John Hunwick

Distances in South Africa and the nature of the terrain have made 4WD transport popular. Train services cover key destinations, but transport in rural areas relies on roads. The long-distance highway system is more efficient now and has left parts of the railway network struggling for traffic.

The first track for steam-powered locomotives was a line of about 2 miles Durban with Harbour Point, opened in 1860. Cape Town had already started building a 45 miles (72 km) line linking Cape Town to Wellington in 1859 but was hampered by delays opened the first section of the line to the Eerste River in February 1862.

Rail in other provinces began later, with a national network created by 1898. This national network was largely completed by 1910. Rail lines extended outside of South Africa, as far north as present-day Zambia, but nver fulfilled the vison of Cecil Rhodes to have a rail system that would run from Cape Town to Cairo.

When the four provinces merged to establish the modern state of South Africa in 1910, the rail lines across the country were also merged.

South Africa is famous for its luxury rail lines, particularly the Blue Train, from Cape Town to Johannesburg. The Blue Line has the reputation as the best luxury train line in the world, and is a popular tourist attraction for South Africa.

However, with a better road system, long distance rail passenger travel has declined. While many commuters still use rail for their daily commute, nationally, only half of the 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) of track is fully utilized, and 35% carries no, or very low activity. Now there is a move towards freight to keep the lines running.