Port Elizabeth railway station explained

Port Elizabeth
Type:	Railway station
Address:	Jetty Street, Port Elizabeth 6001
Coordinates:	-33.9606°N 25.625°W
Line:	Metrorail Shosholoza Meyl: Premier Classe:
Other:	Apple Express (at Humewood Road)
Structure:	At-grade
Platform:	7 terminus platforms
Tracks:	7
Owned:	TFR

Port Elizabeth railway station is a railway station, located in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

In 1873, Prime Minister John Molteno of the Cape Colony commenced work on connecting Port Elizabeth to the developing national railway network, resulting in the station complex being located in the historic central district, near the harbour.^[1] The prosperity which followed the construction of railways to the interior earned for the port the designation of "the Liverpool of South Africa."

Passenger services operating from the station include:

• Metrorail - operates frequent commuter trains to Uitenhage and the surrounding suburbs during weekdays, with a reduced service over weekends
• Shosholoza Meyl - operates daily inter-city trains to Johannesburg and Bloemfontein. You can also get to Cape Town, Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg and Durban (by changing trains in Bloemfontein), to East London (by changing trains in Noupoort, Colesberg or Bloemfontein), to Mthatha (by changing trains in Noupoort and Amabele) or to Grahamstown (by changing trains in Alicedale)
• Premier Classe - operates twice-weekly luxury trains to Cape Town via George and Oudtshoorn.^[2]

The Apple Express narrow-gauge tourist train to Avontuur operates from the separate station in Humewood Road near King's Beach. It departs regularly for Thornhill Village via a rail bridge over the Van Stadens River, the highest narrow-gauge rail bridge in the world.

See also

• Donkin Heritage Trail

Notes and References

1. Burman, Jose (1984), Early Railways at the Cape. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, p.64.
2. http://www.premierclasse.co.za Premier Classe