Reader gets it wrong with moans on railway service

I WOULD like to comment on a letter entitled “The rot in our rail system” which was published in The Star on Monday February 19, and, ironically, appears to have been written by a former Pretoria Boys’ High schoolmate of mine – Rob Fowler.

He got one thing right in his letter and a number of things wrong – something I know because I’ve done two recent Premiere Class return trips to Cape Town, the first in November 2016 and another in November 2017 – just three months ago.

Firstly, Fowler complained about a Premiere Class train that left Johannesburg station on February 14. Wrong. February 14 was a Wednesday. Premiere Class trains to Cape Town leave Johannesburg Park Station on Thursdays and return the following Wednesday.

Secondly, he complains about the Premiere Class station rooms. Again wrong. Both Joburg and Cape Town station Premiere Class rooms are pleasant and comfortable with plenty of snacks and drinks available for passengers waiting to board their train.

Thirdly, Fowler wrote: “There is hardly any food of any quality to speak of available on the train.”

Absolute rubbish. All the food on all four Premiere Class trains I’ve travelled on has been very pleasant and tasty.

On all four trains I was on, the majority of passengers were overseas tourists, mainly from the US, UK, Australia, France and Germany.

Because I was one of the few South African passengers, I got to chat to just about all the tourists, and nearly all of them were very complimentary about the Premiere Class train journey.

On one of my trains, I shared a table with a 40-yearold American who told me the Premiere Class trip was the best train journey he’d ever done, way better than anything he’d experienced in the US!

As I said above, Rob did get one thing right – namely his complaint about Premiere Class trains departing and arriving late.

This is not a major problem if you’re on holiday, but it is an issue I’ve raised with Shosholoza Meyl and it does need to be rectified.

However, I’ve enjoyed all four of my Premiere Class train trips and will recommend them to just about everyone, particularly as they’re much better value than the very expensive Blue Train and Rovos Rail. I may well do another Premiere Class trip later this year. Jeremy Thorpe Parkhurst, Johannesburg