Premier Classe trip report November 2014

[John Ashworth]

Earlier this month I went with some of our extended family to celebrate my 60th birthday in Cape Town, surely one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Six of us travelled back to Jo'burg on Premier Classe, leaving Cape Town on time at 0905 on Tuesday 11th November 2014.

There's a lot of construction work going on around that part of Cape Town Station, making it a bit difficult to find the lounge, but with the help of a couple of enthusiastic but expensive porters we found our way. I recognised the bloke at the reception desk from my last trip seven years ago; his name is Gary and he says he's been working there 40 years. Once on the train we also recognised the steward, Millie, who says he has been 35 years on the job. Great folks. The departure lounge is pleasant but a bit overcrowded, but we were well taken care of with tea and coffee by attentive waitresses. My younger in-laws did ask, "Why is everybody here so old?", and it did not escape our attention that of the fifty-odd passengers, only my own group of Kenyan relatives were non-white.

The trip lived up to expectations. The train set is perhaps becoming a little faded and could do with a bit of a face lift, but it's still a very high class experience. Food and service were excellent. There was a pleasant young lady named Dee and a photographer from PRASA interviewing and photographing the passengers. They plan to put more effort into marketing Pemier Classe. It really is a good product. The price (around R 2,900 per person) has gone up a lot from the early years (but hasn't everything?!) but it's still good value for money considering you get to travel a thousand miles in luxury, with accommodation and meals included. Anyone who has done a little more shopping than they intended will also appreciate that you can take more than 20 kg of luggage on the train without having to pay the exorbitant charges that the airlines levy! Amongst other things Dee told us they hope to have the new PRASA locos in use by March 2015, which means they will depend less on TFR. She was posting live on Twitter if any of you know how to access that (I don't, I'm afraid).

We made very good time to Beaufort West, hauled by a pair of 6E1s, arriving there a little early before 1800, but unfortunately after that things went a little pear-shaped. About 20 km from Beaufort West there was a problem with the pantograph on the 7E which had replaced the original units. Fitters came out relatively quickly but then it took ages to get the overhead power switched off, so we stood for about five hours. During the night there was a real storm with very heavy rain, and the signals went out, so we had to proceed from signal to signal on authority numbers. By morning we were more than nine hours late.

However being late on Premier Classe is not a hardship. We relaxed, enjoyed the trip, watched the bokkies in the Karoo, and had an extra free lunch. The Train Manager kept us informed. By mid-afternoon it was clear that the time-keeping was still slipping, so at Blomhof (spelling?) at 1500 they offered us a choice of staying on the train and being very late, or taking a luxury Translux bus. A couple of dozen of us took the bus (we had a flight back to Nairobi to catch later in the evening) and reached Park Station at 1900 after driving through pretty dismal grey rainy weather. We were told the train was still a couple of hours behind us.

We then took the Gautrain to O R Tambo, my first ever ride on it. It feels very much like a modern British train. Generally we were very impressed, although it's not much fun if you are carrying heavy luggage (my bag was full of secondhand Land Rover spares!) as porters and trolleys are not allowed anywhere near it. At R 158 one-way it's fairly pricey for local people, I suppose, but both the price and the experience compare well with other airport trains across the world.

Despite the delays, it was a really good experience. We intend to do it again next time we get the chance, and we would recommend it to anyone. PRASA did a good job of providing alternative transport for those who had planes to catch, although next time I think I will plan on spending a night in Gauteng before my flight so that I don't have to worry about delays. Well done PRASA, and may the Premier Classe continue to flourish.

I'll post some photos in the photo-gallery section when I get round to it.

[Oliver Krapp]

Thanks for the report, John. We will take the Tourist Class Shosholoza Meyl from Cape Town to Jo'burg in January, I'm really looking forward to it. And we have an overnight stay at a hotel at OR Tambo before we leave, so a delay (even if it's several hours) won't matter too much ;-)

[John Ashworth]

Incidentally, look out for the flamingo just north of Kimberley at Kamfersdam. We saw thousands. Everybody in the lounge car was surprised, as we didn't even know that there were flamingo in South Africa (a bit of Kenyan chauvinism there, thinking that they only existed in Kenya!), but an American lady looked them up on Google on her phone and sure enough they are supposed to be there, and apparently it's a notable breeding site for the lesser flamingo.

[Steve Appleton]

Great report, thank you, John. Indeed, I remember Millie from our Premiere Classe trip several years back. An excellent, experienced employee, interesting and great to talk to. Must do it again, recommended then and, as you say, now too.

I agree with your comments about Gautrain. Their approaches to pricing, cleanliness and security are somewhat over-zealous. Some of their routing ideas are strange too: no through trains from Park to ORT - you must change at Sandton and its not an easy cross-platform change either. At one time pax from Pretoria had to go all the way into Sandton to board the ORT train. Interchange between trains at Marlborough was not permitted. At least that has been rectified now. The train has British feel becuse it is British, through and through, based almost without modification and with most of the limitations of the not-so-smooth-riding Electrostar stock (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrostar) so beloved of the regional lines there. The locals here call it "high-speed", but that is a misnomer, at a maximum of 150 to 160 km/h, it really is "medium speed" by world standards.

John, flamingoes are fairly common African migrant residents, found all across Southern Africa, mostly at salty or brakish pans, beaches and estuaries (out of the way places for most of us) where their diet for crustacians, molluscs and small fish is satisfied. There are huge colonies whose distinctive, massed pink colour can be seen from the air (lower-flying aircraft) on the salt-water pans of Botswana to the east of Okavango near the Zimbabwe border.

[John Ashworth]

I've now posted some photos at http://www.friendsoftherail.com/phpBB2/ ... .php?f=146