28 April 2011

South Africa: Sosholoza Meyl train service almost back to normal

What happend in August 2010? Due to a financial dispute and a dispute over certain maintenance certifications for the trains between the newly-established Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), which is now running South Africa's Shosholoza Meyl long-distance train service and Premier Classe, and Transnet, which used to operate the trains, all Shosholoza Meyl tourist & economy trains and all Premier Classe trains were cancelled untill further notice. Some trains were reinstated in September/October 2010, and a full but revised train service was reinstated from 1 December 2010 onwards.

Current situation in April 2011: A new permanent timetable for the Shosholoza-Meyl service was implemented from 01 Dec 2010 (also valid for 2011), but there have already been certain temporary changes. If you are looking for the current timetable, visit www.shosholoza-meyl.co.za. There you can find regulary updated timetables and additional info, including fares, booking etc., regarding the train service. The official website of the Shosholoza-Meyl service (old > Spoornet/Transnet) seems currently no to be kept updated very well or might even be offline.
The Premier Classe services Cape Town <> Johannesburg and Durban <> Johannesburg are running, all other services, such as Cape Town <> Port Elizabeth, Cape Town <> George, Port Elizabeth <> George and Johannesburg <> Hoedspruit, are currently discontinued. Up-to-date info on the service can be found on www.shosholoza-meyl.co.za.

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