A train en route to Emgwenya from Mbombela caught fire near Ngodwana on March 4 at 05:00.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
Mbombela Fire and Rescue responded to a call from the scene. They could not extinguish the fire for five hours, as 900V continued to surge through the cables and posed a danger.
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The trip switch was enabled and the cables earthed to secure the scene and make it safe for the firefighters, who took a mere 5m to stop the fire.
“It has not yet been established what had caused the fire. In the train, the fibreglass and wooden panels at the back were damaged,” they said. “We suspect there was a shortcircuit in the attachment on top of the train that connects it to the overheard power cables. The nearest power substation was supposed to switch over to disrupt the power surge, but did not. The cables broke and burned into the train from the top.”
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Transnet’s spokesperson, Kathy Jaftha, confirmed the company is aware that one of its local trains had caught fire, and that no one was injured. “There were some minor damages on the train, but we are still investigating the cause of the fire and will release the report to the public.”
