Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services (DEMS) responded to the scene of a train derailment at Elandsfontein Station on Thursday morning.
William Ntladi, district manager media liaison for DEMS, said, “We thank the GCN for alerting us to the derailment as we received no call about the incident.”
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Both the Primrose and the Edenvale fire stations responded swiftly to the scene and upon arrival, information available on scene was that the derailment took place at about 7.30am.
“The train came in from Thembisa and offloaded passengers at the station.
“Once empty, it was shunting to line itself up for the parking bay when it derailed,” said Ntladi.
“Two carriages derailed.
“No injuries were reported on scene.”
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The GCN requested comment from Lillian Mofokeng, spokesperson for Metrorail, as to the cause of the derailment and why emergency services were not alerted to the incident.
“It is reported that two plain trailers have derailed and there are no injuries reported,” said Mofokeng.
“The derailed trailers are currently blocking all lines towards the Elandsfontein Station.
“The root cause of the derailment and the cost of damages is not yet known.
“However, the incident will be fully investigated.
“The affected lines will remain closed whilst Metrorail’s technical and recovery teams work to clear the scene.”
The following temporary train arrangements have been made:
All trains from Leralla and Centurion will terminate at Isando Station, until further notice.
“Metrorail apologises to commuters and employers for the inconvenience caused,” said Mofokeng.
Mofokeng did not comment on why emergency services were not alerted to the incident.
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