All aboard! The Shosholoza Meyl is finally back
Durban-Joburg-Cape Town routes are now available!
We’re back on track! Finally, you can swop out those pricey plane tickets to travel via the South African railway system.
The Shosholoza Meyl is set to resume its service between Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban.
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In a much anticipated return, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) confirmed the return of the Shosholoza Meyl train service on Friday. This comes after a two-year long-distance train service pause.
Just in time for the holiday season, you can hop on a train ride to the next province and on top of that, you can take your car along with you for an additional fee.
From 6 December 2023, Shosholoza Meyl will resume the Joburg to Durban & Cape Town long-distance train services. The services were suspended in 2021 due to operational & network infrastructure challenges. Jozi to Cape Town: R430 Economy Class (Sitter) & R690 (Sleeper). Jozi to… pic.twitter.com/JHXosmIksi
— Clayson Monyela (@ClaysonMonyela) December 2, 2023
KeDezember and PRASA is pleased to announce that you can now travel from JHB to Cape Town or Durban at less than a R1000 for a single trip. If you are travelling to Durban, bring your car along at an additional affordable fee!#Ziyabuya#SummerTravels pic.twitter.com/TWVk4UcwOm
— PRASA Group (@PRASA_Group) December 1, 2023
While many residents are advocating for routes to open in the Eastern Cape, PRASA has confirmed that affordable, long-distance travel is in the works for SA.
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Loadshedding will not affect this mode of transport as the trains use diesel locomotives.
Safety concerns have been raised, however, so PRANSA have responded to X (Twitter) users ensuring safety is a top priority and they wish not to compromise security details by sharing the exclusive scoop.
How long does it take to travel from Durban to Joburg via train?
On average, a trip from Johannesburg to Durban takes 18 hours and a Johannesburg to Cape Town trip takes 30-34 hours.
For more information, check out PRASA Group on Twitter, @PRASA_Group
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Image courtesy of Twitter