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| Home > City Guide - Johannesburg - Getting There By Rail | ||
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Getting There By Rail Formerly South African Railways, Spoornet (tel: (011) 773 2992; website: www.spoornet.co.za) is the national rail provider. Metrorail (tel: (011) 773 5878 or (0800) 127 070; website: www.tnet.co.za) is the suburban train service provider. Park Station, 25 Leyds Street, Braamfontein (tel: (011) 773 5878), Johannesburg’s main station, is situated in the Park City suburban and mainline rail and coach terminus, one kilometre (0.5 miles) from the centre of town. Facilities include ATMs, banks, a restaurant, bookshop, travel information, car hire, left-luggage and transit centre. Spoornet’s nationwide reservations and enquiry service is called Shosholoza Mail and the ‘sharecall’ number (tel: (0890) 008 888) is open to callers daily 0800-1600. Rail services: Johannesburg’s Park Station is a terminus for all Spoornet regional and Metrorail suburban routes, allowing for daily albeit fairly slow links to many parts of greater Johannesburg (including Soweto) and the rest of South Africa. Metrorail trains (platforms 1-11) run to Naledi (Soweto), Pretoria, Vereeniging, Springs, Randfontein, Carltonville and Oberholzer and stations en-route. The mainline routes (platforms 13-20) have four classes. Premiere and First Class is recommended for tourists, as second and third are generally fully booked well in advance and travellers can experience problems with overcrowding and theft. Premier and First-Class compartments sleep two in double bunks, which convert to benches for day travel. Bedding is provided at R20 extra. Trains also have restaurant carriages. The Transkaroo Express to Cape Town departs daily at 1230 (journey time – 24 hours) and costs R390. The Transnatal Express to Durban departs daily at 1830 (journey time – 14 hours) and costs R195. The Algoa Express trains to Port Elizabeth depart daily at 1245 (journey time – 20 hours 45 minutes) and cost R290. There are no trains direct to neighbouring countries but the Komati Express runs via Nelspruit to Komatipoort on the Mozambique border, from where minibuses run to Maputo. Shosholoza Meyl is a new service, offering travellers the opportunity to charter an entire train on normal domestic routes. Transport to the city: Although the station is extremely central, it is an area where muggings of tourists are common – visitors are advised to use the metered taxis or shuttle buses available from the transit centre. |
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