27-631: Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet . It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration , a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century and was widely referred to by the initials SAR&H (SAS&H in Afrikaans ). Customer complaints about serious problems with Transnet Freight Rail's service were reported in 2010. Its head office
54-696: A massive expansion after the formation in 1872 of the Cape Government Railways . In the north, in the independent South African Republic , the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM) constructed railways: one from Pretoria to Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa Colony and a shorter line connecting Pretoria to Johannesburg . Later railway development was driven by Cecil Rhodes , whose original intention
81-488: A rail damage. The reactivation of the service between Johannesburg and Musina is announced for 30 August 2024. But the frequency will be very low, only one couple of trains per week is offered. The Blue Train is a luxurious passenger train and a popular tourist attraction for South Africa, which runs from Cape Town to Pretoria . It was the winner of the most luxurious train in Africa for the tenth consecutive year in 2019 and
108-442: Is an important element of the country's transport infrastructure . All major cities are connected by rail, and South Africa's railway system is the most highly developed in Africa. The South African rail industry is publicly owned . Construction of the first railway from Cape Town to Wellington was commenced in 1858. However the first passenger-carrying and goods service was a small line of about 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) built by
135-828: Is in Inyanda House in Parktown , Johannesburg . Railways were first developed in the area surrounding Cape Town and later in Durban around the 1840s. The first line opened in Durban on 27 June 1850. The initial network was created to serve the agricultural production area between Cape Town and Wellington. The news that there were gold deposits in the Transvaal Republic moved the Cape Colony Government (supported by British Government) to link Kimberley as soon as possible by rail to Cape Town as part of
162-547: Is the division of Transnet that runs the rail system. Though there are no plans to end government ownership of the national rail network, some small portions of the rail system have recently been privatised. During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa , the rail system suffered looting. Two public companies operate freight and commuter services: Transnet Freight Rail and PRASA , respectively. Transnet Freight Rail
189-620: Is the largest division of Transnet, a State-Owned Company (SOC) wholly owned by the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the custodian of rail, ports, and pipelines. The passengers' network is divided into urban commuter and long-distance routes. Metrorail , the urban commuter transport service present in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape, is responsible for transporting up to 2 million passengers daily. With
216-422: Is used primarily for commuter lines and has been in use since the 1920s. During the 1980s, higher voltages ( 25 kV AC and—much less frequently— 50 kV AC (both overhead) have been used for heavy-duty lines (which also require more Railroad ties per mile) primarily used for the transport of iron ore. South Africa uses a variety of rolling stock from several manufacturers. In 1957, Union Carriage & Wagon
243-656: The AAR coupler , developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century. Remarkably, though South Africa has long been ahead of Europe in coupling systems, it has lagged behind most of the world in its braking system ; most trains in South Africa continue to use vacuum braking . However, the conversion to air brakes has finally commenced. Between 50% and 80% of the rail lines in South Africa are electrified . Different voltages are used for different types of trains. Most electrified trains run 3 kV DC ( overhead ); this
270-543: The Natal Government Railways to form the South African Railways , which is now Transnet Freight Rail. Transnet Freight Rail is a freight logistics and passenger transport railway. It is the largest freight hauler in Africa . The company comprises several businesses: Transnet also formerly owned Shosholoza Meyl , the non-luxury long-distance passenger rail service. Shosholoza Meyl was transferred to
297-605: The Natal Railway Company , linking the town of Durban with Harbour Point, opened on 26 June 1860. Cape Town had already started building a 72-kilometre (45 mi) line, track gauge 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ), linking Cape Town to Wellington in 1858 but was hampered by delays and could only begin service to the first section of the line to the Eerste River on 13 February 1862. However, Cape railway construction began
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#1732772325105324-715: The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa on 23 December 2008. A line in the Eastern Cape is leased to Kei Rail . Transnet Freight Rail is divided into 6 Business Units: The launch of the Business Units took place in a company wide event for all managerial staff on 18 April 2012. The Transnet rail network is linked to all of South Africa's neighbouring countries: Rail transport in South Africa Rail transport in South Africa
351-804: The Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway were taken over by the Imperial Military Railways under Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Girouard . After the war had ended, the Imperial Military Railways became the Central South African Railways in July 1902, with Thomas Rees Price as general manager. With the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the CSAR was merged with the Cape Government Railways and
378-513: The British government rather than by Companies—the need to raise capital and produce dividends prevented most Companies from undertaking such infrastructure investments. However, in the early period of railway construction, BSAC obtained finance from South African companies, including Consolidated Gold Fields and De Beers, in which Rhodes was a dominant force. BSAC also benefited from Rhodes's fortunes before his death. The railway stopped at Mafeking
