By Karabo Rammutla
A Shosholoza Meyl train carrying hundreds of passengers was forced to come to a sudden halt on Tuesday as thieves had stolen the track.
This is after the train had been forced to stop earlier in the journey when a kamikaze bird flew into the windscreen, sending shattered glass flying across the driver’s cab.
The railway tracks had been removed near Sasolburg in the Free State, putting the train at risk of being derailed.
To avert a potential disaster, the driver was forced into making a dramatic stop – the second of the day.
As a result, passengers from Queenstown on their way to Johannesburg were left stranded.
Nomaindia Bam, who was a passenger on board, said from start to finish the entire journey felt perilous.
“We were in the middle of nowhere, we were tired and wanted to sleep but we had to guard our luggage. If this had happened at night we would have been robbed,” she told Scrolla.Africa.
She said although the train ride was cheap, it was not worth the risk. And this is far from the first time she has encountered problems with the Shosholoza Meyl trains.
“[You are] lucky if you reach your destination on time. Even when I went to the Eastern Cape in December the train kept breaking down. If I had money I wouldn’t be anywhere near Shosholoza Meyl,” she said.
Prasa spokesperson Andiswa Makhanda said the railway lines belong to Transnet and claimed all passengers reached their destination, but failed to mention how long it had taken them to do so.
“We made provision of combis to ferry them home as the conditions of the tracks were no longer suitable to continue by train,” she said.
Pictured above: Passengers were left stranded because of vandalised train tracks
Image source: @CliffTheReporter
