Glad I am not the only one. I literally spent 45 minutes scouring through Google Maps and satellite pictures to try to find a train station close to my B&B, and to try to estimate the distance. Basic online city and train route maps have been little help. I've been to many countries and never had a problem finding such basic information, let alone in one that is hosting one of the world's biggest events.
Ok looked at the map (great find!) Let me know where you are staying and I will tell you where to go. Basically (I'm sure you worked it out too) : Page 1 is Soccer City - Page 2 The blue arena is Ellis park and the orangy one is Soccer City (cannot believe they do not name them on the map) the gautrain only goes to Sandton - stopping at 2 stations before Sandton. The shuttles (grey dots) go from Innisfree to Westgate, From OR tambo to westgate, from Lanseria to Innisfree park in Sandton. The Rapid Bus Transfer system RBT (the little waving man (wtf?)) goes from westgate to Ellispark, from Westgate to soccer city and from Thokoza park to soccer City The red dots are Park & ride buses - . From Wits to ellis park or Soccer city From Bez Valley to Ellis park From Conhill to Ellis park and soccer city From Gold Reef City to Ellis Park and Soccer city Metrorail (blue train track) Just showing the stations - Jeppe or doornfontein at Ellis park and Nasrec at Soccer city. All accessible from Westgate. Park & walk (blue sign with cars pointing to the pedestrians butt) self explanatory. Page 3 is Ellis park And they say girls can't read maps.....
Cheers. I expect your analysis is correct, but now I've found a version with a key at: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/5135/168/1/3/ There always seems to be one more web page that you need to find. Mostly I think I'm sorted out, I'm staying in Pretoria near Hartbeesspruit station (spelling off the top of my head) just up from Loftus, so for games in Joburg I'll be getting a train to Pretoria and from there to whichever stadium. On the 23rd though, I've got tickets to the Soccer City match in the evening, but *need* to be at a big screen in the afternoon for the England game. I'm assuming I've got to get myself to Innis Free Park, or Mary Fitzgerald Square (wherever that is), or one of the others. Anybody got a recommendation?
All that work for nothing ! I would go as close to Soccer city as possible which would be Mary Fitzgerald square - in Newtown central Jhb I believe. There are many private hospitality fan venues - google to see if there isn't one at NASREC or in Soweto itself.
Thanks for explaining Gronum! All I need to figure out is if the Gautrain runs all night from Tambo to Sandton. I won't be getting on til 11 or so. If it does, I can hopefully rustle up a cab to my hotel from there! For games, get to Innesfree Park and from there to Westgate.
I presume the gautrain schedule will match the airport schedule but you never know... Once it is up and running we can check the time table.
hey all - thanks for all your posts, very informative. i've been having a hard time finding official information about transport. we're staying in centurion and are going to the Holland-Denmark game and Argentina-Nigeria game. by the looks of it all, it seems driving in to either gold reef or wits park and rides would be our best option since we have two hire cars. we were thinking of maybe taking the train in as we live close to the centurion station, but not sure how safe or fast that is? also, maybe not the right post to ask, but we're getting to SA on 9 days before the WC starts, so was just wondering what the best way to get into joburg too see some sights would be? car or train? really looking forward to the WC and south africa. will be awesome cheers
Car. No contest. A Cape Town woman told me last week she pays more to ride the Golden Arrow bus than take the Muizenberg metrorail train(s) on her daily commute to the Cape Town CBD. As the WC stadia in Johannesburg are located in close proximity to the metrorail, there's "hope" there will be strength in numbers and actual increased security presence. At all other times, revert to Plan A, the car.
Unfortunately the Gautrain from Pta to Jhb is not up and running when you are here. The metrorail runs through the uglier parts of Gauteng and does not go near any touristy sites until it is in the middle of Jhb. As the school holidays have not started when you are here you will hit traffic jams if leaving Centurion for jhb before 08h30 and also leaving Jhb for Centurion after about 16h00. If you can avoid the highway on a Friday and Monday. I would suggest that you take in other sites - Freedom park in Pretoria, Pilanesberg near SUn City for game viewing, The pretoria National zoo etc. If you do go to jhb go by car to be more mobile - if you let me know what you want to see or do I can suggest an itinerary. Once the WC is on the go then only I would suggest going by train and then only to the stadiums.
