Metrorail (South Africa)

Metrorail is a company in South Africa that runs trains for people who travel to work, school, or other places every day. It is part of a bigger group called the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, which takes care of most of the train services in the country.

Metrorail has many train stations and tracks in big cities where lots of people live. These places are called urban areas or metros. In 2025, Metrorail helped millions of people get around—more than 77 million trips were made on their trains.

The Metrorail network has 471 stations and more than 2,228 kilometers of tracks, making it a very big and important way for people to travel in South Africa.

History

Metrorail started in 1996 as part of Transnet, a big company in South Africa that handles trains, ports, and more. Later, it moved to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).

In 2025, Metrorail saw a big increase in passengers, with 77 million people riding the trains. This was a big improvement from the past few years. Most of the train lines were running well, and many people felt confident using the trains again. The leader of PRASA said they had done a great job and built a better system for everyone.

Operations

Metrorail operates train services in four main areas of South Africa. These areas are the Eastern Cape with Gqeberha as a center, Gauteng with Johannesburg as a center, KwaZulu-Natal with Durban as a center, and Western Cape with Cape Town as a center.

Each area has its own train lines connecting different cities and towns. For example, in Gauteng, trains run from Johannesburg to places like Pretoria and Soweto. In Western Cape, trains go from Cape Town to areas such as Simon's Town and Stellenbosch.

Main article: Metrorail Eastern Cape

Main article: Metrorail Gauteng

Main article: Metrorail KwaZulu-Natal

Main article: Metrorail Western Cape

Track and equipment

Metrorail trains in South Africa run on special tracks that are 1,067 millimetres wide. Some of these tracks are owned by PRASA, while others are shared with trains that travel long distances or carry goods.

Most Metrorail trains are electric and come in two main types: the 5M2A, made in South Africa, and the 8M, made in Japan. Since 1999, many of the 5M2A trains have been updated with new parts. In 2007, over 300 of these trains were refreshed. The updated trains are now called 10M3, 10M4, or 10M5, depending on the city.

Some trains in the Eastern Cape use diesel power and have ten cars in each set. In total, there are 280 train sets, and each can carry up to 1,800 passengers. In 2013, a company named Gibela won a contract to build 600 new trains, with more to come in the future.

Safety

In the 2000s and 2010s, people worried about how safe it was to ride Metrorail trains. There were worries about crime and accidents, including some serious incidents like assaults on trains and accidents at places where roads cross the tracks.

A group called the Rail Commuters Action Group took Metrorail and the South African Government to court, asking them to spend more money on security. The court said that Metrorail must try to keep passengers safe. Even so, many people still felt unsafe on the trains.

Sometimes, people set fire to trains during protests, which could close down some lines. There were also problems with people stealing cables, which stopped some trains from running.

In the 2020s, more money was spent on improving safety and service, which helped make the trains more reliable and safe for passengers again.