Metrorail Western Cape Region
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.metrorail.co.za
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)
System map

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.

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.

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.

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 the Retreat.

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.

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.

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]

• 13 November 2006 - A train hit a truck stalled on an unprotected level crossing. The truck was carrying at least 33 farmworkers; nineteen were killed and six were injured.
• 25 August 2010 - A train hit a minibus taxi that had allegedly driven around the boom barriers on a level crossing. The minibus was carrying fourteen schoolchildren, of whom ten were killed.
• 20 October 2015 - Western Cape Metrorail reported this morning that four motor coaches and six carriages were destroyed in a fire in the early hours of Tuesday.
• 15 April 2016 - Trains set alight at Woodstock and Kraaifontein.
• July 2016 - Robbery and murder of train driver at Netreg Station.
• 7 August 2016 - Two Metrorail trains caught alight and burned at the Retreat Station in Cape Town on Sunday afternoon.
• 1 December 2016 - Metrorail has had yet another one of its trains damaged. This time one was set alight at Thornton Station late on Thursday evening.
• 12 June 2017 - Two trains were gutted by fire at Cape Town station.
• 20 November 2017 - Train set alight Century City
• 27 April 2018 - A train hit a bakkie, killing all 7 people on board. This incident happened in the same place where the 2010 minibus incident occurred, i.e. Blackheath level crossing.
• 22 May 2018 - 4 carriages were burnt
• 30 May 2018 - 2 carriages were set alight - one person was killed and three injured.
• 18 June 2018 - 3 train carriages were burnt on the Southern line. The fire began mid-afternoon at Steenberg Station.^[5]
• 24 June 2018 - "At about 19:20 on the 24th June 2018 City Fire and Rescue Services responded in Radu Road in Philippi where three railway carriages were alight"
• 21 July 2018 - Seven coaches, as well as two motor coaches and five trailers were destroyed by a fire. "The estimated cost of the damaged coaches is approximately R30m."^[6]
• 26 July 2018 - Five carriages, and overhead power cables were damaged at Retreat Station.^[7]
• 21 April 2019 - Two trains were set on fire at Cape Town station.^[8]

• Official website of Metrorail
• Steam tourism

v t e Cape Town
City of Cape Town
Natural environment Cape Flats Cape Peninsula Geology Helderberg Bays Bantry Bay Camps Bay False Bay Gordon's Bay Granger Bay Hout Bay Simon's Bay Smitswinkel Bay Table Bay Beaches Bloubergstrand Boulders Beach Camps Bay Clifton Glen Beach Melkbosstrand Muizenberg Sandy Bay Strand Hills Blaauwberg Skapenberg Signal Hill Tygerberg Mountains Chapman's Peak Constantiaberg Devil's Peak Helderberg Hottentots Holland Mountains Lion's Head Table Mountain Twelve Apostles Islands Duiker Island Robben Island Seal Island Headlands Cape of Good Hope Cape Point Miller's Point Rivers and wetlands Bokramspruit Buffels River Eerste River Kuils River Diep River Else River Hout Bay River Krom River Lourens River Modder River Salt River Black River Elsieskraal River Liesbeek River Sand River Schusters River Silvermine River Sir Lowry’s Pass River Sout River Steenbras River Zandvlei Zeekoevlei Climate and weather Cape Town water crisis Cape Doctor Berg wind World heritage sites Cape Floristic Region Table Mountain National Park Robben Island Biodiversity of Cape Town Nature reserves in Cape Town Helderberg Marine Protected Area Robben Island Marine Protected Area Table Mountain National Park Table Mountain National Park Marine Protected Area Vegetation types Atlantis Sand Fynbos Boland Granite Fynbos Cape Flats Dune Strandveld Cape Flats Sand Fynbos Cape Lowland Freshwater Wetland Cape Winelands Shale Fynbos Hangklip Sand Fynbos Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos Peninsula Granite Fynbos Peninsula Sandstone Fynbos Southern Afrotemperate Forest Peninsula Shale Renosterveld Swartland Alluvium Fynbos Swartland Shale Renosterveld Parks and gardens Arderne Gardens Company's Garden Choo choo park De Waal Park Green Point Common Helderberg Nature Reserve Keurboom Park Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden Rondebosch Common Rondebosch Park Tokai Arboretum Tokai Park Wynberg Park Nature reserves Blaauwberg Conservation Area Bracken Nature Reserve Cecilia De Hel Nature Area Dick Dent Bird Sanctuary Die Oog Conservation Area Diep River Fynbos Corridor Durbanville Nature Reserve Edith Stephens Wetland Park Glencairn Wetland Harmony Flats Nature Reserve Helderberg Nature Reserve Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area Koeberg Nature Reserve Kogelberg Nature Reserve Lourens River Protected Natural Environment Lower Silvermine River Wetlands Macassar Dunes Conservation Area Mamre Nature Garden Meadowridge Common Milnerton Racecourse Nature Reserve Raapenberg Bird Sanctuary Rietvlei Wetland Reserve Rondebosch Common Rondevlei Nature Reserve Silwerboomkloof Natural Heritage Site Tygerberg Nature Reserve Uitkamp Wetlands Witzands Aquifer Conservation Area Wolfgat Nature Reserve Zoarvlei Wetlands Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve
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Built environment Maclear's Beacon Foreshore Freeway Bridge Grand Parade Greenmarket Square Adderley Street Long Street Strand Street Chapman's Peak Drive Hospital Bend Kloof Nek Road Metropolitan Routes in Cape Town M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 National roads N1 N2 N7 Regional roads R27 R44 R101 R102 R300 R302 R310 Sir Lowry's Pass Ou Kaapse Weg Peninsula Expressway (Cape Town) Skyscrapers List of tallest buildings in Cape Town 1 Thibault Square Atterbury House Cape Town Civic Centre Metlife Centre Mutual Building Naspers Centre Portside Tower Triangle House
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History Invasion of the Cape Colony Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 Noon Gun Convict crisis Timeline of Cape Town Fortifications Amsterdam Battery Castle of Good Hope Chavonnes Battery Fort de Goede Hoop Redoubt Duijnhoop Monuments and memorials Artillery Memorial, Cape Town Japanese Lantern Monument Rhodes Memorial The Cenotaph Treaty Tree Van Riebeeck's Hedge Lists of heritage sites Near Cape Town Bo-Kaap CBD and the Waterfront Simon's Town Helderberg Bellville Table Mountain Wynberg district Historical buildings African Theatre Alhambra Theatre Breakwater Lodge Church Square Coornhoop Graaff Electric Lighting Works
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