The Blue Train will resume services for private charters from September 1 and will operate a full schedule from November 1.

During lockdown, The Blue Train has shared news regarding its new hygiene protocols to ensure the highest level of health and safety for guests and staff.

“We are pleased to be opening up operations as the country settles into level 2 of the risk-adjusted response to COVID-19. While we are excited that tourism is opening up, we are cautious about how we are proceeding, having implemented a stringent hygiene protocol,” said Executive Manager of The Blue Train, Vincent Monyake.

The train can be chartered for both business and leisure travel. For business charters the train is equipped to host meetings, events and conferences, complete with multi-media facilities.

The Blue Train can be booked for private charters to any destination in South Africa that falls within the railway network. Ready experiences include:

·   Lunch or dinner charter: Pretoria Circle Route

·   Overnight ‘Trip to Nowhere’: Pretoria

·   Two-night round trips from Pretoria: Sun City; Durban; Kruger National Park; and Magaliesberg.

“The move to alert level 2 means that our operations will have to resume gradually. Resumption of our full operations is set to be from November 1, and will be dependent on further pronouncements from the government,” said Monyake.

He said at the beginning of lockdown guests had been given the opportunity to cancel or defer bookings. As a result, some departures have very low occupancy levels, necessitating cancellation of these departures. Cancelled departures will be consolidated with other departures.

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