Fury as power cut halts Cape Flats rail line

[Gabor Kovacs]

From IOL News Website

Fury as power cut halts Cape Flats rail line

September 03 2008 at 03:03PM

By Ziyanda Sidumo and Clayton Barnes

Train drivers were threatened with death on Wednesday as an early-morning power outage resulted in hundreds of train commuters on the Cape Flats line being late for work.

Some passengers started walking along the track towards the city when trains came to a halt near Ysterplaat.

One was Thandiswa Mfwazwe, from Khayelitsha, who said she was supposed to get off at Bonteheuwel station, but the train had passed straight through.

"I'm worried that my bosses will fire me, because in August I was also late because of the trains," she said.

Anne Ntozini, 65, of Khayelitsha, who also had to jump from the train, said: "These drivers are messing with us. We are the ones who contribute to Metrorail, but they don't care about us."

As a group of angry commuters jumped off one of the trains, they threatened that next time they would stone the drivers to death and burn down the trains.

Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said there were serious delays on the Cape Flats line due to the power cut, but trains on the Southern Suburbs lines were not disrupted.

The power outage would affect various stations along the Cape Flats line and Cape Town station was in darkness.

The Metrorail emergency and information lines were down as a result of the outage.

A statement by Eskom's regional communications office said the supply line from Salt River had tripped, causing blackouts at Cape Town Harbour and the Foreshore.

"Metrorail immediately received alternative supply from the Modderdam traction, minimising the impact on railway transport," it said.

Eskom's spokesperson firm whether any other areas had been affected.

"Repairs are in progress, but full restoration time can not be estimated at this point,"she said.

Scott said that despite the power feed from Modderdam, trains were running "extremely slowly".

"We apologise for this, but it is an Eskom problem," she said.

Operations were running as usual on the Southern Suburbs line this morning after the chaos on Tuesday, when lines were damaged by huge waves crashing over the rails.

Eight stations from Muizenberg to Simon's Town were closed as a result and a handful of buses were dispatched to transport commuters between the two stations.

This article was originally published on page 3 of Cape Argus on September 03, 2008