Cape Town's train service (timetable information tel 0800 656 463), is a relatively reliable if slightly rundown urban line running from Cape Town station, through the southern suburbs and all the way down to Simon's Town. Highly recommended as an outing in its own right, and undoubtedly one of the great urban train journeys of the world, it reaches the False Bay coast at Muizenberg and continues south, sometimes so spectacularly close to the ocean that you can feel the spray and peer into rock pools. By far the nicest way to travel is in the Biggsy's buffet car (five times a day in each direction Mon-Fri, and four times Sat & Sun) which serves light snacks, beers and other refreshments.

Trains run overground, and there are no signposts to the stations on the streets, so if you're staying in the southern suburbs ask for directions at your accommodation; otherwise look at a map before you leave, or ask around. Tickets must be bought at the station before boarding. You're best off in the reasonably priced first-class carriages; curiously, there's no second class, and third class is not recommended.

A first-class single from Cape Town to Muizenberg is R10. Suburban trains tend to run pretty close to the timetable , with departures from the central station to the southern suburbs as far as Retreat leaving roughly every ten minutes at peak times (Mon-Fri 5.10-8.40am & 3.30-6pm). Services are slightly less frequent as far as Fish Hoek (about every 20 min Mon-Fri 5.10am-7.30pm & Sat 5.20am-6pm; every hour Sun 7.30am-6.30pm) and Simon's Town (about every 40 min Mon-Fri 5.10am-7.30pm & Sat 5.20am-6pm; every hour Sun 7.30am-6.30pm). From mid-December to the end of March there are additional Sunday trains.

Three other lines run east from Cape Town to Strand (through Bellville) and to the outlying towns of Stellenbosch and Paarl ; however, the journeys aren't recommended, as they run through some less safe areas of the Flats.