Mopping up at Cape Town station

More Metrorail delays on Tuesday morning

Photo of burnt out train

Burnt out carriages at a platform at Cape Town train station. Photo: Natalie Pertsovsky

By Natalie Pertsovsky

13 June 2017

Cape Town central train station was still in disarray on Tuesday morning. Cleaners were busy clearing up the debris from Monday night’s protests. Firefighters were spraying water around burnt out train carriages. Station employees tried to clean up broken glass and garbage. Officials had roped off rubble-strewn areas, including looted shops. Crowds of commuters and onlookers watched.

Protests erupted on Monday after widespread train delays that started in the mid-afternoon left hundreds of commuters stranded in the city into Monday evening.

A lotted shop in Cape Town train station. Photo: Natalie Pertsovsky

There were again widespread train delays on Tuesday. At 8:45am, GroundUp found commuters who had been waiting since 7am for their trains.

In a statement, Metrorail confirmed that eight train cars had been destroyed and platforms 15 and 16 at Cape Town station will be closed until further notice.

Trains were again delayed on Tuesday morning at Cape Town train station. Photo: Natalie Pertsovsky