Cable theft disrupts Gautrain services

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Pretoria - Gautrain services between Pretoria, Hatfield and Centurion are temporarily unavailable as a result of cable theft overnight at a sub-station in the area.

However, an emergency bus service has been implemented between Hatfield, Pretoria and Centurion until the problem is resolved.

"There will be no Gautrain service between Hatfield and Centurion until about 10am this morning, the 10th of August," reads a statement on the Gautrain website.

The Gautrain bus feeder routes in Hatfield, Pretoria and Centurion are currently operating on a frequency of 24 minutes rather than the scheduled 12 minutes.

On Monday, Gautrain bus drivers embarked on a one-day strike. The striking bus drivers have since agreed to return to work today.

Meanwhile, there are still no Rea Vaya buses between Johannesburg, Soweto and surrounding areas as the bus drivers continue with their strike.

On Monday, the 200 bus drivers who embarked on an illegal strike a week ago, leaving more than 35 000 commuters stranded, reported for duty following the agreement reached by their employer, Piotrans, the bus operating company and the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu).

Initially, the illegal strike by Rea Vaya bus drivers was about the new proposed work shifts and during their strike last week, they ignored the labour court interdict ordering them to return to work.

Piotrans spokesperson Eric Motswane said: "As we are speaking now, there are no Rea Vaya bus services in operation as the bus drivers are still on strike.

"On Monday morning, the bus drivers reported for duty, but we later on received a warning letter from their trade union informing us their members will be embarking on a wage strike this time around."