Gautrain An underground section of the Gautrain has been closed due to water and soil seepage. File picture: Chris Collingridge / Independent Media.
Image: Chris Collingridge / Independent Media.
The Gautrain service between Rosebank and Park Station in Johannesburg remains suspended following an illegal drilling activity, but the operators have stepped up its bus service on the route.
Gautrain management said buses would run every 15 minutes between the two stations, from 5:30am until 20:30 daily, as a contingency measure while repairs take place.
The underground rail section was closed on Saturday after a driver noticed that soil and water had seeped into the tunnel.
An investigation showed that the owner of a property above the tunnel had illegally drilled a borehole of about 50 metres into the ground.
Tshepo Kgobe, a senior executive at the Gautrain Management Agency, told Newzroom Afrika that the company was in the process of initiating legal action against the property owner, on multiple contraventions of local bylaws as well as for allegedly flouting the Gauteng Transport Infrastructure Act.
He reiterated that no form of digging or drilling is permitted to take place without obtaining prior permission from the city.
On Sunday Gauteng’s MEC for Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, visited the site, where repair work had already commenced. However, no timeline for the completion of repairs has been provided as yet.
“We urge all stakeholders to follow due process when any land use changes or construction activities are planned in the vicinity of transport infrastructure in Gauteng so that such occurrences are prevented in the future,” Gautrain said in a statement.
While most of the 90km Gautrain high-speed rail network in Gauteng runs above ground, sections closer to the Joburg city centre run underground.
IOL
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