73-679: Premier Classe : Gautrain : Metrorail : Johannesburg Park Station is the central railway station in the city of Johannesburg , South Africa , and the largest railway station in Africa. It is located between the Central Business District and Braamfontein , in the block bordered by Rissik, Wolmarans, Wanderers, and Noord Streets. Park Station lies on the main Witwatersrand railway line that runs East-West from Krugersdorp to Germiston . The first four stations to
146-528: A colourful march and the crowning of the Jacaranda Queen. Commuter rail services around Pretoria are operated by Metrorail . The routes, originating from the city centre, extend south to Germiston and Johannesburg , west to Atteridgeville , northwest to Ga-Rankuwa , north to Soshanguve and east to Mamelodi . Via the Pretoria–Maputo railway it is possible to access the port of Maputo, in
219-645: A fatal crash with a goods train on 12 February 2020. A revised service was introduced from 27 November 2020, which due to Covid-19 restrictions limits seating capacity and passengers need to supply their own food, drinks, and bedding. As of October 2024 , Shosholoza Meyl only operates the following route: Shosholoza Meyl trains run on the Cape gauge ( 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in )) Transnet mainline track. The trains are locomotive -pulled. Most routes are completely electrified 3 kV DC and 25 kV AC systems, usually class 6E1 or class 18E locomotives on
292-554: A goods train near Bonny Doone Road in Horizon View , west of Johannesburg . One person died in the incident and several people were injured. After the incident, the Railway Safety Regulator suspended all Shosholoza Meyl train operations indefinitely. Pretoria Pretoria ( / p r ɪ ˈ t ɔːr i ə , p r i -/ prih- TOR -ee-ə, pree- ; Afrikaans: [prəˈtʊəria] ),
365-867: A national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over Dingane and the Zulus in the Battle of Blood River in 1838. The elder Pretorius also negotiated the Sand River Convention (1852), in which the United Kingdom acknowledged the independence of the Transvaal . It became the capital of the South African Republic on 1 May 1860. The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic can be seen as marking
438-519: A programme to plant jacaranda trees throughout Pretoria, and by 1971 there would already be 55,000 of them in the city. Most jacarandas in Pretoria are lilac in colour, but there are also white ones planted on Herbert Baker Street in Groenkloof . The Jacaranda Carnival is an old tradition that was held from 1939 to 1964. After a hiatus of over twenty years, it resumed in 1985. Festivities include
511-455: A republic in 1961, Pretoria remained its administrative capital. Pretoria is situated approximately 56 km (35 mi) north-northeast of Johannesburg in the northeast of South Africa , in a transitional belt between the plateau of the Highveld to the south and the lower-lying Bushveld to the north. It lies at an altitude of about 1,339 m (4,393 ft) above sea level , in
584-481: A warm, sheltered, fertile valley, surrounded by the hills of the Magaliesberg range. Pretoria has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cwa ) with long hot, rainy summers, and short, dry and mild winters. The city experiences the typical winters of South Africa, with cold, clear nights and mild to moderately warm days. Although the average lows during winter are mild, it can get cold due to
657-530: Is South Africa's administrative capital , serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa . Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It has a reputation as an academic city and centre of research, being home to the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT),
730-729: Is home to the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa , as well as the Pretoria National Botanical Garden . There are also a number of smaller parks and gardens located throughout the city, including the Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary, Pretorius Square gardens, the Pretoria Rosarium , Church Square , Pretoria Showgrounds, Springbok Park , Freedom Park , Jan Cilliers Park and Burgers Park ,
803-443: Is known as the "Jacaranda City" due to the approximately 50,000 Jacarandas that line its streets. Purple is a colour often associated with the city and is often included on local council logos and services such as the A Re Yeng rapid bus system and the logo of the local Jacaranda FM radio station. Pretoria has over the years had very diverse cultural influences and this is reflected in the architectural styles that can be found in
