Cape Town — PRASA laments the interruption that took place during the first journey of the Shosholoza Meyl from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Friday, due to cable theft.
In a PRASA statement, the agency revealed that the trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town was interrupted after overhead cables were stolen, between Kaaifontein and Muldersvlei. The passengers were left stranded on the side of the railway tracks and forced to complete the trip by bus.
“We are acutely aware of the inconvenience suffered by our passengers. In response, we activated our contingency plan, and promptly arranged buses to cover the remaining 70km to Cape Town. This incident, though beyond out control, underscores the pressing challenge of copper wire theft affecting our services,” they said.
[JHB-CPT] The Shosholoza Meyl train reached Wellington, just 70km outside Cape Town when the journey was unexpectedly halted due to theft of overhead cables. 1458km had been covered by train. We apologize for the inconvenience. pic.twitter.com/jsod46qOoK
— PRASA Group (@PRASA_Group) December 8, 2023
Earlier in the week, PRASA acknowledged it was facing several challenges, including the quality of infrastructure and a shortage of locomotives, this according to EWN.
“PRASA believes acknowledging and addressing challenges openly is essential to rebuilding and maintaining trust in our service. We know long-distance travel via rail is the most affordable. During this phase of reintroducing the long-distance mainline passenger services, PRASA will provide regular updates on our progress and seek feedback from our passengers and other stakeholders,” TimesLIVE reported the agency saying.
Transnet later revealed that the rail services were later repaired and restored following the cable theft.
[URGENT NOTICE] Rail Services Restored:
All train services on the section between Muldersvlei and Kraaifontein on the Cape Mainline has been restored. Services were interrupted following a cable theft incident early this morning.
— Transnet Freight Rail (@ReliableTFR) December 8, 2023
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
