I booked for Shosholoza Meyl Premier Class(Johannesburg-Cape Town) four months in advance.The first booking process was very quick and efficient.But just shortly before departure date I got a message,the train was canceled.As I was not time flexible I should re-book to Shosholoza Tourist Classe.After some troubles with cancellation and refund in the re-booking process,the trip itself was OK.In fact I was preparing myself for the worst at Shosholoza Tourist Meyl because of the bad comments.Now I can only say I was pleasantly surprised with the train,staff and the service.Clean beds,good food,any delay...only a bit too hot inside the carriages.Very good organization around the boarding.All in all,super for this amount of money!

The idea of a rail journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg, even if it is 26 hours, sounds exciting and so it should be. The opportunity to see so much of the South African countryside during daylight hours is not to be missed. However, the "Premier Classe Lounge" and the train itself are jaded and in need of a facelift. The compartments are spacious enough and the train has dining cars and a lounge car. The fare includes the meals and snacks and there is an adequate bar.

Unfortunately for we who traveled on a particular day, some 8 hours into the trip the generator carriage caught fire and the rest of the trip eventually was made by coach. This incident could have been much more serious had it not been for a beneficial breeze and the heroism of two of the train staff (the barman and another waiter) who despite the dangers created by the toxic smoke and the flames managed to get the generator carriage separated from the other carriages and the two locos. The general opinion among the passengers suggested that the operators needed to revise their incident planning and fire safety measures for this train. Finny39

In December 2012 my family (2 teens) travelled on the Shoshaloza Meyl Premier class form Cape Town - Johannesburg as the ultamate end to a lovely holiday spent on a boat trip. What a disappointment. The cleanliness on the coaches really needs to be jacked up, it is simply just not acceptable. The food served in the dinning coach was very basic, as was "high tea", lunch and breakfast. We had no water to shower with in our communal shower, and the toilets had no hand towels and needed a long desired scrub! It is such a pitty, because the route is lovely and senic. We accepted the delays (brake problems) in the middle of the Karoo, in the middle of the day! (very hot and no air-con), but for clean and well maintained coaches there simly are no excuses. Definitely not value for money!!!