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#1732786596963876-434: Is modern and secure, with tight security and visible policing. Services run at 10-minute intervals during peak time, and access to services is via a pre-paid contactless Gautrain card. The station is underground, being connected via 9 miles of tunnel to Marlboro station . The line is fully electrified and built to the international standard 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) gauge , broader than
949-588: Is the original N1, and served the same function before the construction of the highway. It runs through the centre of the city on regular streets rather than the eastern suburbs. The N4 enters the city as a highway from eMalahleni in the east, merging with the N1 at the Proefplaas Interchange. It begins again north of the city, branching west from the N1 as the Platinum Highway , forming
1022-670: The Cape Colony and Natal Colony in 1910 to become the Union of South Africa . Pretoria then became the administrative capital of the whole of South Africa, with Cape Town serving as the legislative capital and Bloemfontein as the judicial capital. Between 1910 and 1994, the city was also the capital of the province of Transvaal . (As the capital of the ZAR, Pretoria had superseded Potchefstroom in that role.) On 14 October 1931, Pretoria achieved official city status. When South Africa became
1095-477: The Gautrain rapid-rail service is located underground, in a separate station adjacent to the existing main-line station. A year after the surveying of a settlement on the waste land at Randjeslaagte near the new Witwatersrand goldfields, later to be called Johannesburg , in 1887 the South African Republic (ZAR) government set aside a strip of land north of Noord Street for a railway line, effectively dividing
1168-975: The M3 to Church Square , WF Nkomo Street from Church Square to the R511 (south-east of Hartbeespoort) and Elias Motswaledi Street from the R511 to Pelindaba . The N14 starts from the R101 just south of the Pretoria CBD, heading south as the Ben Schoeman Freeway . At the Brakfontein interchange in Centurion , the Ben Schoeman Freeway becomes the N1 to Johannesburg, and the N14 continues as
1241-633: The Netherlands . The building had been part of the Amsterdam Exhibition, built in 1895 in Rotterdam and designed by architect Jacob Klinkhammer . Its erection begun in 1896 and was 154m long and 17m wide consisting of offices and passenger facilities with a restaurant. It was designed with cast iron pillars, ornate olive coloured iron work and a glass domed roof while the offices and restaurant walls were made of carved oak wood. There
1314-587: The Northern Bypass , and heading to Rustenburg . The N4 runs east–west through South Africa, connecting Maputo to Gaborone . The N4 is a toll road. Before the Platinum Highway was built, the N4 continued passed the Proefplaas Interchange to the city centre, where it became a regular road, before again becoming a partially-tolled highway west of the city towards Hartbeespoort . These roads through
1387-805: The OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park. The R80 highway (Mabopane Highway) is a highway in the north-west of the city. The highway begins in Soshanguve and it terminates just north of the city centre (in Roseville ) at an intersection with the M1 . Pretoria is also served by many regional roads. The R55 starts at an interchange with the R80, and runs north–south from Pretoria West to Sandton . The R50 starts from
1460-884: The Ou Raadsaal . There is also the Transvaal Museum (the country's leading natural history museum, which although it has changed venues a number of times, has been around since 1892), the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (or more colloquially known as the Pretoria Zoo), Melrose House Museum in Jacob Maré Street, the Pretoria Art Museum and the African Window Cultural History Museum. Several National Departments also have Head Offices in
1533-547: The Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, most radio, television and paper media is the same as the rest of the metro area. There are many radio stations in the greater Pretoria region, some of note are: Jacaranda FM , previously known as Jacaranda 94.2, is a commercial South African radio station, broadcasting in English and Afrikaans, with a footprint that covers Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and
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#17327865969631606-829: The University of Pretoria (UP), the University of South Africa (UNISA), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council . It also hosts the National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards . Pretoria was one of the host cities of the 2010 FIFA World Cup . Pretoria is the central part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which
