Metrorail has temporarily suspended services on Cape Town’s Central line. There are no trains operating on the Chris Hani – Kapteinsklip and Bishop Lavis lines.
Metrorail regional manager Richard Walker said that vandalism, cable theft and the continuous destruction of infrastructure have caused chaos and has “reached a stage where no further service is possible”.
“Vandals targeted several mini sub-stations, cables and back-up batteries over the weekend leaving us no option but to suspend services. The rate vandalism simply outstrips the rate of repairs,” he said.
Ticket sales and stations will be closed until further notice. No alternative transport arrangements were offered by Metrorail.
Walker said the Bonteheuwel-Netreg-Nyanga area was “in the grip of an escalating crime wave with no evidence of law enforcement officials winning the battle against criminals”.
“Teams will be sent in under armed escort tomorrow (on Tuesday) to assess the situation before any attempt to recover the service is possible.”
There were also reports of signal power failure at Bellville on Monday, affecting the Northen line.
Trains from Strand and Muldersvlei Line will terminate at Kuils River, all trains from Cape Town operating on the Northen line will stop at Parow and all trains from Wellington are expected to stop at Kraaifontein.
Delays of over 60 minutes are to be expected.
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