Umgeni Steam Railway

In April 2022 the floods in KwaZulu-Natal got under the old main line between Kloof and Inchanga. Landslides and sinkholes opened at four places, and where the foundation washed away the rails were left hanging in the air. The Umgeni Steam Railway is run entirely by volunteers, who look after the track as well as the trains, and the repair would cost more than a million rand. So they asked for the railway in kind: landfill, sand, rock and clean builders' rubble, delivered to Inchanga station, and the loan of a digger on the days the gangs were out. The first new retaining wall was built of second-hand sleepers.

While the line was mended, the railway's 1938 steam engine Wesley ran short trips out of Inchanga at R50 a ride to pay for the rest, and almost 2,000 people rode at the first open day. By 2024 the monthly trains were running again, and that October the 1912 engine Maureen steamed for the first time since 2012.

The train now starts at Inchanga, halfway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg, on the last Sunday of the month. It runs east along the Natal main line of 1880, through an 1878 tunnel and above the Valley of a Thousand Hills, turns at Botha's Hill and comes straight back: 75 minutes behind steam, in coaches built between 1928 and 1952.

The train leaves from Inchanga station, on the hills about halfway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. In main-line days this was a refreshment stop, with a restaurant on the upper floor; much of the original station was pulled down in 1936. On train days the platform fills with the Inchanga Station Craft Market, the old Station Master's house opens as the railway's museum, and the Railway Society of Southern Africa runs its library and model layouts at the station.

Inchanga to Botha's Hill

The line is the Natal Government Railway's main line from Durban to Pietermaritzburg, opened in December 1880 on the 3 ft 6 in gauge and laid with grades as steep as 1 in 30 and curves of 90 metres. Heading east, the train passes through the 53-metre tunnel at Drummond, cut in 1878 and probably the oldest tunnel still in use in the country, then runs along the edge of the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Between Padley's and Botha's Hill it works through a pass with almost sheer cliffs. At Botha's Hill it reverses and returns to Inchanga without a stop: about 75 minutes in all. Nobody gets off at the far end, and a seat is booked on one train for the whole trip.

The engines

The regular engine is Wesley, South African Railways Class 19D no. 2685, a 4-8-2 built by Borsig in Berlin in 1938; the 19D was the most numerous steam type South Africa ever had. Back in service since 27 October 2024 is Maureen, Class 3BR no. 1486, built in 1912. The railway owns about ten locomotives and fifty coaches, many stored and waiting their turn; the coaches in service were built between 1928 and 1952, most of them in the South African Railways' own workshops.

On board

Refreshments are sold on the train, and passengers may bring their own food and drink. The coaches were not built for wheelchairs, though Inchanga station is accessible, with disabled parking and toilets, and there is space at the back of the train for prams and wheelchairs. Pets are welcome at the station and the market but not on the train.

The railway runs on the last Sunday of the month, with extra trains over the December holidays and at Easter. Each train day has three to five departures from Inchanga, and every train goes to Botha's Hill and back without stopping, returning 75 minutes after it leaves. It is booking only: seats are sold online and paying secures them. Be at Inchanga half an hour before your train.

Dates on sale, 2026–27

Departures

25 October; 16, 20, 26 and 27 December; 2 and 3 January — four trains:

18 and 19 December — the same four, plus a 17:00 train back at 18:15, sold as Carols by Candlelight.

29 November; 9, 10 and 31 January — three trains:

As of 19 October 2026, from the trains open for booking on the Umgeni Steam Railway's site (opens in a new tab). If a train is cancelled, passengers are contacted and can move to a later date or take a full refund.

There is one ticket: a return ride from Inchanga to Botha's Hill and back on a named train, booked and paid for online. Adults pay one fare; children aged 2 to 12 and pensioners aged 60 and over pay a reduced one, and children under two ride free on a lap without a booking. Everyone booked together sits together, but a seat cannot be split between an outward and a return train.

Fares are kept as low as the costs of running the train allow, so there are no group discounts. Gift vouchers are sold on the same site. From the operator's booking pages, in South African rand, as of October 2026.

No rail pass covers this train. It is a volunteer heritage railway with its own fares, so everyone books the return ride from the railway.

The train is a short ride with no stops, so the places worth the rest of the day lie along the old main road between Kloof and Pietermaritzburg.

Inchanga lies about halfway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg and the ride takes 75 minutes, so it fits into a day from either city. To stay in the hills instead, there are rooms at Botha's Hill, where the train turns back.

Planning this trip and stuck on something, or spotted a time, fare or detail that has changed? Send us a message about Umgeni Steam Railway. We read every one, and we update this page when something has changed.