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Commuter rail system in the Greater Cape Town area From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Metrorail Western Cape is a network of commuter and suburban rail services in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality (metropolitan area of Cape Town) and in the surrounding towns of Malmesbury, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
| Metrorail Western Cape Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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 A Metrorail train running near Kalk Bay station. | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | PRASA | ||
| Area served | City of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Drakenstein and Swartland | ||
| Locale | Cape Metropole and surroundings | ||
| Transit type | Commuter rail | ||
| Number of lines | 4 | ||
| Number of stations | 122 (97 have ticket offices) | ||
| Daily ridership | 500,000 (2018)[1] | ||
| Chief executive | Richard Walker | ||
| Website | www | ||
| Operation | |||
| Operator(s) | Metrorail | ||
| Character | Suburban railway | ||
| Number of vehicles | 85 trainsets (1094 coaches) | ||
| Technical | |||
| System length | 460 km (290 mi) | ||
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) | ||
| Electrification | 3 kV DC overhead catenary | ||
| Top speed | 90 km/h (56 mph) | ||
| |||
It is operated by Metrorail, which operates commuter rail services in the major cities of South Africa. The network is fairly comprehensive, however, some key areas have no service, notably the Atlantic Seaboard, Western Seaboard and Durbanville.
There are 85 operational trainsets, made up of 1094[2] coaches. There are 671 scheduled trains per weekday, operating over 460 kilometres (290 mi) of the track to 122 stations and 4 halts.[3] In 2018 there were around 500,000 daily users of the service. The services are divided into three areas, each of which has various branches.
All services either commence or terminate at the main Cape Town station in the centre of the city, which has 24 platforms. All services are by electric multiple units, aside from the daily train to Malmesbury which is on a non-electrified line.
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The Southern Line travels from central Cape town through the Southern Suburbs to Muizenberg, and then along the edge of False Bay to Simon's Town. Although Simon's Town is the southern terminus, many trains terminate at Fish Hoek because the line south of Fish Hoek is single-track.
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The Cape Flats Line travels east from Cape Town as far as Maitland, then turns south through Athlone, rejoining the Southern Line at Heathfield. The service terminates at Retreat.
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The Central Line serves areas to the southeast of the city centre. Trains run from Cape Town to Langa on two different routes, one around the southern side and the other around the eastern side of Pinelands. From Langa they travel on one of three lines, going either to Mitchell's Plain, to Khayelitsha, or through Belhar to Bellville.
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The Northern Line serves the northern suburbs of Cape Town as well as some outlying towns. Some trains travel from Cape Town station to Bellville along the old main line through Salt River, Maitland, Goodwood and Parow, while others travel along the relief main line via Century City. After Bellville, trains run on one of three routes: through Kraaifontein and Paarl to Wellington; via Kuils River and Stellenbosch to Muldersvlei; or Kuils River and Somerset West to Strand.
Two "Business Express" trains provide a luxury commuter service, travelling from the suburbs to Cape Town in the morning and the reverse in the afternoon. One train runs from Huguenot (Paarl) via Kraaifontein and Brackenfell to Cape Town, while the other runs from Strand via Somerset West and Kuils River to Cape Town.
There are also two longer-distance trains stopping at all stations en route daily. One along the main line to Worcester and at 174 km (108 mi) the longest possible route on a commuter train in South Africa. The other is the only diesel-hauled commuter train in the Western Cape to Malmesbury which travels 78 km (48 mi) on the route to Bitterfontein.
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Frequencies can vary vastly from weekday peaks to weekend-off peaks. Services to Simon's Town, Bellville via Century City, Strand, Muldersvlei (via Stellenbosch) and Wellington are less frequent over weekends with a train about every hour on Saturdays and every two hours on a Sunday. In contrast, weekday frequencies on some lines offer three-minute headways.
First-class MetroPlus coaches are always on the side closest to Cape Town.[4]
Every train displays a four-digit train number. The route and destination of a specific train can be determined by just looking at the train number. Up trains travel towards Cape Town and carry even train numbers, down trains travel away from Cape Town and carry odd train numbers. Destinations can be derived from the following table:[3]
| Train no. | Route | Notes | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01xx | Simonstown ↔ Cape Town | Some trains terminate at Fish Hoek. Also see next entry | 36 km |
| 02xx | Simonstown ↔ Cape Town | Afternoon peak | 36 km |
| 05xx | Retreat ↔ Cape Town | Via Cape Flats line | 24 km |
| 23xx | Eersterivier ↔ Cape Town | Some weekend trains terminate at Faure | 34 km |
| 25xx | Kraaifontein ↔ Cape Town | 31 km | |
| 28xx | Bellville ↔ Cape Town | Via Monte Vista and Century City | 21 km |
| 32xx | Strand ↔ Cape Town | 53 km | |
| 34xx | Muldersvlei ↔ Cape Town | Via Stellenbosch | 61 km |
| 35xx | Wellington ↔ Cape Town | Includes service to Worcester (174 km) | 72 km |
| 90xx | Bellville ↔ Cape Town | Via Lavistown (through Ysterplaat) | 28 km |
| 95xx | Kapteinsklip ↔ Cape Town | Via Salt River, some terminations at Nyanga | 32 km |
| 99xx | Chris Hani ↔ Cape Town | Via Ysterplaat | 38 km |
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2019) |
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