More blows for Metrorail commuters hit by ‘sabotage’ on two busiest routes
METRORAIL has cancelled its bus shuttle for passengers hit by the suspension of services on the busiest routes, compounding their struggle to get to work and home.
It cancelled its shuttle of 55 buses yesterday after drivers were threatened, leaving thousands of commuters to scramble for minibus taxis or Golden Arrow buses.
Services have been paralysed since cables were cut in 25 places between the Nyanga and Philippi stations early on Wednesday.
The train service between Nyanga and Mitchells Plain and Khayelitsha may not be restored before Monday, Metrorail says.
The Cape Chamber of Commerce says the disruptions are affecting the economy.
Khayelitsha commuter Vivian Sangotsha, said she had been unable to find her way to work because of the chaos. “Buses are congested and it’s risky to use them because there is a lot of pushing and shoving.” The door to a bus had been damaged in the pushing.
“We have to stand in long queues for buses we aren’t sure will arrive.”
Metrorail has asked Golden Arrow to assign 40 more buses to the routes between Nyanga, Khayelitsha and Macassar.
Golden Arrow said it would provide the extra buses from Nyanga outside its peak hours. They would run until 9pm, the same time as the last train.
Metrorail spokeswoman Riana Scott said police had assessed the threats made to bus drivers and advised the company to stop the service. She declined to elaborate.
Only commuters with monthly or weekly tickets may use Golden Arrow buses without paying. They may do so only between 8am and 3.30pm and between 6.30pm and 5am.
“Outside those times they must pay,” Golden Arrow spokeswoman Bronwen Dyke said. The buses would ”stop near where people would have left the trains”.
Metrorail has described the damage to the cables as “sabotage”.
Scott said technicians were working “around the clock” and in two teams to repair the cables.
“It is intricate work and each little cable has to be tested individually.”
ber of workers were not on time for work this week,” she said.
Cosatu said Metrorail was “punishing commuters for the actions of criminals, which is totally unacceptable”.
Its provincial secretary, Tony Ehrenreich, said: “Poor communities have no other modes of transport to get them to their destinations as the overcrowding of the rest of the system is confirmed by the Golden Arrow operators”.
Transport MEC Donald Grant has condemned the vandalism to Metrorail infrastructure. “Obstructed signalling systems can have deadly consequences.”
Metrorail says security guards surprised the culprits as they were cutting cables on the section beyond Nyanga.
The culprits opened fire and fled.
The guards gave chase, but could not catch them.
It has offered a R50 000 reward for information leading to arrests.
It has spent about R2.5 million on repairs in the past few months alone. Cape Chamber of Commerce president Janine Myburgh said that the disruptions werehaving a serious impact on the local economy.
“We have not had reportback from businesses, but we can just assume a large num-