More train carriages set alight
Another two carriages were burnt in an apparent arson attack on Metrorail in Cape Town.
|||Cape Town - Another two carriages were burnt in an apparent arson attack on Metrorail on Tuesday night. A passenger coach and a motor coach were damaged when arsonists set fire to the passenger coach at Cape Town Station, Metrorail confirmed on Wednesday morning.
Metrorail staff were at the scene almost immediately after the alarm went off and were able to disconnect the two coaches from the rest of the train. No damage was done to the platform or to the rest of the train and no one was injured. Fire services were quick to douse the fire, the company said.
The latest alleged arson attack brings the total of carriages burnt at the station to at least 12 so far this week.
Metrorail is now anxiously awaiting the results of a police investigation into the attacks.
On Tuesday a blaze destroyed two trains comprising four motor coaches and six other carriages at the station.
The fire, which started in the early hours of on Tuesday morning, was the second in three weeks in which carriages were destroyed, and has been ascribed to an arson attack.
A sticky flammable liquid had been found at the source of the fire.
“We think we have reason to believe that there is something that requires looking into, but we cannot say anything for certain before the police investigation has run its course,” said Metrorail regional manager Richard Walker.
Walker said the company was working hard to return train services to normal as soon as possible after thousands of commuters were affected on Tuesday.
Three weeks ago, three carriages were destroyed when children set fire to them at Muizenberg station.
Walker said Metrorail’s efforts to improve services in the Cape Town metropolitan area had taken a severe knock.
Metrorail has adopted a multi-disciplinary approach to improving its services, Walker said.
It had sought to enhance the reliability of rolling stock, manage its schedules more effectively and added trains.
“By July we were really beginning to see improvements and things were beginning to go very well,” Walker said. “And now this.
“It has been established that this was a very deliberate attack on the trains and we are very keen to see the results of the police investigation.
“We handed all our evidence and information over to them and it is their investigation.
“We will react once we know what they have found, but I do believe we are dealing with something here that requires a deeper look.
“I just wish that the people of Cape Town would begin to see the railway as a community asset.
“It belongs to them and it is there to be of service to them.
“We have just recently launched a new railway line that now makes it possible for people from Mitchells Plain to get to Century City by train instead of having to take three taxis.
“We wish to show that the trains are not just there for commuting, they can also be used for recreational purposes. We want to put restaurants at the stations, make them a nice place to go.”
But the damage to Metrorail stock and infrastructure had put a damper on those plans and left a bitter taste, Walker said.
Metrorail said experience had taught it that the vandalism and arson attacks could be the result of a range of motives. The perpetrators could be disgruntled. The trains could be the targets of protests over poor service delivery in general. Or the attacks could be simple criminal acts.
“Metrorail will fully co-operate with the police investigation – it is imperative that the motive behind the incident be established to ensure an appropriate security response.
“We also call on the public to report any information regarding the incident to the police,” Walker said.
Meanwhile, Western Cape Minister of Transport Donald Grant condemned the attacks against the commuter rail provider.
“I appeal to those with information to assist the SAPS in their investigation that must lead to the arrest, successful prosecution and conviction of those responsible for these criminal acts,” he said in a statement released on Tuesday.
henri.duplessis@inl.co.za
Cape Argus
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