Then and now: Wynberg Railway Station

Wynberg railway station is one of the stops on Metrorail’s Southern Line service and has been operational for over 140 years. In 1861, the Wynberg Railway Company was established and constructed a railway line from Salt River to Wynberg. This line officially opened on 19 December 1864.

The Southern Line was extended to Muizenberg in 1882, then to Kalk Bay in 1883, and finally to Simon’s Town in 1890. Since then, the Southern Line has been regarded as the most beautiful stretch of train track in the country, taking travellers along the beaches and seaside of False Bay.

The opening of the Southern Line spurred rapid development in the Southern Suburbs. Wynberg was the halfway point between Table Bay and False Bay and, as such, a hub had already been established. Commercial markets and residential properties developed further and the suburb grew rapidly.

Before the railway line was built, transportation consisted of horse-drawn carts which used Main Road to get from Wynberg to Cape Town. This was the fastest mode of transport in the Southern Suburbs until the railway station opened in 1864.

Interestingly, Wynberg and the southern villages remained separate entities to Cape Town for the rest of the 1800s. Only in 1913 were Wynberg and the Southern Suburbs officially incorporated into the city of Cape Town.

The Wynberg railway station was declared a National Monument of 2 October 1981.