Gautrain delays inconvenience commuters
"Passengers on the north-south line may expect to have their journey times extended by approximately an hour," says Gautrain spokesperson, Kesagee Nayager.
Commuters utilising the Gautrain experienced an unexpected technical issue on Tuesday morning, which caused major delays on its north-south line and disrupted the train schedule.
What Gautrain initially announced as a 50-minute delay lasted longer and left many passengers frustrated and questioning the reliability of the transportation system.
Sfiso Mdluli, who was inside the Gautrain that stopped in the middle of his journey from Midrand Station to Centurion Station, said that he waited for 30 minutes before the service explained what was happening.
Mdluli said that they were only informed after they had waited for a long time that there was a technical issue.
“The whole trip from Marlboro station to get to Pretoria station took an hour and 30 minutes,” he said.
He explained that he was worried that he would have to find other means of transport since he was in a rush and was not sure if he would get the taxis to Polokwane.
Many commuters took to social media to share their frustrations, with some admitting that they had been waiting for approximately two hours, far longer than the initially announced delay.
Two X users @khanya_bobi and @RK_Mayekisa shared that they had to wait for two hours and that one of them ended up returning home instead.
Another user @PierreAckermann commented that he was on the train for an hour and a half between Sandton and Centurion.
Gautrain spokesperson Kesagee Nayager said that they experienced a track circuit in the morning, which caused the delay of the trains on the north-south line.
“Our technicians are busy fault-finding and hoping to resolve the issue as soon as possible so that we may resume services accordingly,” she said.
Nayager apologised for the inconvenience that was caused and said that the service is now back on.
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