[imagesource: here]

Metrorail delays are nothing new.

There’s rarely a day when the train you were hoping to catch arrives on time – and when relying on the service as your main source of transport, things can get a little frustrating.

To anyone who has experienced what goes on with Metrorail on the reg, yesterday’s uproar should come as no surprise.

IOL explains what triggered the chaos:

It all started with a comment here and there on Facebook and other social media from early afternoon as confused people sat on trains going nowhere at nearly every station on the Cape Flats.

As it got closer to rush hour starting at 4pm, commuters in the Cape Town CBD started getting upset as the queues grew longer with no trains in sight.

One commuter says there was no warning, only an announcement that trains had been delayed by between 2 and 3 hours.

One commuter from Kalksteenfontein said he usually gets home by 4pm, but after a three-hour wait, decided to board a taxi at 7pm last night.

It was only after 5PM when Metrorail announced that no trains would be travelling on the Cape Flats line, according to passenger Andy Martheze‎:

Some issue at Maitland station and one of the drivers said that we should try and take alternative transport as he has no clue when or if his train will be taking off…

Thanks again for another awesome experience Metrorail.

TRAINS ARE NOW SUPER FULL AND LONG LINES FOR REFUNDS… EVERYONE SCRAMBLING… THIS ALL TAKING PLACE AFTER 5PM….

He shared this picture:

According to Metrorail, the delays were caused by two of Metrorail’s “four 11kV power feeds” being unavailable between 15:00 and 19:00 last night:

The two remaining ones were overloaded, the electricity supply tripped, and trains all over the network were halted, some for over two hours.

However, commuters started trouble just before technicians had fixed the problem. Here’s a video of the chaos in the station last night:

https://www.facebook.com/fadiel.lakay/videos/10208967667532439/

And another:

https://www.facebook.com/andy.martheze/videos/10154426651246637/

According to GroundUp, commuters “toyi-toyed, destroyed two cell phone shops, smashed glass, stoned a bus and burnt trains”.

They also smashed the glass of the turnstiles to the platforms:

News24 reports that two trains were set alight:

The smoke was so thick that firefighters had called a truck with special breathing equipment to the scene.

#CTTrainStation train set alight @GroundUp_News pic.twitter.com/PpVQbapBJE

— Ashraf Hendricks (@AshrafRSA) June 12, 2017

In this pic from @DarrynLee, you can see the smoke billowing out of the station.

And here’s a glimpse of the taxi lines:

Commuters are angry and frustrated.

If you have a look at the Metrorail Facebook group (here) you can see how, on a daily basis, people are left stranded without adequate communication as to what is going on.

A bit uncalled for? Perhaps, but if you haven’t found yourself stranded on a platform with no idea when the next train is coming, you might get gatvol eventually, too.

[source:new24&iol&groundup]