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Our History


Our History In a Nutshell


Ours is a 114 years history dating back to 21 August 1853 when the Cape Town Railway and Dock company formed. This was followed by the formation of the Natal Railways Company in 1859.


Our first railway line was opened in 1860 from Cape Point to Durban.


From this period on a number of railways lines were opened across the country leading to the introduction electric lighting in trains in 1888. The first cross border railway line from Cape Town to Bulawayo was opened in 1897. In 1902 the railways of the then Transvaal (now Gauteng) and Orange Free State merged to form Central South African Railways.


We have been in business since 1910


1902

In the year 1902 Railways entities of two republics Transvaal and Orange Free State placed under Civil Administration as Central South African Railways.


1910

In 1910 the South African Railways and Harbours was formed boasting a total track of 11 328km with headquarters in Johannesburg.


1914

In 1914, a 229km railway line to the then South-West Africa (now Namibia) was built and completed in 82 days.


1943

In 1943 the foundation for the construction of what is now the Esselen Park School of Excellence was laid.


1946

In 1946 Kazerne (Prospect) goods depot came into operation.


Our first railway line was opened in 1860


21 August 1853 Cape Town Railway and Dock company formed.
January 1859 Natal Railway Company formed.
26 June 1860 Opening of the first railway line in South Africa – Cape Point to Durban.

4 November 1863 Opening of railway from Stellenbosch to Wellington (Cape Town to Wellington).
April 1882 Electric lighting introduced on African Continent by Cape Government Railways at Table Bay Harbour.
28 November 1885 De Aar – Kimberley railway line opened.

21 June 1887 Establishment of the Netherlands South African Railway Company (Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorwegmaatschappij (NZASM)).
1888 Electric lighting of trains introduced by Cape Government Railways.
1890 Johannesburg Station laid out by Nederlandsche Zuid-Afrikaanse Spoorwegmaatschappij, then known as ‘Park Halt’.

17 March 1890 First railway in Transvaal between Johannesburg and Boksburg, known as ‘Rand Tram’, subsequently extended to Springs and Krugersdorp.
15 September 1892 Arrival of the first train at Johannesburg from Cape Town, via Bloemfontein.
4 November 1897 Formal opening of the railway to Bulawayo from Cape Town.

1 July 1902 Railways of two republics Transvaal and Orange Free State placed under Civil Administration as Central South African Railways.
31 May 1910 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).
1914 Construction of the railway to South West Africa (Prieska-Nakop). 142 miles (229 km) were completed in 82 days

26 November 1923 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’
December 1923 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.
1924 Grain Elevators in Table Bay Harbour and 34 country districts started to handle grain. (The total storage capacity of elevators 139 200 tons).

21 October 1924 First electric test train running between Ladysmith and Chieveley in Natal.
1925 Electric traction introduced in South Africa on Natal main-line (Glencoe – Mooi River).
31 August 1929 Opening of line between Messina and Beit Bridge and of the ‘Alfred Beit’ memorial rail and road bridge.

1 February 1934 Air services hitherto operated by Union Airways taken over by South African Airways. Incorporation of South African Airways into SAR&H.
3 October 1937 Electrification of Glencoe – Volksrust section of the Natal main-line brought into operation. Whole of Natal main-line, 327 miles (526 km), now electrified.
7 November 1938 Introduction of electric passenger service between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

June 1939 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.
10 December 1943 Foundation Stone (Railway Training Institute), Esselen Park, laid by F.C. Sturrock, Minister of Railways and Harbours.
February 1946 Union Limited and Union Express re-started operations under a new name, the ‘Blue Train’.

December 1946 Kazerne (Prospect) goods depot, came into operation.
1 March 1948 Centenary of Cape Agulhas Lighthouse.
6 January 1952 Automatic telephone exchange at new Kaserne goods depot brought into operation (ultimate capacity 400 lines).

1960 Diesel locomotives introduced on a large scale which meant the gradual end to steam traction.
7 January 1963 South African Railways took delivery of the first South African manufactured electric locomotive.
1965 Incorporation of Pipelines into SAR&H.

7 June 1955 First crossing of two trains through remote control was implemented, and, with that began the era of Centralised Traffic Control (CTC).
January 1957 Radio telephony used for first time on South African Railways to supplement telephone circuits between stations (Natal main line).
21 November 1958 Break-through made on the second ‘twin’ of 3¾ mile Boughton – Cedara tunnel, the longest in Africa. (The first break-through, 17 July).

1970 Record heavy goods train - 9 000 metric tons ore train hauled by seven diesel locomotives.
1976 Gold Medal of the Associated Scientific and Technical Societies of South Africa reward for the design of the Scheffel Bogie.
April 1 1976 The opening of Richards Bay Harbour and the coal line.

1 April 1977 The Sishen – Saldanha railway line and ore export harbour taken over from Iscor. (Effective take-over of operations 1 April 1978).
1 July 1977 Containerisation officially introduced.
1979 New rail speed record of 245 km/h, on high stability bogies.

1 October 1981 SAR&H became a state business enterprise, South African Transport Services (SATS) with a reduced social responsibility for the development of the country.
19 November 1982 Sentrarand marshalling complex opened.
1 April 1990 Transnet Limited incorporated as a company with the State as sole shareholder.

1 April 1990 All rail commuter assets (and the responsibility for providing non-economic social rail commuter services) transferred to the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC).
1994 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.
2002 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.

23 July 2007 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”.
31 May 2010 Transnet celebrate Centenary.
26 June 2010 Celebration of 150 years of railways in South Africa.

1 May 2011 Transnet Limited now Transnet SOC.
11 September 2011 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.
September 2012 Transnet compiling first-ever distributed power train for manganese made up of 208 wagons.

8 November 2012 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.
11 December 2012 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.
July 2013 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.

16 October 2014 First set of Glasgow graduates received their certificates.
26 November 2015 Completion of an R800m expansion of the City Deep Container Terminal - “Africa’s biggest inland port”.
08 August 2017 Draft White Paper on National Rail Policy published.

9 March 2022 The White Paper on National Railway Policy.
15 March 2024 Draft Network Statement was published for public consultation.
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