Prasa deeply regrets the interruption of the MLPS long-distance service from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Friday, December 8. Picture: Prasa
Cape Town - The Passenger Rail Agency of SA’s woes continue as commuters were forced to take the bus to Johannesburg yesterday.
The trouble started on Friday when the Shosholoza Meyl train, scheduled to arrive in Cape Town, was forced to stop in Wellington due to cable theft.
Prasa released a statement apologising for the interruption on the long-distance commute.
“Prasa deeply regrets the interruption of the MLPS long-distance service from Johannesburg to Cape Town on Friday, December 8.
“The journey was unexpectedly halted at Wellington Station due to the theft of overhead cables between Kraaifontein and Muldersvlei.
“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 our direct control, underscores the pressing challenge of copper wire theft affecting our services.
“We apologise for the disruption and assure you that we are taking robust measures with our partners to safeguard our infrastructure and minimise such unpredictable disruptions in the future.”
Transnet tweeted: “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.
“As a result a Prasa rail train was staged at Wellington and train passengers were sent by bus to their destination.
“Rail Network repair teams worked throughout the day and full rail services was restored at 2.30pm on Friday afternoon.”
Yesterday an X user, @naanbreyani, wrote a thread about his bad experience as he travelled to Johannesburg from Cape Town.
“We were scheduled to leave at 10am with the train, me and my travel mates arrived at Cape Town station before 9am so that we could get all the baggage sorted out.
“Upon arrival, we get told, if you’re here to take the train you won’t be anymore. We'll be taking the bus. There was cable theft.
“Mind you, they’ve known since Saturday night or early Sunday morning but they didn’t even bother to send us an SMS to alert us.
“At 10.25pm, they came out with a box of branded Prasa merchandise, drawstring bags and caps as ‘tokens of appreciation’.”
He explained that there was a heated conversation between the passengers and the Prasa employee.
“The train manager said that she doesn’t know much except that the train is delayed due to unforeseen circumstances.
“A heated question and answer session ensues. A big concern is that some people paid R450 (3rd class) and others, including me, paid R690 (1st class) -- 3rd class is the sitter option, 1st class is the sleeper option, the latter has rooms and showers and tables and beds.
“The conversation is that 1st class people are not going to be paid back the difference of R240; it’s unfair for us to pay extra to have the same experience.”
He added that after 11am, an hour later, they were told the bus had arrived.
“11.45am the bus eventually arrives, we stored our things in the bottom compartments, there were no bag labels issued, so our fear was that things would probably get lost or stolen.
“12.07pm the bus moves, this makes me so upset because this bus should’ve picked us up at 10am, when we were supposed to leave.
“They knew about this in the early hours of Sunday morning, they had ample time to figure this out. This other man kept telling us about the bus being a luxury liner, like we were supposed to be grateful. I really would’ve preferred the train.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za
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