At approximately 2.50pm on Monday afternoon, the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services were alerted to a train fire at Steenberg Station. Metrorail confirmed that three carriages were ablaze, the train was en route to Fish Hoek.
“No injuries reported as yet and cause has not been determined,” said Theo Layne, Fire and Rescue Services spokesperson.
Two fire engines, two water tankers and one rescue vehicle were on the scene to douse the blaze.
“The damaged carriages will be taken to the depot for further investigation and assessment by PRASA loss adjusters. The cause of the fire and estimate of damage will be assessed during post-incident investigations,” said Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott.
Trains entering Simon’s Town from Cape Town will terminate at Retreat station, with a single line operating between Retreat and Fish Hoek stations. A bus shuttle will operate between the Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town stations.
“The above arrangements remain in place until the scene is cleared and the police investigation is complete – estimated duration 3 – 4 hours,” Scott added. “Final mopping up operations will commence as soon as forensic teams have completed their investigation.”
Metrorail has made an appeal for anyone with information regarding the incident to provide this to the police. A reward of R25 000 will be paid to whoever can provide information that will lead to a successful conviction.
Metrorail sent an alert out via its Twitter page, informing its passengers to expect delays of an hour or more on the southern line.
Extended travel time of 60+ min on the #SouthernLineCT due to a fire – related incident at Steenberg (T0169 ) , cable theft between Rondebosch & Rosebank, defective signals at Mowbray and re-signalling work on the Southern line.
— Metrorail W/Cape (@CapeTownTrains) June 18, 2018
Picture: Supplied