Southern Line

From Muizenberg the rails run on a False Bay sea wall so close to the surf that winter swells spray the carriage windows at Kalk Bay.

Cape Town’s Victorian resort line rounds the back of Table Mountain, finds the ocean at Muizenberg and refuses to leave it. For the final quarter-hour the rails sit on a stone sea wall through St James and Kalk Bay, where fishing boats bob metres from the track and False Bay swells rake the windows. The 1890 extension was built for the Royal Navy, and the line still ends beside Simon’s Town’s dockyard, a stroll from the penguins at Boulders Beach.

Stations

1. 0 kmCape Town
2. 2 kmWoodstock
3. 4 kmSalt River
4. 5 kmObservatory
5. 6 kmMowbray
6. 7 kmRosebank
7. Show 17 more stations

   1. 8 kmRondebosch
   2. 9 kmNewlands
   3. 10 kmClaremont
   4. 11 kmHarfield Road
   5. 12 kmKenilworth
   6. 13 kmWynberg
   7. 14 kmWittebome
   8. 15 kmPlumstead
   9. 16 kmSteurhof
   10. 16 kmDiep River
   11. 18 kmHeathfield
   12. 19 kmRetreat
   13. 21 kmSteenberg
   14. 22 kmLakeside
   15. 24 kmFalse Bay
   16. 25 kmMuizenberg
   17. 26 kmSt James
8. 27 kmKalk Bay
9. 30 kmFish Hoek
10. 31 kmSunny Cove
11. 33 kmGlencairn
12. 36 kmSimon's Town

The stations OpenStreetMap lists for this service, in order, with the distance along the line as drawn here. A train may skip some of them.

Along the way

• Observatory and the Liesbeek valley
• Wynberg’s Constantia views
• Muizenberg surf beach
• St James tidal pool
• Kalk Bay harbour sea wall
• Simon’s Town dockyard and Boulders penguins

How this line was checked

• Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 948941 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
• Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 3 m from it
• Wikipedia has an article for this line
• See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it

Questions and answers

How long is the Southern Line?

The Southern Line runs 36 km from Cape Town to Simon’s Town.

How long does the Southern Line take?

The fastest scheduled journey is 1 h 20 min for the 36 km. That is an average of 27 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 90 km/h.

Who runs the Southern Line?

Metrorail Western Cape (PRASA), with X’Trapolis Mega EMU.

How old is the Southern Line?

The line has been in service since 1890. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.

How often does the Southern Line run?

1–2× hourly weekdays; reduced weekends.

View on the world railway map →

Read more on Wikipedia ↗