The Central Line is a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

service in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, 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, Western Cape, Malmesbury, Paarl, Stellenbo ...

. Central Line services operate along two routes from central Cape Town to Langa, and then along three branches from Langa to various areas in the south-east of the city. The first branch runs to

Mitchell's Plain Mitchells Plain is a large census designated sub-place located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multi ...

, the second to

Khayelitsha Khayelitsha () is a township (South Africa), township in Western Cape, South Africa, on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town, City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The name is Xhosa language, Xhosa for ''New Home''. It is reputed to ...

, and the third passes through

Belhar Belhar is a small town in the Western Cape, South Africa and forms part of the Tygerberg area in the City of Cape Town The City of Cape Town (; ) is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the metro ...

to terminate in Bellville.

Route

Central Line trains depart from Cape Town station on one of two routes. The first route runs along the original Cape Town–Bellville main line through Salt River to Maitland, and then branches south to pass around the western and southern edge of Pinelands to Langa station. The other route runs along the relief main line past Paarden Eiland and then branches south through

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

to Mutual station; from Mutual it runs along the eastern edge of Pinelands to Langa. From Langa station all trains pass through Bonteheuwel station; some continue east through

Bishop Lavis Bishop Lavis is a suburb of Cape Town, located east of the city centre near Cape Town International Airport. It had, as of 2001, a population of 44,419 people, of whom 97% described themselves as Coloured, and 90% spoke Afrikaans Afrik ...

and

, passing the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC; ) is a Public university, public research university in Bellville, South Africa, Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the Politics of South Africa, South ...

before turning north and then west to terminate at Bellville. Other trains branch south after

Bonteheuwel Bonteheuwel is a former Coloured township in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of So ...

, passing

Manenberg Manenberg is a neighbourhood of Cape Town, South Africa that was created by the apartheid government in 1966 for low-income Coloured families in the Cape Flats

and

Gugulethu Gugulethu is a township in Western Cape, South Africa and is around 20km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of ''igugu lethu'', which is Xhosa for ''our pride / our hope.'' The area was the third township to be established in Cape Town, a ...

to Philippi station. From Philippi, one branch passes south through

to terminate at Kapteinsklip station, while the other passes south-east through

to terminate at Chris Hani station. Most trains to Mitchell's Plain use the Salt River route from Cape Town to Langa, while most trains to Bellville or Khayelitsha use the Mutual route, but there are some exceptions.

Station listing

The Central Line serves the following stations:

Operation

The line is made up of 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, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

; all parts of the line are at least double track. Services are operated mostly by

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

s of Class 5M2 and (on the Khayelitsha line) Class 8M.

Current situation

After 2011, PRASA was increasingly unable to maintain the line and the Khayelitsha line ceased operation in 2019 due to vandalism and metal theft. More recently, plans to reopen it have been thwarted by squatters occupying the railway territory. It is proposed to re-open the line by December 2022, though many previous deadlines have been missed. Rail workers attempting to restore the line have been assaulted by armed gangs. As of 2023, service is gradually being restored. The Central Line was reopened in late May, 2025. During a Parliamentary session, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport, Donald Selamolela, expressed appreciation for the reopening of the Central Line. A reopening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Transport,

Barbara Creecy Barbara Dallas Creecy (born 17 June 1958) is a South Africa, South African politician and former Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who has been the Minister of Transport since July 2024. She was formerly the Minister of E ...

; Deputy Minister of Transport, Mkhuleko Hlengwa; and City of Cape Town Mayor,

Geordin Hill-Lewis Geordin Gwyn Hill-Lewis (born 31 December 1986) is a South African politician who is the Mayor of Cape Town. A member of the Democratic Alliance (South Africa), Democratic Alliance, he was elected mayor in November 2021. Hill-Lewis attended Edge ...

. Selamolela urged the community, and community leaders, to play a role in protecting and guarding the rolling stock and the network. He further stated that the reopening should not end with the photo opportunity of officials, but with a real change in people’s lives, through the provision of affordable, safe, and reliable public transport, and with rail being the preferred mode of transport. Selamolela stated that PRASA should work to regain people's trust in its rail services.

References

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