Two die as luxury tourist train derails

A restored vintage train carrying tourists on a luxury rail safari derailed in Pretoria killing two people today.

Seventeen coaches of the Rovos Rail train, which was near the end of a journey from Cape Town, came off the tracks just outside a station in the city.

Twenty-five other passengers were taken to hospital.

A Rovos Rail spokesman said the train was carrying 55 passengers plus crew.

The passengers were from several countries, but no details were available.

Rovos Rail offers holiday trips across Africa that recall the golden age of travel, on trains that combine Edwardian period features such as wood panelling with modern conveniences such as air conditioning and hot showers.

The trains carry up to 72 passengers in 36 cabins. The routes were established in 1989 and run with restored locomotives. The oldest engine in the fleet is a 76-ton “Class 6” locomotive originally built in 1893; the youngest is a 225-ton steam engine built in 1954.

The train travels around South Africa and to Namibia and Tanzania.

The train also traverses the famed “Cape to Cairo” route, a month-long journey between Cape Town and Egypt’s capital.