail spokesperson, Lillian Mofokeng, said due to the tireless work of the technical teams they were able to open the line for movement.
“The technical teams worked tirelessly to remove the wreckage and conduct all the necessary tests prior to reopening the line for train movement.”
Mofokeng said the line which services commuters from Mabopane and DeWildt, north of the city, would as of Tuesday afternoon peak time resume services.
“Metrorail would like to thank all its loyal customers for their understanding and patience during repair phase,” she concluded.