405-798: The colonial dream. The Central South African Railways ( CSAR ) was from 1902 to 1910 the operator of public railways in the Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony in what is now South Africa . During the Anglo-Boer War , as British forces moved into the territory of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic , the Orange Free State Government Railways , the Netherlands-South African Railway Company and
432-731: The eastern part of the Cape Flats lying to the west of the Hottentots Holland Mountains and south of the Tygerberg where the Kuils River tributary rises east of Kanonkop . The Eerste River is a short river; its length has been given as 40 km. The major tributary, Kuils River, is approximately 30 km long to its point of confluence with the Eerste River. For a significant part of its course,
459-560: The increasing coverage the nation's highway system provides, long-distance passenger travel has declined in South Africa. While many commuters still use rail for their daily commute , nationally, only half of the nation's 36,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) of track is being fully utilised, and some 35% of the nation's track carries no activity or very low activity. Accordingly, Transnet is moving towards an emphasis on freight, rather than passengers, to keep its rail system profitable. Shosholoza Meyl used to operate long-distance routes covering
486-619: The major metros in the country: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London. However, after a train collision killed one person in Horizon View west of Johannesburg on 12 February 2020, the Railway Safety Regulator suspended all Shosholoza Meyl train operations indefinitely. In 2024 the service shall be reassumed, but the reactivation of the dervice between Johannesburg and Cape Town, planned for 24 July 2024, has been delayed until further notice due to
513-488: The north shore of False Bay . The estuary is at the eastern end of a large calcrete dune, and is part of the boundary of the Helderberg Marine Protected Area . In its natural state the estuary was a small temporarily open system with little tidal flow. The state of the mouth was controlled by river flow, and under natural conditions, seawater intrusion would maintain an estuarine ecology. When
540-634: The railways began in the 1920s with the building of the Colenso Power Station for the Glencoe to Pietermaritzburg route, and the introduction of the South African Class 1E . During the 1980s, the transport industry was reorganised. Instead of being a direct government agency, it was modelled along business lines into a government-owned corporation called Transnet . Transnet Freight Rail (until recently known as Spoornet )
567-553: The river flows through the City of Cape Town . A population of the endangered local endemic Berg River Redfin ( Pseudobarbus burgi ) was found in the Eerste River. It has become extinct in recent times. From "Rivers and Wetlands of Cape Town", ordered from source to sea: The river mouth is at 34°04.873′S 18°45.887′E / 34.081217°S 18.764783°E / -34.081217; 18.764783 , in Macassar , on
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#1732772325105594-664: The three-time winner of the world's most luxurious train at the World Travel Awards. The Blue Train, however, is operated by Transnet Freight Rail. To look at the South African transport network, including the railways, view this map from the United Nations . A high-speed rail link has been proposed, between Johannesburg and Durban . Nearly all railways in South Africa use a 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) Cape gauge track . This
621-433: The vision of Cecil John Rhodes , to have a rail system that would run from the " Cape to Cairo ", would never materialise. Upon the merger of four provinces to establish the modern state of South Africa in 1910, the railway lines across the country were also merged. South African Railways and Harbours (SAR & H) was the government agency responsible for, amongst other things, the country's rail system. Electrification of
648-519: Was extended to Bulawayo by October 1897. The first train arrived in Victoria Falls on the Zambesi in 1904, driven by two women. A national "link-up" was established in 1898, creating a national transport network. This national network was largely completed by 1910. Though railway lines were also being extended outside of South Africa, as far north as Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia ),
675-807: Was for a railway extending across Africa as a great Cape-Cairo railway linking all the British territories of Africa. However, Rhodes was as much a capitalist in his motivation as a visionary. When little gold was found in Mashonaland in Southern Rhodesia, he accepted that the scheme to reach Lake Tanganyika had no economic justification. Railways built by private companies without government subsidies need enough traffic to pay high freight rates and recover construction costs. The agricultural products that fuelled much of Rhodesia's early economic growth could not provide this traffic; large quantities of minerals could. Most early railways in Africa were built by
702-550: Was founded in Nigel for local production of rolling stock. The following countries mostly use 1,067 mm ( 3 ft 6 in ) gauge and are mostly connected. Countries beyond those listed are of other gauges. Eerste River The Eerste River , located in the Western Cape , South Africa , rises on Dwarsberg 60 km east of Cape Town at the head of Jonkershoek valley. The Eerste River catchment covers
729-413: Was selected in the 19th century to reduce the cost of building tracks across and through the mountains in several parts of the country. The Gautrain rapid transit railway uses 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ) (standard gauge). Numerous two-foot narrow gauge railways were constructed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. South African trains connect through
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