Pretoria railway station

Pretoria railway station is the central station in Pretoria, the executive capital of South Africa. It is located between Pretoria's central business district and Salvokop, in a 1910 building designed by Herbert Baker. It is the terminus of various Metrorail commuter rail services in the northern part of Gauteng, and a stop on Shosholoza Meyl inter-city services from Johannesburg to Polokwane and Nelspruit. Pretoria is also the northern terminus of the luxury Blue Train service from Cape Town. Platforms and tracks for the Gautrain rapid-rail service are adjacent to the main-line station.

Pretoria
Railway station
Location	Scheiding Street, Pretoria
Coordinates	25°45′29″S 28°11′21″E
Owned by	PRASA
Line(s)	Shosholoza Meyl:   Johannesburg–Komatipoort   Johannesburg–Musina Gautrain:   North–South Line Metrorail:   Johannesburg–Pretoria   Pretoria–Mabopane/De Wildt   Pretoria–Pienaarspoort   Pretoria–Saulsville
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
History
Opened	1892
Rebuilt	1910
Electrified	yes
Location
Pretoria Location within Pretoria

View of the station from Salvokop

History

The first railway station in Pretoria was built in 1892 by the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM) as the western terminus of its line to the harbour of Delagoa Bay (now Maputo).[1] In 1910, shortly before the creation of the Union of South Africa, the government of the Transvaal Colony decided to spend excess funds on constructing a new station for Pretoria, rather than surrendering the money to the new national government. The new station was the first public building designed by Sir Herbert Baker.[2]

On 19 February 2001, a signalling failure led to major delays to Metrorail services in Pretoria. Angered by the delays, some commuters set a fire in a waiting room which spread to the roof of the building, which caved in. Almost all of the roof was destroyed, although the structure itself was saved.[3] The restoration, which cost 18 million rand, started in June 2001 and finished in February 2002.[2]

Services

Shosholoza Meyl inter-city services originating from Johannesburg pass through Pretoria en route to Musina via Polokwane and Komatipoort via Nelspruit. Metrorail commuter services operate from Pretoria west to Atteridgeville, north to Soshanguve and Ga-Rankuwa, east to Mamelodi, and south to Johannesburg Park Station. The Gautrain connects Pretoria station to Park Station, with another going east in Pretoria to Hatfield.

Preceding station	Shosholoza Meyl			Following station
Germiston towards Johannesburg		Johannesburg–Komatipoort		Eerste Fabrieke towards Komatipoort
		Johannesburg–Musina		Pyramid towards Musina
Preceding station	Gautrain			Following station
Centurion towards Park Station		North–South Line		Hatfield Terminus
Preceding station	Metrorail Gauteng			Following station
Fonteine towards Johannesburg		Johannesburg–Pretoria		Terminus
Terminus		Pretoria–Saulsville		Bosman Street towards Saulsville
		Pretoria–Mabopane/De Wildt		Bosman Street towards Mabopane or De Wildt
		Pretoria–Pienaarspoort		Mears Street towards Pienaarspoort

References

1. "Pretoria/Tshwane: Timeline 1800–1889". South African History Online. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
2. Davie, Lucille (13 February 2002). "A swastika, Herbert Baker & Pretoria Station". SouthAfrica.info. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 5 July 2010.
3. "Angry commuters cause R30m damage to station". Sapa. 20 February 2001. Archived from the original on 2 August 2012.

External links

• Media related to Pretoria railway station at Wikimedia Commons