For the first time, Eskom is not to blame
MIDRAND – Gautrain talks about recent challenges for the train service.
Gautrain spokesperson Kesagee Nayager has confirmed that load-shedding was not the cause of the incident that took place at Gautrain on 9 November when a train was brought to a standstill between Park, Midrand and O R Tambo Airport service.
Affected commuters had taken to social media to complain about the effects of load-shedding on transport.
She explained, “Yesterday afternoon an overhead power cable was damaged, resulting in a power failure. Four trains were impacted by the power failure and passengers from three of the four trains were evacuated soon thereafter as those trains were close to a station. It took approximately 90 minutes to safely evacuate passengers from the fourth train which had stopped between the depot and Marlboro station. We had 47 passengers on this train.”
Nayager added, “At 23:20, [we] restored power to the track on the North-South line and the normal train service, on both tracks, is now operational. As a result, trains will be operating according to schedule.”
She said Gautrain apologises to its customers for the disruption to the train service. “In particular, we apologise to our customers who had to be evacuated yesterday evening due to the power failure. We thank these passengers for their understanding and for working with us to make that process safe and efficient,” she said.
