Cape Town Railway Station

Cape Town Railway Station is the main railway station of the city of Cape Town, South Africa. It is located along Adderley and Strand Streets in the centre of the city.

Shosholoza Meyl, the passenger rail operations of Spoornet, operates two long-distance passenger rail services from Cape Town: a daily service to and from Johannesburg via Kimberley; and a weekly service to and from Durban via Kimberley, Bloemfontein and Pietermaritzburg. These trains terminate at Cape Town Railway Station, as well as making a brief stop at Bellville. Cape Town Railway Station is also one terminus of the luxury tourist-oriented Blue Train.

Cape Town Railway Station is also one of the stations used by the Metrorail commuter rail service for Cape Town and its surrounding areas. In addition, the private train holiday company Rovos Rail makes use of the station.

In years past, Cape Town Railway Station was the starting point for many adventurers on their way to explore Africa. They would buy some or all their supplies in Cape Town and then take a steam train out of Cape Town Station.

The building is surrounded by lots of stalls and shops catering mainly for the commuters passing through the station. There are fruit stalls, many shopping carts selling sweets, chips and cigarettes, a barber shop near the Hawthorne Leslie locomotive, mobile phone technicians and much more.

The Cape Town railway station complex, completed in 1961 and covering between 25 and 35 city blocks, will undergo a multibillion-rand redevelopment over several years. The project is a joint initiative between SA Rail Commuter Corporation-Metrorail and Intersite, the property management company.

R400 million has been allocated to initiate the project. When the extent of the development had been determined, a sense of the costs would emerge, but it was likely that private funding would be sought. The project would run into many billions of rands.

The immediate emphasis was on improving the look and feel as well as commuter comfort, with better access, information, safety and security ahead of the 2010 soccer World Cup. Matya said there would be no structural changes to the station complex for 2010.