Metrorail said there were several cancellations on the Central, Northern, Cape Flats and Southern line "due to sets out of service" and delays 60+ minutes.
"The torching of two trains at Cape Town station impacts the train service. Platform 15 and 16 are currently out of service for train operations. Commuters are advised to listen for platform changes via the public address system and view changes on the electronic display boards," Metrorail said.
Frustrated Metrorail commuters went on a rampage, damaging and looting shops at Cape Town Station on Monday night. Police were called in after angry commuters attacked Prasa staff and vandalised property after they claim officials failed to warn them about delays or offer an explanation.
Two trains were set alight. No injuries were reported.
There were long queues at both the Cape Town taxi rank and Golden Arrow and MyCiTi bus stations as commuters tried to find alternative transport home.
#NorthernLineCT, #CentralLineCT #SouthernLineCT& #CapeFlatsLineCT: Train fires at Cape Town Station last night impacts the train service pic.twitter.com/wcCbQnLbnf
— Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) June 13, 2017
It all started with a comment here and there on Facebook and other social media from early afternoon as confused people sat on trains going nowhere at nearly every station on the Cape Flats.As it got closer to rush hour starting at 4pm, commuters in the Cape Town CBD started getting upset as the queues grew longer with no trains in sight.
Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said between 3pm and 7pm two of the four feeds were unavailable due to problems experienced.She said Metrorail usually has four 11kv power feeds available to it to operate the train service.The remaining two feeds were overloaded, tripping electricity and halting trains all over the network.
The defective power feed at Maitland in particular affected all routes and ruled out the usual contingency of manual authorisation due to the high volume of trains on the network during peak. Some trains were delayed more than two hours,” she said.
#NorthernLineCT, #CentralLineCT #SouthernLineCT& #CapeFlatsLineCT: Train fires at Cape Town Station last night impacts the train service pic.twitter.com/CmVeRyJBgl
— Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) June 13, 2017
Regional manager Richard Walker apologised to affected customers but condemned the destruction of property. "We acknowledge that commuters were aggrieved but no amount of inconvenience warrants such behaviour."He said surveillance footage would be studied with the intention to file malicious damage to property charges.Technicians managed to restored power feeds at 8.52pm.