Anger as train delays are set to continue

Cape Town 160415- Hundreds of people walking between Salt river Station and Woodstock station after the trains delayed. Picture Cindy Waxa.Reporter Siya/Argus

Cape Town 160415- Hundreds of people walking between Salt river Station and Woodstock station after the trains delayed. Picture Cindy Waxa.Reporter Siya/Argus

Published May 6, 2016

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Cape Town - Nearly 500 trains were cancelled this week, and the Metrorail service will continue to be delayed for as long as it takes to repair damaged carriages.

Seventeen carriages were destroyed in a week of arson attacks last month, which resulted in 910 train cancellations. In total 32 carriages have been destroyed in six separate incidents since October last year.

Metrorail has not been able to recover fully since the attacks, and this week a total of 478 scheduled trains were cancelled, Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said.

“Although every effort is made to expedite the return of carriages, there is no guarantee that the Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s needs will necessarily supersede other operators.” An optimistic scenario is six to 12 months.

“The seemingly high number of cancellations must be seen in context – to create capacity in the timetable for the slower process of manual authorisations, some trains have to be cancelled in the interest of safety to prevent trains from piling up in the affected sections. The number of cancellations include train-sets released for obligatory maintenance; those out of commission as a result of arson; as well as train-sets cancelled to create the necessary capacity,” Scott said.

Commuter Danielle van Wyk, 23, travels from work in the CBD to Bellville every day, and said because her train was cancelled on Wednesday night she got home after dark.

“There were no lights in the carriage and I could not see my hand in front of my face. As a woman I feel Metrorail is making us easy targets for criminals,” Van Wyk said.

Gavin Leite, a factory manager in Maitland, said he had staff commuting from as far as Malmesbury, and they often arrived late because of delayed and cancelled trains.

“I often get a call to say 10 women are stuck at a station and can’t get to work on time. When that happens I send a taxi to fetch them. We can’t go on like this, things need to change,” Leite said.

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@FrancescaJaneV

Cape Times

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