Metrorail trains were forced to switch from electric to steam locomotives because of the power cut, delaying the last two trains by between two and three hours with the last fans only arriving at 03:30, said Tumisang Kgaboesele, head of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.
South Africa's transport system was expected to be brought to a standstill from May 10 as 50 000 Transnet workers planned to strike over a wage dispute.
"This will be the biggest strike in the history of South Africa," said Chris de Vos, general secretary of the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) at a press conference in Johannesburg on Friday.
"It will make all other strikes look like kindergarten parties."
The Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) yesterday pinned the blame for the commuter rail parastatal's financial woes on underfunding from the Department of Transport, and on the poor performance of some of its own managers.
In an advertisement 'open letter' to the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) Manny de Freitas in Business Day yesterday, Prasa CEO Lucky Montana said a due-diligence report on Shosholoza Meyl, one of Prasa's subsidiaries, had revealed that the group required about R1,4bn a year to run this business "effectively".
It has access for passengers with special needs, CCTV cameras, a lengthened and resurfaced platform, and an area for retail and commercial activities. The project forms part of Prasa’s multi-million rand national station upgrade programme.
This will involve the refurbishing of the station network around the country for the 2010 Fifa World Cup and beyond.
...New stations are being built at Moses Mabhida in Durban, Windermere in Cape Town, and Rhodesfield in Johannesburg.
The transport department has invested R25 billion to upgrade train travel. Minister Jeff Radebe made the announcement when announcing a new transport enterprise, known as the Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa. The Agency will replace the old SA Rail Commuters Corporation. It will incorporate Metrorail, long distance rail division Shosholoza, Translux, as well as City to City.
At the launch, Radebe called on taxi and bus operators to participate in making the Bus Rapid Transit system a success. Taxi associations have threatened to disrupt the Confederations Cup and the 2010 Soccer World Cup if the system is implemented. Radebe says BRT will benefit all stakeholders.