By Mike Cherney
Rows of glasses filled with white wine greeted the passengers as they made their way to the bar on a purple, grey-roofed train in Johannesburg's Park station.
On a normal day, the train would go all the way to Cape Town instead of stopping at Potchefstroom before returning to Johannesburg. And the passengers would not be railway executives and a handful of journalists, but rather paying customers for a trip to the Mother City.
Thursday was the official launch of a full-scale, mid-range luxury train, Premier Classe, Shosholoza Meyl, South Africa's state-owned long-distance commuter rail service.
The train will start running on a full schedule on May 11.
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Company officials for Transnet, the state company that owns Shosholoza Meyl, said the new service would entice South Africans back onto the rails, give tourists a unique way to view the country and help prepare the nation for the World Cup in 2010.
"Trains get people's passions up," said Maria Ramos, group chief executive of Transnet. "South Africa has a long history of rail."
But some railway experts said they were not sure whether there would be a market to fill an entire Premier Classe train.
"The people who can afford that kind of money will either drive in fancy cars or fly," said Geoff Pethick, a railroad consultant, who added that consumers could get a better deal from privately operated luxury trains.
The Premier Classe will run from Cape Town to Joburg on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and from Joburg to Cape Town on Thursdays and Sundays. A one-way ticket to Cape Town costs R1 400, while a one-way ticket to Joburg costs R1 575.
The train will feature six accommodation coaches, a dining car, a lounge car and a car truck, which will allow guests to transport their motor vehicles with them at an extra cost.
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