1679-565: The 'standard' 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) Cape gauge . The station opened for operation in June 2012. Premier Classe Shosholoza Meyl is a division of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) that operates long-distance ( intercity ) passenger rail services. It operates various train routes across South Africa, carrying approximately 4 million passengers annually. Before 2009, Shosholoza Meyl
1752-716: The 3 kV system and class 7E on the 25 kV system. Diesel is used on the Johannesburg – Port Elizabeth trains between Bloemfontein and Noupoort , and on the Durban - Cape Town trains between Bloemfontein and Kimberley . Before 2002, the Pretoria – Cape Town trains were hauled by diesel locomotives between Kimberley and De Aar . The trains are made up of three types of coach : Since 1 July 2006 Shosholoza Meyl has operated its sleepers and sitters as separate trains. Starting from 1 November 2006 sleeping carriages were re-introduced on selected Economy Trains, this decision
1825-793: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the government's decision. The Government would pay the Wanderers Club £500,000 in compensation and the Johannesburg Council £1,000,000 in the form of land at Plein Square, New Kazerne and a small amount of land in Braamfontein and offset £300,000 owed by the council. Wanderers would move to their new grounds at Kent Park, Illovo, on 22 October 1946 where
1898-733: The Boksburg/Braamfontein line. The line was run by the De Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg Maatschappy (NZASM) and was known as the Rand Steam Tram which transported coal from the collieries at Boksburg to the yards at Braamfontein. It would later be extended westwards to Krugersdorp and eastwards from Boksburg to Springs . The NZASM was a railway monopoly granted by the South African Republic (ZAR) government for construction and management of railways in
1971-599: The Central Business district such as the Department of Health, Basic Education, Transport, Higher Education and Training, Sport and Recreation, Justice and Constitutional Development, Public Service and Administration, Water and Environmental Affairs and the National Treasury. The district also has a high number of residential buildings which house people who primarily work in the district. Pretoria
2044-534: The N1 in the south-east of the city, and heads south-east towards Bapsfontein and Delmas . The R511 runs north–south from Sandton towards Brits and barely by-passes Pretoria to the west. The R514 starts from the M1, north of the city centre, and terminates at the R511 in Hartbeespoort. The R513 crosses Pretoria's northern suburbs from east to west. It links Pretoria to Cullinan and Bronkhorstspruit in
2117-492: The North West Province and boasts a listening audience of 2 million people a week, and a digital community of more than 1,1 million people a month. The station's format is mainstream adult contemporary with programming constructed around a playlist of hit music from the 1980s, 1990s and now. Tuks FM is the radio station of the University of Pretoria and one of South Africa's community broadcasters. It
2190-708: The Oliver Tambo building which is the Headquarters of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation . Despite the many corporate offices, small businesses, shops, and government departments that are situated in Pretoria's sprawling suburbs , its Central Business District still retains its status as the traditional centre of government and commerce. Many banks, businesses, large corporations, shops, shopping centres, and other businesses are situated in
2263-684: The Transvaal and was formed on 21 June 1887. The backers were Labouchere Oyens in the Netherlands and Robert Warschauer and Berliner Handels-Gesellschaft of Berlin, Germany. The NZASM planned to build a railway from Pretoria to the border of Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique ), the aim being to have an independent link to the Indian Ocean , bypassing British territory in the Cape and Natal. The project fell short of funding, and after money
Johannesburg Park station - Misplaced Pages Continue
2336-641: The city centre are now designated as the M2 (from the Proefplaas Interchange to Arcadia ) and the M4 (from Arcadia to Hartbeespoort). There is a third, original east–west road: the R104 , previously named Church Street, also from eMalahleni in the east through Pretoria to Hartbeespoort and Rustenburg in the west. Church Street has been renamed as Stanza Bopape Street from the M16 to Nelson Mandela Drive (M3), Helen Joseph Street from
