Attending 2 games in 1 day?

Not guaranteed but well worth a shot.

You will need to park near Loftus or else use the train.

I know somebody trying it on the 25th from Nelspruit to Pretoria with the same time difference between games (just over 2.5 hours). Now I think he is mad.

 

Zdog is going to the exact same games - he is going to take the trains. Metro rail to Pretoria station - Pretoria station to George Goch or Park station, Park station/ George goch to Nasrec - piece of cake!

 

Indeed, as Gronum says, I will be trying this, as will
- the three other guys I am sitting with
- four other people we know (but are not sitting with)
- four other groups who PM'ed me about this (in response to when I posted this same question a few weeks ago)

Two of us are going to do a (sort of) dry run on Monday, as we are staying very near Loftus and are checking out accommodation near Soccer City for later in our stay. This obviously won't be a perfect proxy for attempting the same thing on match day, of course, but we figure it can't hurt (and may throw up some new ideas). I'll post here if I have any useful information/insights about the experience.

(and @Gronum -- thanks again for your advice.)

 

Please do. Our group of 4 is contemplating the same, if the USA-Algeria match is meaningful for USA. The advice I received from our SA-based travel agent was basically "don't even bother by car, not going to happen" and "don't risk taking the trains due to delay and safety concerns."

I believe him on the car option, but the train option seems more realistic. I just can't fathom the trains linking major cities being that unsafe.

Information is just so hard to come by on train routes and timetables, so any trip report you can provide would be hugely appreciated.

 

You also might need to leave slightly early. Depending on how the surrounding streets are, you could be stuck in a 45000 crowd trying to get out and to a car/station for quite some time.

 

Indeed, we think the key will be getting out of Loftus, and how quickly the first Metro Rail train departs (and if we can get on it). With apologies to the myriad Algerians who populate this messageboard, we hope a decisive USA win will preclude a nail-biting finish.

Moving fast at Pretoria station will also be critical -- the train from Loftus will presumably be packed, and so the transfer at Pta could be problemmatic.

We also are considering hiring a taxi to wait for us at a designated spot near Loftus and take us to Pretoria station, skipping the first leg of what Gronum has outlined above (obviously, we would need to choose the right spot, and have our track shoes laced up for the sprint, mindful of any German shepherds that the police may have with them!).

We are not going to muck around with shuttle buses at all. We think any plan with shuttle buses as a key ingredient is a recipe for disaster.

 

If you can make a quick exit by car then the Centurion station is your next best bet - easier to get to than the Pretoria station.

Why would there be hundreds on the train immediately after the game? Surely everyone stays for a drinkie or a party?

Be prepared to be stared at when you do a dry run - commuters not used to foreigners on Metrorail! Don't do it during peak hours (4 - 6 in afternoon) - trains will be too full. You obviously have to catch the train that has the same number of stops as your actual one - if you get stuck on the "milk" train you will be stopping at every station. Feel free to contact/visit me this weekend to plan the whole thing. +27829208859

 

Thanks -- this is super helpful.

Ours is not to wonder why ... All it takes is a few hundred party poopers out of 50k to muck up our mad dash.

Thanks Gronum! We only arrive in ZA on Sunday night. We were planning on doing the dry run as if we were going to the NED-DEN game on Monday afternoon, even though we don't have tickets (we figure some people may be traveling from Pretoria down to Soccer City for that game, and that potential safety issues would be less of a concern as a result). (We also want to get a sense of the atmosphere around the stadium on match day before heading over to Melville to watch the games at a bar.)

 

Hi All

After trying to find the best route the train is not a good idea after all. Getting out of Loftus is fast and easy if you use the park & walk. Drive all the way to the soccer city park & walk or at least to the Gold reef city Park & Ride - Use the N1 or M1 - just have your car radio on a station that does traffic reports like Jacaranda or 94.7.

The train stops at too many stations en route to be any faster than a car unless there are huge traffic jams.

 

I made it to two matches today and wasn't even planning on it. Since nobody wanted my spare tickets I went to AUS/GHA in Rustenburg and DEN/CAM in Pretoria.

 

ID be willing to split a taxi w/ others for this. Taxis can grab u just outside Pretoria and jam to Soccer City Park. My driver said about 800 Rand total he could do for. He's been a cool taxi guy since ive been in jo'burg. Pm me or call 213 440 1424

 

I meant S City Park and Ride at Gold Reef City.

 

I already have park and ride tickets for Wits campus for Ghana vs Germany. Think it's doable to hit up the park and walk in Pretoria (for USA v Algeria), jet it at minute 85 or so (depending on what's happening), and make it to the park and ride in time?
Should we try and make it to a park and ride further north?
Has anyone that's been to a game in pretoria and driven back to Jburg after give us an idea of how bad the traffic is?

 

Went to the Soccer city match (capacity crowd 85 000) using the Wits park & ride last night. Apart from the fiddly bit trying to get into Wits everything went very smoothly. Just note that the Wits buses park the furthest away from the stadium so it is quite a walk (run?) to get to the stadium.

I really think you have enough time. Just make sure you know exactly where to go to.

 

We have been investigating this for awhile.

We agree with Gronum that the train is not a good option here. The soccer train from Rissik pulls into Joburg central at 20.30 ... then there is still the issue of getting to Soccer City.

We have hired a car to meet us in Hatfield after the USA-Algeria match and drive us to Northgate Station in Newtown (where we'll take either the bus or train, depending on which is leaving sooner -- we assume it will be the Rea Vaya bus). We have timed the various components, and if everything worked as well as I did on practice runs, we think we can just make it. Getting out of Loftus is the real key ... we were able to do this very quickly last time around ... and then choosing a pick-up spot for quick access to the highway (right direction, not stuck ins tadium traffic, etc.).

On th Joburg side, Wits is definitely a good alternative to Westgate.

Good luck!

 

For what it's worth, we celebrated for about 5 minutes in Loftus and were in our seats at Soccer City with 25 minutes to spare. Thanks to everyone on the board who gave us advice -- 2 games in one day!

 

X2

We stayed for about 20 minutes in Pretoria, then drove to the shareworld dust bowl, i mean park and walk. We made it to our seats with about 5 minutes to spare after buying R2000 worth of stuff in the FIFA store. Awesome day, go USA!

 

Cool - well done - glad it worked out for you (and your team!!).