Three hundred passengers of an ill-fated Shosholoza Meyl train from East London to Gauteng arrived at Johannesburg's Park Station after two days following massive delays caused by technical faults to the train.
The voyage was suppose to begin at 2.20pm on Wednesday afternoon and end at 11am on Thursday, but a series of technical faults saw passengers trapped halfway for an extra 15 hours.
Problems began right from the word go when the train left East London’s Arcadia train station three hours late after losing signal.
Shosholoza Meyl spokesperson Daizy Daniels said the signal was lost after one of the coaches was found flooded with water.
When the train finally moved at 5.15pm, heavy rainfalls and stormy weather forced the train to make an emergency stop at 11.45pm between Vereeniging and Sasolburg.
Daniels said this is after the railway signalling network malfunctioned after being knocked out by powerful storms.
“The delay was worsened by locomotive failure that led us to arrange alternative transport to rescue our passengers.
“Three buses were arranged and our passengers were then bused to Joburg’s Park Station. The last bus arrived at 00h10 [12.10am] on Friday morning.”
Gompo Presbyterian Church of Africa leader, Reverend Bulelwa Qabaka, said they finally reached the Johannesburg station at 2am on Friday.
She said frustrated passengers, including elderly people and children, had no food or water and could not shower.
Qabaka slammed Shosholoza saying: “We were lied to by the officials of the train.
“They kept changing their stories all the time.”
Qabaka said the first “excuse” they were fed after panicking passengers asked about the delay, was that another train had collided with a cow ahead and was blocking the line.
“Later we were told that a train from Port Elizabeth was using the same line as our line.”
Qabaka said children and old people alike starved on the train as they only had food supplies for the scheduled time for the trip.
Speaking to the Dispatch from Johannesburg, Qabaka said: “I have not showered for two days. I am sweaty and a lot of people have not brushed their teeth, this has been a trip from hell.”
Daniels denied Qabaka’s allegations that the passengers were kept in the dark about the real reason for the delays. “Our passengers were kept informed by the on-board staff at all times,” she said...