Will take a week to fix
No trains were running on the Daveyton line, in the East Rand, on Wednesday morning because of stolen overhead power cables, Metrorail Gauteng said.
“Due to the severity of the damage, we anticipate that it will take approximately a week to repair the damage,” it said in a statement.
It said technicians and service providers were working around the clock to repair the damage.
In the meantime, the state-owned commuter rail company had organised buses to run between Daveyton and Dunswart.
“We are pleading with our customers to exercise patience and care while we move them between the dead section by buses.”
In addition, there would continue to be delays of up to 45 minutes on both peaks on the route between Pretoria/Leralla and Johannesburg until Friday.
GAUTENG TRAINS AFFECTED BY LIGHTNING
Lightning damage at a railway substation at Kaalfontein in Midrand was causing delays on several lines, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA said on Tuesday.
A second substation was also affected by Sunday’s lightning and severely damaged a signalling panel, Prasa spokesman Lawrence Venkile said in a statement.
As a result there were long delays on the Leralla, Tembisa and Olifantsfontein lines and all Johannesburg-Pretoria trains. “Due to the severity of the damage, we anticipate that it will take approximately a week to repair the damage.”