Johannesburg to Pinetown runs about 5 times a day, with the first departure around 06:52 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €56.43, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 4h 34m over 563 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €56.43, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for 6 October 2026
€56.43
- 212%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Johannesburg
Typical first and last departure on this corridor.
- 06:52First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 5Services per day
- 20%Run direct
Shosholoza Meyl runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this journey
Bookaway lists departures for Johannesburg to Pinetown on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Johannesburg to Pinetown on Bookaway
Partner link. We earn nothing from this one.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €133.99Mon21
- about €103.74Tue22
- about €150.49Wed23
- about €117.49Thu24
- about €118.04Fri25
- about €122.99Sat26
- about €126.84Sun27
- about €74.04Mon28
- about €85.59Tue29
- about €80.64Wed30
- about €86.69Thu1
- about €91.63Fri2
- about €86.14Sat3
- about €86.69Sun4
- about €64.69Mon5
- about €56.43Tue6
- about €66.88Wed7
- about €74.03Thu8
- about €74.03Fri9
- about €73.48Sat10
- about €70.19Sun11
Based on what this route has cost recently. The live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Pinetown. These two partners take it from there, and the bed is theirs to book.
A room in Pinetown for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Thornwood and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Pinetown on Booking.com
Partner links. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Johannesburg to Pinetown
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €75.1490 days
- €63.0360 days
- €48.1945 days
- €55.8830 days
- €70.1921 days
- €86.6914 days
- €126.847 days
- €150.493 days
- €133.991 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 45 days ahead, at €48.19.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 212 percent. The dearest point is €150.49, 3 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 45 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 45 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Johannesburg to Pinetown and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
563 km
490 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south-east.
Who lives at each end
9,418,183 → 144,026
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 563 km against 490 km in a straight line, a detour of 15 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Newcastle, Ladysmith, Nigel, Pietermaritzburg. The gap between arriving and leaving is 46 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 20 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is ours to fix and you are rebooked at no charge.
Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Left luggage near Thornwood
Most of the points near Thornwood open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Pinetown on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Johannesburg to Pinetown
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Johannesburg to Pinetown?
The fastest journey from Johannesburg to Pinetown takes 4h 34m door to door, of which 3h 50m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 4h 46m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Johannesburg to Pinetown?
The cheapest fare from Johannesburg to Pinetown is €56.43, as of 20 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €95.49. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Johannesburg to Pinetown?
The cheapest way from Johannesburg to Pinetown is by train, at €56.43 for one passenger on 6 October 2026. That journey takes 4h 34m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Johannesburg to Pinetown?
Fares from Johannesburg to Pinetown bottom out around 45 days before departure, at €48.19. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 212 percent, measured on 20 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Johannesburg to Pinetown?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Johannesburg to Pinetown, at €74.04. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 20 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Johannesburg to Pinetown?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Johannesburg to Pinetown, at €53.68 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Johannesburg to Pinetown?
1 operators sell services from Johannesburg to Pinetown across 1 mode: Shosholoza Meyl. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Johannesburg to Pinetown?
20 percent of the services we sell from Johannesburg to Pinetown are direct. The rest connect at Newcastle, Ladysmith, Nigel, Pietermaritzburg, with about 46 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Johannesburg to Pinetown use?
Services from Johannesburg to Pinetown by train leave from Johannesburg Park Station and arrive at Thornwood. Allow about 44m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Johannesburg to Pinetown?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Johannesburg to Pinetown allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record names this operator on this pair, carried through unchanged.
Prices come from the supplier wherever we hold a live quote. Elsewhere we show an indicative price built from the real distance, the real operator and a fare curve over lead time, day of the week and season. Those are labelled Estimated fare and cannot be booked.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Johannesburg to Pinetown on 20 September 2026: 563 km of route against 490 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €56.43, and 4h 34m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Pinetown is somebody else's catalogue.
Day trips out of Pinetown and across South Africa
Day trips that leave Pinetown in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.
See Pinetown on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Johannesburg reaches 104 places in 45 countries on services we hold, over distances from 41 to 13,566 km. Pinetown reaches 12 places in 1 countries, from 53 to 490 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Johannesburg
- 104Places you can leave for
- 45Countries
- 51Operators
Arriving in Pinetown
Leaving Pinetown
- 12Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 1Operators