Metrorail Western Cape


Metrorail Western Cape is a network of commuter and suburban rail services in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality and in the surrounding towns of Malmesbury, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
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 suburbs, Tableview and Durbanville. Metrorail distributes a free weekly magazine called Myline.
There are 85 operational trainsets, made up of 1094 coaches. There are 671 scheduled trains per weekday, operating over of track to 122 stations and 4 halts. 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.

Routes

Southern Line

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 is single-track.

Cape Flats Line

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.

Central Line

The Central Line serves areas to the south-east 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.

Northern Line

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 via 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 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 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 on the route to Bitterfontein.

Operation

Frequencies can vary vastly from weekday peak to weekend off peaks. Services to Simon’s Town, Bellville via Century City, Strand, Muldersvlei 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.
Every train displays a four digit digital or analogue 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:
Train no.RouteNotesLength
01xxSimonstown ↔ Cape TownSome trains terminate at Fish Hoek. Also see next entry36 km
02xxSimonstown ↔ Cape TownAfternoon peak36 km
05xxRetreat ↔ Cape TownVia Cape Flats line24 km
23xxEersterivier ↔ Cape TownSome weekend trains terminate at Faure34 km
25xxKraaifontein ↔ Cape Town31 km
28xxBellville ↔ Cape TownVia Monte Vista and Century City21 km
32xxStrand ↔ Cape Town53 km
34xxMuldersvlei ↔ Cape TownVia Stellenbosch61 km
35xxWellington ↔ Cape TownIncludes service to Worcester 72 km
90xxBellville ↔ Cape TownVia Lavistown 28 km
95xxKapteinsklip ↔ Cape TownVia Salt River, some terminations at Nyanga32 km
99xxChris Hani ↔ Cape TownVia Ysterplaat38 km

Infrastructure and rolling stock

Incidents