2409-788: The city centre which is towered by several large skyscrapers, the tallest of which is the Poyntons Building (110 m or 360 ft tall), the ABSA Building (132 m or 433 ft tall) and the Reserve Bank of South Africa building (150 m or 490 ft tall). The area contains a large number of historical buildings, monuments, and museums that include the Pretoria City Hall , National Library of South Africa , Pretorius Square, Church Square (along with its many historical buildings and statues), and
2482-414: The city from the south as the Ben Schoeman Highway . At the Brakfontein Interchange in Centurion , the Ben Schoeman Highway becomes the N14 to Pretoria Central, the N1 turns north-east, then north, as the Eastern Bypass , bisecting the large expanse of the eastern suburbs, routing traffic from Johannesburg to Polokwane and the north of the country. The N1 is a toll road north of Pretoria. The R101
2555-399: The city. Wonderboom Airport in the suburb of Annlin in the north of Pretoria primarily services light commercial and private aircraft. However, as from August 2015, scheduled flights from Wonderboom Airport to Cape Town International Airport were made available by SA Airlink . There are two military air bases to the south of the city, Swartkop and Waterkloof . Since Pretoria forms part
2628-418: The city. It ranges from 19th century Dutch, German and British colonial architecture to modern , postmodern , neomodern , and art deco architecture styles with a good mix of a uniquely South African style. Some of the notable structures in Pretoria include the late 19th century Palace of Justice , the early 20th century Union Buildings , the post-war Voortrekker Monument , the diverse buildings dotting
2701-444: The clear skies, with night time low temperatures in recent years in the range of 2 to −5 °C (36 to 23 °F). The average annual temperature is 18.7 °C (65.7 °F). This is rather high, considering the city's relatively high altitude of about 1,339 metres (4,393 feet), and is due mainly to its sheltered valley position, which acts as a heat trap and cuts it off from cool southerly and south-easterly air masses for much of
2774-417: The club remains to this day. The new station would be constructed in four stages between 1948 and 1965, designed by the architects Kennedy, Furner, Irvine-Smith & Joubert with civil engineering consultant firm A.S. Joffe. The first stage saw the new station moved northwards and the tracks dropped a further 4m and the station entrance was aligned with Joubert Street and completed in 1951. This stage also saw
2847-440: The colonial-style railway station at Capital Park. The South African Friends of the Rail have recently moved their vintage train trip operations from the Capital Park station to the Hercules station. Various bus companies exist in Pretoria, of which PUTCO is one of the oldest and most recognised. Tshwane municipality provides the remainder of the bus services. The N1 is the major freeway that runs through Pretoria. It enters
2920-399: The conflict was ended in Pretoria with the signing of the Peace of Vereeniging on 31 May 1902 at Melrose House . The Pretoria Forts were built for the defence of the city just prior to the Second Boer War. Though some of these forts are today in ruins, a number of them have been preserved as national monuments. The Boer Republics of the ZAR and the Orange River Colony were united with
2993-431: The construction of the Johan Rissik Bridge in 1952 slightly west of the station entrance, as well as other bridges over the tracks. By February 1954, the old station was lowered and new platforms and tracks constructed. The new part became the station for the main train lines, while the "older" station would house the suburban tracks. Later stages involved concrete covers over the platforms and the concourses built on top with
Johannesburg Park station - Misplaced Pages Continue
3066-538: The east and Hartbeespoort in the west. The R566 takes origin in Pretoria's northern suburbs, connecting Pretoria to Brits. The R573 (also called Moloto Road ) starts from the R513, just east of the town and heads north-east to KwaMhlanga and Siyabuswa . Pretoria is also served internally by metropolitan routes . For scheduled air services, Pretoria is served by Johannesburg's airports: OR Tambo International , 45 km (28 mi) south of central Pretoria; and Lanseria , 35 km (22 mi) south-west of
