http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Port_Alfred_Railway_LinePort Alfred Railway Line - Revision history2026-06-02T04:40:12ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.1http://debianws.lexgopc.com/wiki143/index.php?title=Port_Alfred_Railway_Line&diff=8046281&oldid=previmported>Entranced98: Importing Wikidata short description: "Railway line in South Africa"2024-08-10T22:10:05Z<p>Importing Wikidata <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_description" class="extiw" title="wikipedia:Short description">short description</a>: "Railway line in South Africa"</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Railway line in South Africa}}<br />
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[[File:Port Alfred railway line map.svg|thumb|right|300px|Map of the Port Alfred railway line]]<br />
{{Port Alfred Railway Line}}<br />
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The '''Port Alfred Railway Line''' is a [[Railway electrification system|non-electrified]] railway line, that connects [[Alicedale]] with [[Grahamstown]] and [[Port Alfred]] in [[South Africa]].<br />
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==History==<br />
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The construction of the line was part of the massive expansion of the [[Cape Colony]]'s railway system, that was begun in the 1870s by Prime Minister [[John Molteno]] and the [[Cape Government Railways]].<ref>Burman, Jose (1984). ''Early Railways at the Cape''. Cape Town. Human & Rousseau, p.&nbsp;73. {{ISBN|0-7981-1760-5}}</ref> The first section, connecting [[Alicedale]] and [[Grahamstown]] was completed in 1881.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.portalfred.co.za/pa-tourism/site-subpage.php?sid=1|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071224231225/http://www.portalfred.co.za/pa-tourism/site-subpage.php?sid=1|archive-date = 24 December 2007|title = Sunshine Coast Tourism}}</ref> The remaining 68&nbsp;km to Port Alfred were opened on 1 October 1883.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.portalfred.co.za/pa-tourism/site-subpage.php?sid=41|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224231307/http://www.portalfred.co.za/pa-tourism/site-subpage.php?sid=41|archive-date=24 December 2007|title=Sunshine Coast Tourism}}</ref><br />
[[File:Atherstone Railway Station, Eastern Cape South Africa.jpg|thumb|left|The Atherstone Railway station between Grahamstown and Alicedale in the Eastern Cape on the Port Alfred Railway line (2021).]]<br />
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Passenger services were reduced to the Alicedale - Grahamstown section of the line in 1988 and the line was closed entirely in 1990. Service was restored between Alicedale and Grahamstown in 1995<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freenet-homepage.de/ralph_timmermann/RSA06/PortAlfred.html|title=Freenet Webhosting - die All-in-One Lösung für Ihre eigene Website}}</ref> and suspended again in 2008.<br />
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==Operation==<br />
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Until 2008 the line was served by one [[Shosholoza Meyl]] passenger train per day in each direction between Grahamstown and Alicedale. This train consists of one diesel locomotive and three passenger carriages.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freenet-homepage.de/ralph_timmermann/RSA06/PortAlfred.html|title=Freenet Webhosting - die All-in-One Lösung für Ihre eigene Website}}</ref> In Alicedale the service connects to the main line train to [[Johannesburg]].<ref>http://venture.dispatch.co.za/?p=1071{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><br />
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The section between Grahamstown and Port Alfred is not in use.<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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[[Category:Railway lines in South Africa]]<br />
[[Category:3 ft 6 in gauge railways in South Africa]]</div>imported>Entranced98