An interdict has been granted to avert a train strike led by the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) from going ahead, Metrorail said on Thursday.
But defective signals and cable theft resulted in delays between ten minutes and one hour on the southern and northern lines.
Legal recourse was taken to “prevent the backbone of public transport in the Western Cape from being impacted”, Metrorail's regional manager Richard Walker in a statement.
Walker said the rail service provider owed commuters the “courtesy of providing an acceptable service with the aged infrastructure at our disposal”.
On Wednesday, Metrorail said it had instituted a contingency plan for the duration of the strike action, and that security and railway police would be on alert to ensure order.
The interdict was granted on Wednesday evening.
Satawu’s Luntu Sokutu on Wednesday told News24 that the union is demanding an end to outsourcing, the permanent employment of fixed-term contract workers, a salary alignment with workers in other provinces, and the removal of Walker, who the union describes as "incompetent".
He said the strike would continue until the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) met their demands.
Satawu members gathered outside the Cape Town train station as the union leadership approached the Labour Court to lift the interdict.