The Cape Flats Line is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...

line in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, operated by

Metrorail Western Cape Metrorail Western Cape is a network of commuter and suburban rail services in the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality (metropolitan area of Cape Town) and in the surrounding towns of Malmesbury, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington in the ...

. It connects central Cape Town with the suburbs of Pinelands,

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...

, Lansdowne, Ottery and Retreat.

Route

The Cape Flats Line service begins at the central Cape Town railway station, from which it runs east along the Cape Town– Bellville main line as far as Maitland. After Maitland station it branches off to the south, passing along the western edge of Pinelands before crossing under the N2 freeway and over the Black River. It then continues south through

and Lansdowne, and then south-west through Ottery and Southfield, before joining the Southern Line route at Heathfield. Services on the Cape Flats Line terminate at occasionally at Heathfield, with the line terminus being Retreat, except for a few trains per day which continue along the Southern Line to Fish Hoek.

Operation

The line is made up of double track, electrified with 3,000 V DC

overhead catenary An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipment ...

. Services are operated mostly by electric multiple units of Class 5M2.

References

{{Cape Town, transport Metrorail (South Africa) Railway lines in South Africa 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in South Africa