3139-587: The east are Doornfontein , Ellis Park, Jeppe and George Goch Stations. Park Station is the centre of the Witwatersrand Metrorail network, with daily commuter rail services running west to Carletonville , Randfontein and Soweto ; east to Springs , Nigel and Daveyton ; north to Pretoria and south to Vereeniging . Park Station is also the terminus of Shosholoza Meyl long-distance services to Cape Town , Durban , Port Elizabeth , East London , Bloemfontein via Kimberley , Komatipoort via Nelspruit and Musina via Polokwane . The southern terminus of
3212-409: The east. The Gautrain high-speed railway line runs from the eastern suburb of Hatfield to Pretoria Station and then southwards to Centurion , Midrand , Marlboro , Sandton , Rhodesfield , OR Tambo International Airport , Rosebank and Johannesburg . Pretoria Station is a departure point for the Blue Train luxury train. Rovos Rail , a luxury mainline train safari service operates from
3285-481: The end of the Boers' settlement movements of the Great Trek . During the First Boer War , the city was besieged by Republican forces in December 1880 and March 1881. The peace treaty that ended the war was signed in Pretoria on 3 August 1881 at the Pretoria Convention . The Second Boer War resulted in the end of the Transvaal Republic and start of British hegemony in South Africa. The city surrendered to British forces under Frederick Roberts on 5 June 1900 and
3358-448: The fire-brigades hoses. The previous day, martial law had been declared after thousands of miners had gathered at Market Square and where the gathering had been broken up by the army and police. Rioting then ensued. The cause of the unrest was the firing of miners at Kleinfontein Gold Mine and a sympathy strike had spread to sixty-three other mines. By the late 1920s, the station passenger numbers had again outgrown its facilities. £650,000
3431-403: The first train arriving in Johannesburg from Lourenco Marques (Maputo) on 2 November 1894. The Colony of Natal would be connected to the goldfields on 2 January 1896 when the first train arrived in Johannesburg from Durban . With the increase in passenger numbers, there was need for a new station. In May 1897 the ZAR upgraded Park Halt after they had purchased a steel and glass building from
3504-406: The future city's CBD in two though at this time only land south of Noord Street had been survey as building plots. By 1888, an early railway line from Boksburg to Braamfontein would pass a tin shed at a station spot that would be called Park, named after the Krugers Park just north of the stop. Krugers Park would later be known as Old Wanderers . By 1889/1890 the stop was now called Park Halt on
3577-418: The garden of local gardener, J.D. Cilliers , at Myrtle Lodge on Celliers Street in Sunnyside . He obtained the seedlings from a Cape Town nurseryman who had harvested them in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil. The two trees still stand on the grounds of the Sunnyside Primary School. The jacaranda comes from tropical South America and belongs to the family Bignoniaceae . There are around fifty species of jacaranda, but
3650-502: The intersecting west-south-westerly highway towards Krugersdorp . The R114 parallels the N14 from Centurion to Muldersdrift . The R21 provides a second north–south highway, further east. It starts from the Fountains Circle south of the city centre, heading south-east to Monument Park , where it becomes a highway. It crosses the N1 at the Flying Saucer Interchange and runs north–south towards Ekurhuleni (specifically Kempton Park and Boksburg ). Importantly, it links Pretoria with
3723-440: The largest white population in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since its founding, it has been a major Afrikaner population centre, and there are roughly 1 million Afrikaners living in or around the city. Even since the end of Apartheid, Pretoria itself has had a white majority, albeit with an ever-increasing black middle-class. However, in the townships of Mamelodi , Soshanguve and Atteridgeville black people make up close to all of
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#17327865969633796-424: The main campuses of both the University of Pretoria and the University of South Africa , traditional Cape Dutch style Mahlamba Ndlopfu (the President's House), the Neo-Byzantine Old Synagogue , the more modern Reserve Bank of South Africa (office skyscraper) and the Telkom Lukasrand Tower . Other well-known structures and buildings include the Loftus Versfeld Stadium , The South African State Theatre and
3869-582: The month of November 2015 saw new records broken for high temperatures, with 43 °C (109 °F) recorded on 11 November after three weeks of temperatures between 35 °C (95 °F) and 43 °C (109 °F). Pretoria reached a new record high of 42.7 °C (108.9 °F) on 7 January 2016. Depending on the extent of the area understood to constitute "Pretoria", the population ranges from 700,000 to 2.95 million. The main languages spoken in Pretoria are Sepedi , Setswana , Xitsonga , Tshivenda , Afrikaans and English. The city of Pretoria has
