Ultimate in luxury on rails

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33083, 25 November 1972, Page 12

Ultimate in luxury on rails

(By

TONY VAN DER WATT)

It’s the most lavishly appointed and solidly luxurious train in the world, it’s unlikely ever to make money—and its owners don’t care a hoot, because it is the finest advertisement they could possibly run.

Its name is the “Blue Train,” and it is the pride of the Government-owned South African Railways.

Considering that its 13,000mile network has only a 3ft 6in gauge, following the country’s sea level-to-6000ft high topography rather closely, it will be appreciated that high speeds have never been a strong point of South Africa’s railway system. Journeys of up to three days are still common today, on the longest transcontinental routes; a generation ago these took up to double the present time. In comfort This explains the tradition of comfort which has been built up through the decades for the benefit of the customers. "If you can’t move ’em fast, move ’em slowly, but in comfort,” became the time-honoured watchword. Even though most of today's main line trains run reasonably fast on modem track, with electric and diesel traction, the earlier standard of comfort, which passengers came to expect and demand as part and parcel of train travel, has remained. Six-course meals "Indulge yourself — travel by train” railway advertisements still urge South Africans, dangling additional lures before them like sixcourse meals for 85 cents and free tickets for children under seven. Small wonder, then, that although air travel has burgeoned in South Africa, as elsewhere, this has scarcely been at the expense of the railways (which, incidentally, own the airways.) So, when the South African Railways Administration decides to go out of its way to run a "special” train, it plumps for the most comfortable, unashamedly extravagant creation it can conceive, rather than try (probably unsuccessfully) for a fast-fast train as some other nations* railways have done. World’s finest South Africa’s first Blue Train, conceived in 1937, set a standard for those days, and even today ranks among the 10 best in the world — but the Mark II version, now running, is claimed by connoisseurs of trains to be the world’s finest, without doubt. It traverses the 1000 miles between the northern (administrative) capital of Pretoria and the southern (legislative) capital of Cape Town with 108 passengers in 25 hours. Nothing has been spared to impress — artworks in the lounges, telephones in all bedrooms for round-the-clock service, variable lighting in the panelled restaurant car to suit every mood and occasion, the best possible sound-proofing (no more clickety-clack from the railroad track), fully adjustable air conditioning — and special suites for those prepared to pay for even more outrageous pampering. Safety features Little features like wall-to-wall carpeting, iced water taps, hot and cold showers, a shoe shine and valet service, and powder rooms for the ladies, are taken for granted. Gourmet meals with a wine list and service to

match, rivalling those to be found in any top South African hotel, and a host of

safety features, including duplicated power and braking facilities and electronic anti-skid devices on every axle, combine further to make it a ' sort of Rolls-Royce-Hilton on rails: Maiden trip In line with the railways’ show window intent, the administration took great pains to have the duplicate trains (they pass half-way, in opposite directions) built in South Africa with as high as possible a local content. It achieved a 70 per cent local content related to cost, and

makes sure its passengers know this. It was just unfortunate that the new train’s maiden run from Pretoria to Cape Town, with a load of V.l.P.’s on board, arrived at its destination two embarrassing hours later, because of a goods train derailment on the track ahead of it. True to tradition, if the passengers did not get there as fast as they might otherwise have done, at least the champagne was on ice all the way, the staff kept smiling, and the comfort remained unsurpassed t— anywhere on rails.