Transport Operating Hours

Transport runs to timetables, not opening hours

A station is not a shop. What matters is not when the doors open but when the first and last service runs on your route, and those differ by direction, by day and sometimes by station. That is why these pages point at official trip planners and timetables rather than stating one set of hours.

The last service is the one to check

Missing the last train or bus of the day has a different cost from arriving at a closed shop. Confirm the last departure from the station you will actually be leaving from, in the direction you are actually travelling, rather than the network’s general finishing time.

Weekends and public holidays run reduced services

South African public transport typically thins out at weekends and on public holidays, with later first services and earlier last ones. Fares can also change: on some networks weekend travel is charged at the higher rate rather than the lower one.

Feeder services are separate from the main service

Buses connecting stations to surrounding suburbs run their own routes and their own timetables. A train arriving does not mean a connecting bus is waiting, and the feeder service commonly stops earlier than the trains do.

Plan the last leg, not just the main one.

Disruptions override the timetable

Infrastructure work, cable theft and industrial action all change what is actually running, and operators substitute buses for trains on affected sections. Live service notices on the operator’s own site are more reliable than any published schedule on the day you travel.

Peak times cost more and fill up

Where an operator charges peak and off-peak fares, the fare is usually set by when you enter the system rather than when you leave it. A few minutes either side of a peak boundary can change the price of the same journey.