Pretoria – Metrorail in Gauteng confirmed on Friday that its train service between Johannesburg and Pretoria was derailed on Friday morning.
“This morning at around 06:45, train 0610 enroute to Johannesburg from Pretoria derailed between Elandsfontein and Isando Station,” the company said in a statement.
Two plain trailers and one motor coach from the total of 12 train coaches derailed blocking one line.
The emergency services and Metrorail technical teams were on the scene to deal with the situation. At least 16 commuters have been injured and two seriously and were receiving medical care in hospitals.
Metrorail said contingency plans had been put in place for affected commuters. Trains are running on one line between Elandsfontein and Kempton Park. A shuttle train service is also running from Leralla to Kaalfontein and25 busses have been introduced to complement the service running between Kaalfontein and Elandsfontein.
The cause of the accident and the cost of the damage is still unknown at this stage.
“Our technical team is currently repairing the damaged overhead wires. The affected lines remain closed as a precautionary measure until the scene is cleared and declared safe for train movement”.
Metrorail regretted the incident and appealed to all its customers to exercise patience whilst its technical team was working to resolving the service back to normal. – SAnews.gov.za
