South Africa's GREAT VALUE FIRST CLASS TRAIN: Premier Classe to Durban

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This video reviews the train journey from Pietermaritzburg, to Durban in South Africa in November 2017. Captions will give you further information and tips about this very scenic journey across the Valley of a 1000 Hills in the KwaZulu-Natal region.

This train is run by the Passenger Rail Authority of South Africa: PRASA.

I discovered this train service thanks to the ever useful "The Man in Seat 61" website:
https://www.seat61.com/SouthAfrica.htm

On the route from Johannesburg, Pietermaritzburg is the last stop before arriving at Durban (the other route run by the Premier Classe service goes from J'burg to Cape Town). Pietermaritzburg is the capital of the KwaZulu-Natal region and its train station has a special historical importance: Gandhi was thrown out of a train at this station at the end of the 18th century. This incident shaped the rest of this life and commemorated in a small exhibition inaugurated by Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

The Premier Classe service has a dedicated website:
http://www.premierclasse.co.za/index.html
Unfortunately, the timetable for these services is not available and the online booking section didn't work. This service isn't very well known by South Africans and the staff at Pietermaritzburg station tried hard to help. It took more than one visit to the station to get it sorted and my paper ticket came all the way from J'burg (I had to provide a South African mobile number and passport number for the booking).

As the Premier Classe service I took was attached to the regular Shosholoza Meyl, it seems that the schedule for Durban follows the timetable for the Shosholoza Meyl. Please see link below
http://www.shosholozameyl.co.za/train-routes.aspx

"The Man in Seat 61" website gives further useful information on ways to buy a train ticket in South Africa

As the journey between Pietermaritzburg and Durban is operated after dawn, I was able to make the most of the scenic journey. I would have been happy to travel all the way from Johannesburg and enjoy the comfortable cabin at my disposal as well as the dinner and bar/lounge.

The train arrived 20 minutes late at Pietermaritzburg. I was given the mobile number of the train manager and after texting him when I got up, I had a prompt reply informing me of this short delay. I was impressed by such personalised service.
I found all the staff on-board equally helpful and engaging. The overall service was very good without feeling formal.

When arriving at Durban station, a train attendant walked to the lounge. I had no safety issues during the journey but as for any travel or daily life, common sense applies.
Check-in and boarding: * (because of the lack of online booking offered by PRASA/Premier Classe)
Seat comfort: ****
Cabin cleanliness: ****
Staff: ****
Food and drinks: ****
Entertainment: n/a
Value for money: ****
Recommend: yes

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Music:
Accralate - The Dark Contenent by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100341
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

A Good Day On the African Planes, Doug Maxwell/Media Right Productions

Bumba Crossing by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1500031
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

LAKEY INSPIRED - I Found Me
» SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired

Видео South Africa's GREAT VALUE FIRST CLASS TRAIN: Premier Classe to Durban канала Speedbird1 FLY