Cape Town — As the Gautrain remains closed due to service disruptions following illegal drilling by private property, contingency plans have been put in place to ensure travellers are not affected.
The Gautrain closed its services between the Park and Rosebank stations following illegal drilling by a private company above the Gautrain tunnel. This led to water and soil seeping into the tunnel, which the transport service providers said would remain closed until further notice.
The Gautrain said it would increase its bus services while they were not running. The buses would operate at 15-minute intervals, starting at 5h30 this morning and ending at 8h30 in the evening.
Update: Park & Rosebank Service Suspension pic.twitter.com/s0M0CyxuWw
— Gautrain (@TheGautrain) February 16, 2025
Bus Service Between Park & Rosebank pic.twitter.com/PV1i6jssTZ
— Gautrain (@TheGautrain) February 17, 2025
According to The Citizen, Gautrain spokesperson Albi Modise said the Gautrain services would continue as normal and on schedule at the unaffected stations and urged patience as work is done to resume services.
“We appreciate our customers’ patience and will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that this incident is resolved to enable the restoration of Gautrain’s full services. The Gautrain apologises for the inconvenience caused by this disruption and hereby commits to keep our customers updated as more information becomes available,” Modise said.
Gauteng MEC for Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela visited the site to view the work currently underway to repair the station and said the assessment of the damaged section will be fast-tracked to ensure a speedy restoration of services, EWN reported.
It is alleged that the property owner did not have permission to dig a borehole, which caused the water and soil issues. Diale-Tlabela said the trains would be up and running once engineers find a solution.
“Unfortunately for us, we cannot operate the service further than where the damage is. So, we really apologise. It’s an inconvenience but we trust that they will come up with a solution quickly and as soon as possible, the trains will operate fully to their destinations,” she said.
MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela together with HoD Dr Thulani Mdadane & Gautrain CEO Tshepo Kgobe visiting the Gautrain shaft to assess the damage caused by a drilling activity at a residential place which led to disruptions of Gautrain services between Rosebank & Park Stations pic.twitter.com/UKhfnmjjPv
— GP Roads and Transport (@GPDRT_) February 16, 2025
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
