Southern Line (Cape Town)

Metrorail Southern Line
A Southern Line train pulls out of Kalk Bay station
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metrorail Western Cape
Status	Operational
Locale	Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Termini	Cape Town Simon's Town
Stations	28
Operation
Opened	1882
Owner	PRASA
Operator(s)	Metrorail
Rolling stock	Class 5M2A Class 10M5
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 0:00 Cape Town Eastern Boulevard (N2) (NL, CL via Ysterplaat ) 0:03 0:06 Salt River (NL, CL, CFL via Maitland ) 0:09 Observatory Settlers' Way (N2) 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

The Southern Line is a commuter rail line operated by Metrorail Western Cape, connecting Cape Town station in central Cape Town, South Africa with the Southern Suburbs and the towns on the west coast of False Bay, terminating in Simon's Town.

The Wynberg Railway Company was established in 1861 to build a railway line from Salt River Junction to Wynberg, which opened on 19 December 1864. In 1876 the company was taken over by the Cape Government Railways, and the line, which had originally been built to the standard gauge, was rebuilt to Cape gauge.

The extension to Muizenberg opened on 15 December 1882, and a further extension to Kalk Bay on 5 May 1883. The final extension, to the naval base at Simon's Town, opened on 1 December 1890. The line was electrified with overhead catenary in 1928.

The line runs on "Cape gauge" 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) track, and is electrified with 3,000 V DC overhead catenary. Service on the line is provided by Electric Multiple Units of Class 5M2A and Class 10M5. The units are 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.