Burning tyres on tracks delay Cape Town trains

Metrorail’s services to the central line in Cape Town were suspended on Wednesday morning because burning tyres were placed on the railway tracks between Langa and Bonteheuwel.

“Public order police and fire services are on site,” said Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott.

“Metrorail is monitoring the situation and will dispatch technical crews to assess any possible damage to underlying and overhead infrastructure as soon as [the SA Police Service] declares the area safe.”

This meant that commuters already struggling with services severely delayed by signal equipment theft, and vandalism, had to make other arrangements in the affected area, which includes Kapteinsklip, Bishop Lavis and Chris Hani.

In the meantime, a points machine near Bellville was stripped of components, which meant train drivers had to wait for manual authorisation before crawling along the line at a slow speed.

This leads to delays of around 60 minutes to the regular schedule.

Muldersvlei train also have to be rerouted via Salt River and Strand trains have been rerouted via Ysterplaat/Mutual.

In the afternoon Scott said the protesters were cleared shortly after peak time, and the lines declared safe for operations.

On the northern some emergency repairs were done. “The rail network is stable, operable for afternoon peak and trains are running to schedule subject to the usual speed restrictions and sections under manual authorisations.”

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