3942-491: The oldest park in the city and now a national monument. In the suburbs there are also several parks that are notable: Rietondale Park, "Die Proefplaas" in the Queenswood suburb, Magnolia Dell Park, Nelson Mandela Park and Mandela Park Peace Garden and Belgrave Square Park. Pretoria's nickname "the Jacaranda City" comes from the around 70,000 jacaranda trees that grow in Pretoria and decorate the city each October with their purple blossoms. The first two trees were planted in 1888 in
4015-468: The one found most often in the warmer areas of Southern Africa is Jacaranda mimosifolia . At the end of the 19th century, the flower and tree grower James Clark imported jacaranda seedlings from Australia and began growing them on a large scale. In November 1906, he donated two hundred small saplings to the Pretoria City Council, which planted them on Koch Street (today Bosman Street). The city engineer Walton Jameson, soon known as "Jacaranda Jim", launched
4088-504: The population. The largest white ethnic group are the Afrikaners and the largest black ethnic group are the Northern Sothos . The lower estimate for the population of Pretoria includes largely former white-designated areas, and there is therefore a white majority. However, including the geographically separate townships increases Pretoria's population beyond a million and makes whites a minority. Pretoria's Indians were ordered to move from Pretoria to Laudium on 6 June 1958. Pretoria
4161-428: The railway lines and so the ideal land for the project was the Wanderers ground. Transport Minister F. C. Sturrock would attempt to sell the project to the public while it was countered by the Wanderers Club and Johannesburg Publicity Association, representing about fifty other bodies. The South African government would expropriate the Wanderers ground and after a legal appeal by those who disagreed, on 30 March 1946,
4234-454: The slabs over the suburban station completed in 1956 and main lines by 1961. When it officially opened in 1965, with ten suburban lines and six main lines. On 24 July 1964, Frederick John Harris of the African Resistance Movement planted a bomb on a whites-only platform of the Station. The bomb later exploded, killing a 77-year-old woman and injuring 23 others. Harris, a school teacher, was convicted of murder, and hanged on 1 April 1965. It
4307-454: The thousands of jacaranda trees planted along its streets and in its parks and gardens. Pretoria was founded in 1855 by Marthinus Pretorius , a leader of the Voortrekkers , who named it after his father Andries Pretorius and chose a spot on the banks of the Apies rivier ( Afrikaans for "Monkeys river") to be the new capital of the South African Republic ( Dutch : Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek ; ZAR). The elder Pretorius had become
4380-462: The year. Rain is chiefly concentrated in the summer months, with drought conditions prevailing over the winter months, when frosts may be sharp. Snowfall is an extremely rare event; snowflakes were spotted in 1959, 1968 and 2012 in the city, but the city has never experienced an accumulation in its history. During a nationwide heat wave in November 2011, Pretoria experienced temperatures that reached 39 °C (102 °F), unusual for that time of
4453-414: The year. Similar record-breaking extreme heat events also occurred in January 2013, when Pretoria experienced temperatures exceeding 37 °C (99 °F) on several days. The year 2014 was one of the wettest on record for the city. A total of 914 mm (36 in) fell up to the end of December, with 220 mm (9 in) recorded in this month alone. In 2015, Pretoria saw its worst drought since 1982;
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#17327865969634526-665: Was a division of Spoornet , but it was transferred after the formation of PRASA. " Shosholoza " is the name of a popular South African song about workers on a train and it therefore means moving forward. "Meyl" is a word that is related to a South African word for "long distance train", according to the Spoornet/Shosholoza Meyl website. The company's name prior to change was "Mainline Passenger Services". In August 2010, Shosholoza Meyl suspended services claiming either contract difficulties (between Transnet and Prasa) or unreliable trains. Some services began to resume in November 2010. Shosholoza Meyl services were suspended by PRASA following
