The Spoornet Heritage
A summary of key events that laid the foundation for the Spoornet of today.
- 1835
- First meeting of the Preliminary Committee of the "Cape of Good Hope Western Railway" with Harrison Watson, prominent Cape banker as chairman.
- 1850
- Milne's wooden track oxen-powered railway between the Bluff and the Harbour, Port Natal, the forerunner of the railway in Africa.
- 1851
- Estimates for the construction of the Cape Town-Wellington railway submitted by the Cape Government, with a cost of 500 000 pounds and a guarantee of six percent interest per annum. The estimate was prepared by Sir Charles Fox, the eminent railway engineer.
- 1853
- Cape Town Railway & Dock Company formed.
- 1858
- Contract signed between the Government of the Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Town Railway & Dock Company for the construction of the first railway in South Africa.
- 1859
- Landing of the first railway locomotive in South Africa at Cape Town.
- 1860
- Official opening of the first public railway in South Africa, from Point to Durban.
- 1892
- Arrival of the first train at Johannesburg from Cape Town via Bloemfontein.
- 1910
- Cape Government Railways, Natal Government Railways, Transvaal Government Railways and the Ports of those provinces combined to form South African Railways and Harbours (SAR&H).
- 1934
- Incorporation of South African Airways into SAR&H.
- 1935
- Introduction of Class 16E locomotives No.'s 854 - 859, the fastest steam locomotives on 1 067 mm gauge.
- 1939
- Six new luxury air-conditioned all-steel saloons placed in service on the "Union Limited" and "Union Express" trains. The Blue Train foreshadowed.
- 1950
- Delivery of the 2 000th engine by the North British Locomotive Company to SAR&H.
- 1958
- First diesel electric locomotive arrives at Durban.
- 1963
- Last steam hauled train from Cape Town Station departed at 18:20 from platform 11.
- 1976
- World speed record on 1 065 mm gauge attained when a class 6E1 locomotive and ordinary suburban coach reached 208 km/h between Midway and Bank.
- 1981
- Government agreed that SAR&H should restructure along business lines. SAR&H became a state business enterprise, South African Transport Services (SATS) on 1 April 1981.
- 1990
- SATS became Transnet Limited - incorporated as a company on 1 April 1990 with the State as sole shareholder. Spoornet became one of the major divisions of Transnet. At the same time, the rail commuter assets were transferred to the South African Rail Commuter corporation (SARCC). This service was operated on contract by Spoornet for the SARCC.
- 1997
- Metrorail created as a division of Transnet responsible for operating rail commuter services This involved the transfer of 10 285 employees.
- 1999
- Spoornet operates three major freight divisions: General Freight Business (GFB), Orex and COALlink. Spoornet also operates Mainline Passenger Services (now called Shosholoza Meyl) and the luxury Blue Train.
- The future
- Read more about Transnet's future in the 2004 annual report.
Information courtesy of the Transnet Heritage Foundation Library.