Thanks Gronum and BMP! You guys are really helping us tourists out We have already organised a 2 night stay in Pilanesberg, so that's pretty exciting. I've heard alot of good things about it. Any suggestions how to see the most of the park? is it feasable to drive around yourself in the park? I guess we have been talking about the Apartheid Museum and also a guided tour in Soweto for Joburg, but any other suggestions would be much appreciated. It's me, my wife, my brother and his wife, and our dad and his partner. Thanks for suggestions in Pretoria, will def check that out. Any other suggestions for national parks, animal rehab centre etc would be great. Don't want to hang around Centurion Mall to much For the games we are still debating if driving might be faster than the train. For the other days, I just realised the Fan Fest for Tshwane/Pretoria is at Centurion Cricket Ground, a 10 minute walk from where we live, which is great. As long as it is safe to walk around Centurion...? Thanks again for all your input guys!
I have been looking at the bus and train options from OR Tambo Intl Airport to Soccer City. I'm going to the Ghana v Germany match on the 23rd June and as there does not appear to be a direct shuttle link to the stadium I would prefer just to take a taxi directly from the airport to the stadium. I would also be looking to take a taxi directly back to airport after the game (not staying overnight in Jo'burg). Does the Nasrec transport hub allow meterd taxi's to drop off fans, or will the same restrictions apply to both private car owners and metered taxi's? I don't see the bus & rail options as being a problem going to the game, but would rather just take the most direct route back to the airport after the game. Any ideas/info would be appreciated, thanks.
Good question - have no answer though! I suspect they would NOT be allowed to go into the stadium either - just checked with the Avis Point to point guys (much like a taxi only with red jackets lol) and they CANNOT go into the stadium areas either but also have to use the P & R or Park & walks - I suppose you can catch a taxi from the Park & Walk which ought to be closer?
I was a volunteer at last year's Confed Cup - which to my knowledge is a security dry run for the WC. The taxi will be able to drop you off at the exclusion zone and then you'll need to walk. This could be between 200m to 1 km from the stadium depending on where you get dropped off. Catching the taxi back will be difficult. I suggest you take the park-and-ride back and then have a taxi pick you up.
So just to clarify. I'm staying in Sandton with a hire car so I presume that to get to matches I will have to go to the appropriate park and ride and from there I will hop on to a shuttle bus which will take me to the stadium!? And vice versa on the way back? And do we need to pay/book park and rides in advance as I have read on here but there's nothinig definitive. . .
Yup - park & ride or you can try to park at the Park & walk but I am sure space is limited. Seems like prebooking is the way to go.
Has anyone tried purchasing from TicketBreak? It don't seem to accept my card which up until now I have had no problems with ... EDIT: Solved the error!
Re: 2010 Park & Ride facilities and parking before it's open Will be at SA vs World game @ Wits. Event starts before the Park & Ride is open ( opens at 4:30pm ). Since have to park my rental ( somewhere ) before the Park & Ride is open, was looking for any advice as to what might be the best spot near Wits Campus?
Re: 2010 Park & Ride facilities and parking before it's open I will not have my own rental car, but with the security perimeter set up around the stadium, I imagine a taxi would have to drop me off at the Park&Ride/Walk. If I'm not parking a vehicle but simply want to use the shuttle to the stadium (showing them my match ticket, of course), do I need to pre-book a ticket? This all seems very overdone considering all the transportation shortfalls elsewhere.
Re: 2010 Park & Ride facilities and parking before it's open I presume the ticket is for the vehicle not the person.
Question for my friends from SA. I'm coming down from Pretoria via car. Which park and ride or park and walk will be the most convenient to get to for Soccer City? and then for Ellis Park? Thanks.
Ellis park - R 21 south towards the airport then R24 to Ellis park - Bez vally park & ride or Athlone school park & walk. Soccer city - N1 south to Jhb, M1 south Wits Park & ride
Soweto:You are so far south you might as well go to Gold reef city park & walk or else the Westgate hub Ellis Park: same as above. Gold reef city is your easiest spot.
Just got this circular from Wits Uni regarding their Park & Ride. Most of you already know this info but just in case The Wits Park and Ride facility will serve as a base for fans wanting to reach the Ellis Park and Soccer City stadia. Fans wanting to make use of the Park and Ride facility will have to arrive with pre-booked tickets, before they will be allowed onto the Wits campus. Tickets cost R50 per car. Tickets can be bought at Computicket – www.computicket.com or Ticketbreak - www.ticketbreak.co.za. All enquiries related to the Park and Ride facility or experience will be managed by the City of Joburg – visit www.joburg.org.za or call (011) 375-5555.