Cape Town Railway and Dock company formed.

Natal Railway Company formed.

Opening of the first railway line in South Africa – Cape Point to Durban.

Opening of railway from Stellenbosch to Wellington (Cape Town to Wellington).

Electric lighting introduced on African Continent by Cape Government Railways at Table Bay Harbour.

De Aar – Kimberley railway line opened.

Establishment of the Netherlands South African Railway Company (Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorwegmaatschappij (NZASM)).

Electric lighting of trains introduced by Cape Government Railways.

Johannesburg Station laid out by Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaanse Spoorwegmaatschappij, then known as ‘Park Halt’.

First railway in Transvaal between Johannesburg and Boksburg, known as ‘Rand Tram’, subsequently extended to Springs and Krugersdorp.

Arrival of the first train at Johannesburg from Cape Town, via Bloemfontein.

Formal opening of the railway to Bulawayo from Cape Town.

Railways of two republics Transvaal and Orange Free State placed under Civil Administration as Central South African Railways.

With Union the South African Railways and Harbours came into being as one organisation to serve the whole country. Johannesburg became the seat of unified Administration (Total track mileage 7 039 (11 328 km).

Construction of the railway to South West Africa (Prieska-Nakop). 142 miles (229 km) were completed in 82 days

A luxurious bi-weekly express service in both directions between Pretoria and Cape Town was introduced. From Pretoria to Cape Town the train was called ‘Union Limited’ and in the opposite direction the ‘Union Express’

First experimental broadcasting of concerts in South Africa was conducted under the protection of the Broadcasting Committee of the South African Railways form the former head-office of the Railway Administration in Rissik Street.

Grain Elevators in Table Bay Harbour and 34 country districts started to handle grain. (The total storage capacity of elevators 139 200 tons).

First electric test train running between Ladysmith and Chieveley in Natal.

Electric traction introduced in South Africa on Natal main-line (Glencoe – Mooi River).

Opening of line between Messina and Beit Bridge and of the ‘Alfred Beit’ memorial rail and road bridge.

Air services hitherto operated by Union Airways taken over by South African Airways. Incorporation of South African Airways into SAR&H.

Electrification of Glencoe – Volksrust section of the Natal main-line brought into operation. Whole of Natal main-line, 327 miles (526 km), now electrified.

Introduction of electric passenger service between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Six new luxury air-conditioned all-steel saloons placed in service on the ‘Union Limited’ and ‘Union Express’ de Luxe trains. The ‘Blue Train’ foreshadowed.

Foundation Stone (Railway Training Institute), Esselen Park, laid by F.C. Sturrock, Minister of Railways and Harbours.

Union Limited and Union Express re-started operations under a new name, the ‘Blue Train’.

Kazerne (Prospect) goods depot, came into operation.

Centenary of Cape Agulhas Lighthouse.

Automatic telephone exchange at new Kaserne goods depot brought into operation (ultimate capacity 400 lines).

Diesel locomotives introduced on a large scale which meant the gradual end to steam traction.

South African Railways took delivery of the first South African manufactured electric locomotive.

Incorporation of Pipelines into SAR&H.

First crossing of two trains through remote control was implemented, and, with that began the era of Centralised Traffic Control (CTC).

Radio telephony used for first time on South African Railways to supplement telephone circuits between stations (Natal main line).

Break-through made on the second ‘twin’ of 3¾ mile Boughton – Cedara tunnel, the longest in Africa. (The first break-through, 17 July).

Record heavy goods train - 9 000 metric tons ore train hauled by seven diesel locomotives.

Gold Medal of the Associated Scientific and Technical Societies of South Africa reward for the design of the Scheffel Bogie.

The opening of Richards Bay Harbour and the coal line.

The Sishen – Saldanha railway line and ore export harbour taken over from Iscor. (Effective take-over of operations 1 April 1978).

Containerisation officially introduced.

New rail speed record of 245 km/h, on high stability bogies.

SAR&H became a state business enterprise, South African Transport Services (SATS) with a reduced social responsibility for the development of the country.

Sentrarand marshalling complex opened.

Transnet Limited incorporated as a company with the State as sole shareholder.

All rail commuter assets (and the responsibility for providing non-economic social rail commuter services) transferred to the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC).

The Phelophepa health train is a Transnet Foundation initiative to provide affordable primary health care to the poor. Whenever the train pulls into a station, 40 health lifestyle volunteers are there to help the community in health awareness. In addition to the doctors and nurses on board of the train there are fourth-year students specialising in certain health professions and doing their internships.

The creation of the Railway Safety Regulator (“the RSR”) a public entity established in terms of Section 4 of the National Railway Safety Regulator Act, 2002 (Act No. 16 of 2002). The RSR is governed and controlled by a board of directors, appointed by the Minister of Transport, who hold office The mandate of the RSR is to oversee and promote safe railway operations through appropriate support, monitoring, and enforcement, guided by an enabling regulatory framework.

2007 marks the end of the structural transformation of Transnet from a diversified group into a focused and integrated freight transport company, as envisioned in our four-point turnaround strategy. The conclusion of the structural transformation prompted us to rethink the Transnet brand, its relationship with the sub-brands and the appropriate architecture to give content to the philosophy of “One Company, One Vision”.

Transnet celebrate Centenary.

Celebration of 150 years of railways in South Africa.

Transnet Limited now Transnet SOC.

Ultrasonic system preventing trains from becoming derailed, because of broken rails. This broken-rail detector has been developed by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as a world first and is already in use by Transnet. In the past financial year, the CSIR prevented derailments that might have cost Transnet around R100m and placed coal and iron-ore supplies under pressure.

Transnet compiling first-ever distributed power train for manganese made up of 208 wagons.

The new Class 43 locomotives purchased by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) from the US company, General Electric, are rated by far the most powerful diesels in TFR’s fleet, provide a higher level of reliability availability, transportation of more cargo and fuel efficiency.

The delivery of the hundredth salt wagon manufactured at Transnet’s plant in Uitenhage for Botswana Rail places the Eastern Cape at the centre of the State-owned group’s plans to accelerate its sales of heavy equipment to the rest of Africa.

TFR ramping up its capacity to move export coal by 30% with a new 200-wagon train that will run between the Mpumalanga coal fields and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal. Project Shongololo challenges coal mining companies to take up the capacity that has been created.

First set of Glasgow graduates received their certificates.

Completion of an R800m expansion of the City Deep Container Terminal - “Africa’s biggest inland port”.

Draft White Paper on National Rail Policy published.

The White Paper on National Railway Policy.

Draft Network Statement was published for public consultation.

Vertical Separation of TFR into Operations and Network (TRIM).