Metrorail says severe train delays and cancellations can be expected on Monday morning after a fire destroyed two trains at Cape Town Station at the weekend.
Platform 15 and 16 will remain closed indefinitely after they were affected by the fire. The cause of the blaze is being investigated.
Thousands of people use trains to get to work in the Western Cape. Metrorail spokesperson, Riana Scott, says commuters, especially those travelling on the Northern line, will be affected.
“Platform 15 and 16 at the Cape Town station will remain close until further notice and this is as a result of the damage following the fire that destroyed two motor couches and five passenger couches. The electrical overhead wire was also damage. Our Northern commuters are now short of two trains that would ordinarily have been departing on those two platforms they will have to share space with a joining platform.”
Metrorail’s forensic teams are investigating the cause of the fire that destroyed 11 train carriages.
The fire started on platform 15 and quickly spread to platform 16. Several train carriages caught alight at the station on Saturday afternoon.
A thick cloud of smoke engulfed high rise buildings in the city centre. Four fire engines and two water tankers were deployed to put out the blaze.
Scott says no one was injured in the incident.
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