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Southern Line
A Southern Line train running near Kalk Bay station
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	PRASA
Locale	Cape Town,Western Cape,South Africa
Termini	Cape Town Simon's Town
Stations	28
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metrorail Western Cape
Operator(s)	Metrorail
Depot(s)	Salt River
Rolling stock	X'Trapolis Mega
History
Opened	1882
Technical
Number of tracks	2(Cape Town-Fish Hoek) 1(Fish Hoek-Simon's Town)
Track gauge	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
Electrification	Overhead catenary
Route map Legend 0:00 Cape Town N2 Eastern Boulevard Northern &Central Lines viaYsterplaat 0:03 Woodstock 0:06 Salt River Northern,Central &Cape Flats Lines viaMaitland 0:09 Observatory N2 Settlers' Way 0:11 Mowbray 0:13 Rosebank Liesbeek River 0:15 Rondebosch 0:18 Newlands 0:20 Claremont 0:22 Harfield Road 0:24 Kenilworth 0:26 Wynberg 0:28 Wittebome 0:30 Plumstead 0:32 Steurhof Diep River 0:34 Diep River Cape Flats Line 0:36 Heathfield 0:39 Retreat 0:42 Steenberg 0:44 Lakeside 0:47 False Bay 0:48 Muizenberg 0:51 St. James 0:53 Kalk Bay Clovelly Silvermine River 0:58 Fish Hoek 1:00 Sunny Cove 1:05 Glencairn 1:10 Simon's Town This diagram: view talk edit

TheSouthern Line is acommuter rail line operated byMetrorail Western Cape, connectingCape Town station in centralCape Town,South Africa with theSouthern Suburbs and the towns on the west coast ofFalse Bay, terminating inSimon's Town.

The Wynberg Railway Company was established in 1861 to build a railway line fromSalt River Junction toWynberg, which opened on 19 December 1864.^[1] In 1876 the company was taken over by theCape Government Railways, and the line, which had originally been built to thestandard gauge, was rebuilt toCape gauge.

The extension toMuizenberg opened on 15 December 1882, and a further extension toKalk Bay on 5 May 1883. Initially there were no stops between Wynberg and Muizenberg. A turntable for the steam locomotive, built by Cowans Sheldon and Co Ltd in Carlisle in the UK, was installed at Kalk Bay.^[2][3] There was a corresponding turntable in Cape Town just south-east of the railway crossing Strand street. The final extension, to the naval base atSimon's Town, opened on 1 December 1890, and the Kalk Bay turntable was moved there. The line was electrified with a 3000V DCoverhead catenary in 1928.^[4]

The line runs on "Cape gauge"3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) track, and iselectrified with 3,000 V DCoverhead catenary. Service on the line is provided byElectric Multiple Units ofX'Trapolis Mega as of February 2023. Previously, theSouth African Class 5M2 and South African Class 10M3 were used with theX'Trapolis Mega.^[5] The Class 5M2 and 10M3 units were made up in an eight-car configuration, shorter than on the other Metrorail routes in Cape Town, because many of the platforms on the Southern Line are too short to handle longer trains.

In 2007, Cape Town Tourism, theCity of Cape Town, and Metrorail collaborated to promote the Southern Line as a tourist route, focusing on tourist attractions near Cape Town, Observatory, Newlands, Muizenberg, Kalk Bay and Simon's Town stations. This includes a "hop-on, hop-off" ticket allowing unlimited travel on the line during off-peak hours.^[6]

The line has a single service route, which begins atCape Town station, with trains travelling east throughWoodstock andSalt River on tracks shared with other Metrorail routes (theCape Flats Line and the line towards Mutual). After Salt River, the route bends southwards, passing through the Southern Suburbs stations atObservatory,Mowbray,Rosebank,Rondebosch,Newlands,Claremont, Harfield Road andKenilworth toWynberg.

Beyond Wynberg, the route travels southwards stopping at Wittebome, Plumstead, Steurhof, Diep River,Heathfield (where it is joined by the Cape Flats Line) and Retreat; some Southern Line trains terminate here. Most trains on the line, however, continue south through stations at Lakeside and False Bay before reachingMuizenberg, where the railway line meets theFalse Bay coast.

From Muizenberg the line runs south-west, immediately beside the coast, with only a thin strip of rocks and beach separating the tracks from the sea. The stations at St. James andKalk Bay are popular with beachgoers, as isFish Hoek. The double track ends at Fish Hoek, the final destination of many trains on the line. Those that continue wind along the coastline on single tracks through Sunny Cove and Glencairn to the terminus atSimon's Town.

• Cape Metrorail
  • Southern Line Tourism Route
• Steam tourism

• Railway lines in South Africa
• Metrorail (South Africa)
• 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in South Africa
• Railway lines opened in 1882

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