South Africa’s luxurious Blue Train is expected to reopen “immediately” after derailing twice and catching fire while undergoing repairs at the beginning of the year.
A trip on the Blue Train between Pretoria and Cape Town is regarded as one of the world’s most luxurious train journeys. The Blue Train, billed as a “moving five-star hotel-on-wheels” with fine dining, elegant lounges, and luxury suites, has been in operation for nearly a century.
Despite its legendary splendour, the Blue Train has had a difficult two years, barely operating due to the Covid-19 pandemic and suffering a series of serious operational setbacks when attempting to return.
After several suspensions due to harsher levels of lockdown, the Blue Train only resumed full operations in March 2021. The Blue Train announced in May that it had already welcomed tourists from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland.
The Transnet-operated train appeared to be on the mend, but in early November, 19 empty coaches derailed at Germiston’s Union Station Loop. Despite the derailment, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) stated at the time that the luxury train would continue to operate throughout the December and January holidays.
The Blue Train derailed again in mid-January this year, this time at the Salvokop maintenance depot south of Pretoria Central. Three weeks later, at Transnet’s engineering facility in Koedoespoort, Pretoria, a Blue Train coach that had been in for repairs following the November derailment in Germiston caught fire.
Transnet announced a week after the fire that the Blue Train’s operations had been halted due to recent “unfortunate incidents.”
According to a Transnet statement issued on Monday, South Africa’s Blue Train is almost ready to welcome passengers again after being off the rails for more than six months.
Transnet said it had “completed investigations into incidents that resulted in the suspension of the Blue Train service,” which “paves the way for services to resume imminently.”
Transnet provided no additional information about the nature and outcomes of these investigations, but stated that it was “confident that all safety-critical issues were addressed during the suspension of service.”
“The safety of the staff and passengers on the Blue Train is of the utmost importance,” Transnet stated.
“A successful test train was recently completed to ensure that the train is ready to resume service, and passengers will soon be able to continue enjoying the Blue Train’s award-winning service. More information on the resumption of service will be provided in the coming days.”
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