Metro to Simonstown

[John Ashworth]

Today we took the Metro from Cape Town to Simonstown and back. I have to confess it's the first time I've ever ridden on a Metro train. I'm not familiar with Metro trains - these were numbered in the 10M300xx series if I remember rightly. They had the slightly streamlined ends which look much better than the flat ends we are more familiar with around Pretoria. Inside, the trains were clean and in good condition. Outside, unfortunately, they had been vandalised with graffiti and looked a bit scruffy. Stops and starts were a bit jerky. Both trains ran on time without any problems.

The ambience on these trains is good. On the early afternoon outward journey the train was well-used, but not full. On the way home during rush hour the train was packed - it reminded me of being back in London! All sorts of people of all races were on the trains. There was a ticket check at Muizenberg on the way home. A large number of ticket inspectors supported by police boarded the train and inspected tickets very quickly and professionally. The train was not delayed at all, and a few ticketless souls were quietly escorted away.

The view from the train is great, especially from Muizenberg to Simonstown. I'm surprised that Metro has not marketed it better as a tourist opportunity.

One hears horror stories about the Metro system, and maybe some of them are true, but one rarely hears the everyday stories of normal, good experiences. This was definitely one of the latter. I even saw a young man stand up to offer his seat to a lady on the crowded return journey - now that's something one rarely sees in London these days!