Another early start this morning as it was time to pack our bags and transfer to Cape Town station to catch the Premier Classe train to Johannesburg. We used the same transfer as from the airport and the driver did a great job in delivering us to the station. Our instructions were quite misleading and our driver was not satisfied in dropping us where our ticket suggested (on the opposite side of the station to where we needed to be). Eventually he worked out where we should be dropped and all was well. For a while. Perhaps the misleading instructions should have been a warning for the issues that followed.
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| The Premier Lounge at Cape Town Station |
Our letter to the management of Premier Classe Train tells the story:
"I write to express our disappointment that we were not able to complete our Premier Classe Train trip from Cape Town to Johannesburg on 27 and 28th October 2015. We were a group of five at the end of a wonderful 6 week trip to Southern Africa concluding our trip with the Premier Classe Train before flying back to Australia from Johannesburg. We had done our homework and had noted that there were sometimes delays of a few hours with the train and had factored in an 11 hour buffer for this possibility.
As it turned out more than this was required and we were bundled off the train into a van at De Aar for the 800km dash to the airport. Something we did achieve thanks to those who organised it.
Let me start with the good things about our trip.
1. We were met at the welcome lounge at Cape Town Station by friendly staff.
2. Our luggage was well catered for and appeared in our carriage when we boarded the train.
3. Our carriage was well appointed (as was the whole train).
4. The welcome (drink and snacks) was appreciated once on board.
5. Staff on the train were friendly and efficient.
6. Meals were as one would expect from the ticket price we paid.
7. The view from the train was excellent
8. So far so good........
And then we got to Beaufort West. We were told that we would have a forty minute wait and that we might like to stretch our legs. Something we appreciated as the air conditioning on the train was not coping at all with the warm weather at that time of year. It was fairly unpleasant on the train for that reason. We hoped off the train and went for a walk before settling back waiting for our journey to continue. It didn't happen and some time later we were called to dinner. After dinner I mentioned to the train manager that we had 10pm flights the following day.
At that stage he expected that we would be underway again by 11 pm at the very latest so off to bed we went. We didn't have the best night's sleep as it was still quite hot and we were wondering when the train would start again and would we be able to meet the deadline for our flight back home.
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| Overnight at Beaufort West |
At that stage he expected that we would be underway again by 11 pm at the very latest so off to bed we went. We didn't have the best night's sleep as it was still quite hot and we were wondering when the train would start again and would we be able to meet the deadline for our flight back home.
Morning arrived and we were still at the station at Beaufort West. Eventually we were underway after sitting at the station for 12 hours.
After breakfast we were told that a van would be waiting for us at De Aar to transport us to the airport as there was now insufficient time for the train to complete the journey.
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| Beaufort West to De Aar |
On arrival at De Aar we had to wait some time for the van to arrive and to the manager's credit the train did not depart until we had been picked up.
Apart from the fact that a 10 hour trip in a van is a pretty miserable way to travel we would have to congratulate the train manager on the way it was organised and executed. We had three different drivers who were waiting along the way to take us on the next leg of the journey and we arrived at the airport at 8:30pm in plenty of time to catch our plane. The train manager did an extraordinary job rescuing a potential disaster.
We don't understand that when most things can be organised so well that something as vital as having reliable locomotives is not a priority of your company.
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| A very quick trip in a van Glad we weren't on that train |
We had a wonderful time in Africa and it was just plain disappointing that this all happened at the end of our trip to dampen our enjoyment.
It would be great to see your company address the problem of efficient locomotives so that you can truly call yourself a Premier Classe train.
A final point.
We booked through African Sun Travel and their directions on the voucher were that our destination was in Strand Street. I'm glad our driver enquired before he left us as it would have been a long walk for 5 senior citizens with lots of luggage from Strand Street to the Premier Classe lounge. There were plenty of signs for the Blue Train but none that we could see for the Premier Classe train. It certainly wasn't in Strand Street. If our directions had said the Blue Train lounge all would have been well."
To give the company its due they did reimburse our tickets (something we hadn’t asked for) but there was no apology or explanation of what went wrong.
For the time we were on the train it was quite exciting (apart from the poor air conditioning) Our carriage was well appointed and comfortable and the countryside interesting. Would we do it again? Probably yes but we would ensure we had plenty of time at the other end in case all did not go well.
And that’s our trip to Southern Africa. The rest is just that boring stuff of sitting on aeroplanes – First from Johannesburg to Dubai and then Dubai to Brisbane.
Africa was much easier to travel than we ever imagined. Having said that we were pleased that we had arranged a guide for the travel through Botswana and Namibia. The highlight – it would have to be the African animals - just amazing.
