Metrorail working to fix Elandsfontein route after train crash

Metrorail said on Friday that it was still using a single line shuttle service from Elandsfontein to Kempton Park for the morning peak following a train crash on Thursday that left one person dead and 102 passengers injured.

A side train collision between the two trains, T0601 and T1817, occurred at Elandsfontein at around 06:25am on Thursday morning. Train T0601 was from Pretoria en route to Johannesburg and T1817 was an empty train en route to Leralla from the yard.

The train crash has affected traffic on major routes along Elandsfontein and Germiston since Thursday.

Gauteng Metrorail said that at the time of the accident, the trains were being manually authorised between Olifantsfontein and Elandsfontein due to theft of signalling power cables that occurred in the early hours of Thursday.

Metrorail acting spokesperson, Tony Games, said the single line shuttle service implemented on Thursday night was still in operation from Elandsfontein to Kempton Park, but that the shuttle service did not stop at Isando Station because the shuttle train was running on a goods line.

The shuttle train service was running from Leralla to Kempton Park, between Elandsfontein and Kempton Park, from Elandsfontein to Germiston, from Germiston to Johannesburg, and from Pretoria to Kempton Park.

Games said trains from Pretoria were turning at Kempton Park and trains from Johannesburg were turning at Germiston. Buses are also running between Elandsfontein and Isando to complement the shuttle service.

“Metrorail’s appointed technical team continues to work hard around the clock with external service providers to recover normal train operations,” Games said.

“Almost all injured passengers were discharged from hospitals yesterday except for two who were seriously injured.”

Games said they were still investigating the circumstances and the identity of the male person who died in the accident since he was inside an empty train that was not in service.