Traffic easier in Cape Town following Thursday afternoon Metrorail chaos
The commute to the city centre on Friday morning was marginally easier than usual for many Capetonians, after a chaotic end to Thursday's work day when Metrorail suspended train services on all lines.
Picture for illustration. Long lines form at the Cape Town taxi rank after Metrorail suspended all train services, 27 February 2020. Picture: Twitter / @TeamNews24
It was uncharacteristic of the Friday mornings usually experienced in Cape Town.
Major arteries flowing into the City Bowl were busy, but train stations appeared quiet and commuting seemed easier.
However, in Nyanga, buses were delayed when taxi drivers blocked the bus terminus.
On Thursday, Metrorail unexpectedly suspended the train service due to what the company called a lack of power.
However, it emerged that Eskom had cut electricity supply because of a R4m overdue payment.
This left thousands of commuters stranded and many roads gridlocked.
On Friday morning, Metrorail tweeted that the service was operational, but a number of trains were running significantly late, and two sets on the Northern Line were cancelled.
Metrorail has 34 operational train sets, from an ideal number of 88, to run its timetable.
“It’s all stable. We note vandalism of essential infrastructure at Mutual impact train service on the Northern Line. Trains are manually authorised between Mutual and Parow. There is extended travel time of 40 to 60 minutes,” Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott told News24.
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