4599-438: Was a restaurant with oak printed Dutch proverbs, some of which were transferred to the coffee shop in the new 1932 station. During 1906, in order to improve traffic in Johannesburg CBD, in Twist Street, a concrete bridge was built across the railway lines and a subway constructed at the railway lines for Harrison Street. On the night of 5 July 1913, Park Station was damaged by fire during looting and rioting, after rioters cut open
4672-516: Was decorated with Tuscan colonnades and the concourse had its interior walls decorated with twenty-eight painted panels by the artist Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef . In one restaurant there are blue and white hand painted tiles decorating the walls and pillars. The new station would retain its racial segregation with splendid facilities for whites and basic facilities for non-whites. The old steel and glass train station structure would be dismantled in 1954 and moved to Esselen Park in Kempton Park where it
4745-415: Was finally connected to Johannesburg via a railway with the lines lowered from ground level closer to the station for public safety while to improve the connection to northern part of the town. A road bridge was constructed over the lines at King Georges Street and a pedestrian bridge built at the north end of Twist Street. This was soon followed by the ZAR's project to connect Pretoria to Delagoa Bay , with
4818-415: Was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities, including Bronkhorstspruit , Centurion , Cullinan , Hammanskraal and Soshanguve . Some have proposed changing the official name from Pretoria to Tshwane , which has caused some public controversy. Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius , and South Africans sometimes call it the "Jacaranda City", because of
4891-415: Was however reversed shortly thereafter. Now the Economy Trains convey 'Sitter' carriages only. On 4 January 2018, a passenger train operated by Shosholoza Meyl collided with a truck on a level crossing near Kroonstad . The train was derailed and at least one of the carriages caught fire. Twenty one people were killed and 254 were injured. On 12 February 2020, another Shosholoza Meyl train collided with
4964-431: Was loaned to the ZAR by the Cape government, they were able to obtain a further loan from Rothchilds , but with the condition the Cape rail authorities were allowed to continue the Cape line through the Orange Free State to Johannesburg and set the rate for a period of three years. The second train line to reach Johannesburg was therefore from Cape Town with the first train arriving on 15 September 1892. In 1893, Pretoria
5037-445: Was one of the first community broadcasters in South Africa to be given an FM licence. It is known for contemporary music and is operated by UP's student base. Radio Pretoria is a community-based radio station in Pretoria, South Africa, whose programmes are aimed at Afrikaners. It broadcasts 24 hours a day in stereo on 104.2 FM in the greater Pretoria area. Various other transmitters (with their own frequencies) in South Africa broadcast
5110-426: Was raised for a new concourse and eight platforms and four railway lines. The new facilities would need additional land which was only available to the north and was part of the Old Wanderers ground. There was opposition to the idea by the people of Johannesburg when a 100 ft strip of the Wanderers ground was proposed with the South African Railways offering £31,000 and the club wanting the amount doubled. The amount
5183-414: Was re-erected as a South African Railways training centre. In 1995, it was again dismantled and re-erected in Newtown just over 500 metres west of the current station with the aim eventually to house a museum. By 1945, Park Station had reached a capacity of 130,000 passengers a day and there was a need to expand the station's infrastructure with a new station, administrative buildings and a newer bridge over
5256-512: Was revealed in 2018 that Park Station has become a hub for abduction of women and children who commute or work in the area, who then become victims of human trafficking . Park Station is also the site of the southern terminus of the Gautrain , a high-speed rail link to Pretoria and the OR Tambo airport . The Gautrain station is adjacent to the existing main-line station, beneath Smit and Wolmarans streets, but with separate access. The station
5329-545: Was settled on £35,000 and on 11 December 1928, a foundation stone was laid by the Minister of Railways, C.W. Malan. The architects were Gordon Leith and Partners who were associated with the architectural firm of Gerhard Moerdyk & Watson. The new station opened in 1932 with the concourse entrance on De Villiers Street facing Eloff Streets north end, the main shopping strip in the Johannesburg CBD. The frontage
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