The
Blue Train offers schedule and charter services.
The scheduled routes are:
Pretoria - Cape Town (1 day & 1 night) - or vice versa;
and
Cape Town - Port Elizabeth (1 day & 2 nights) - or vice
versa.
Off-the-train excursions are offered on the scheduled
routes.
The other routes available for Charter are:
Pretoria - Victoria Falls (2 days & 2 nights); and
Pretoria - Hoedspruit (1 night)
Charter options are applicable for groups of 20 or more
guests interested in chartering the train for exclusive
use.
The Blue Train is run like a first class hotel on wheels
for the discerning tourist to see Southern Africa from a
safe and refreshing point of view.
Hospitality planning consultants on the re-designing of
the new Blue Train project included Trisha Wilson, chief
executive officer of Wilson & Associates, a world renowned
interior design company responsible for hotels such as the
Grand Floridian in Disneyworld and The Palace of The Lost
City at Sun City in South Africa.
The most frequent route for The Blue Train is between Pretoria
and Cape Town, where on average it travels three times a
week. It also operates between Pretoria and Victoria Falls
in Zimbabwe, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth (Garden Route),
and Pretoria and Hoedspruit in Mpumalanga/Eastern Transvaal
(Valley of the Olifants/Safari land) on a less frequent
basis. Pretoria is The Blue Train's central departure station.
Each suite has its own bathroom with either shower or bath.
Two luxury coaches with three suites per coach have bathrooms
with tubs; while the other nine de-luxe coaches with four
suites per coach, have one suite with a bath and the other
three with showers.
There is a first-aid worker on board and a contingency
medical plan should an emergency arise, as well as doctors
on standby en route.
The Dining Saloon provides seating for 42 people. There
are two sittings for lunch and dinner. Lunch is smart-casual,
dinner is jacket and tie for men and elegant for ladies,
while breakfast is casual and free-flowing.
Each Blue Train set has two lounges: the main Lounge Car
in which high tea is served each afternoon, and the Club
Car, where guests can relax over a post-prandial cognac.
The club car is the only public area available to smokers.
The second Blue Train set also has a conference coach which
can accomodate up to 22 delegates, offering modern audio
visual and technical equipment for a high level business
meeting or small conference. When not utilised for the primary
purpose, it can also be converted to an observation lounge
car
On each journey, The Blue Train is run by a team of highly
qualified and specially trained hospitality staff. These
include, train manager, rooms division supervisor, restaurant
supervisor, executive chef, sous chef, butlers, waiters/barmen
as well as kitchen staff. Staff are accommodated in coaches
in the middle and end of the train.
To ensure the comfort of The Blue Train guests, two technicians
accompany each train to perform maintenance and service
functions en route .
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