Pretoria to East London runs about 3 times a day, with the first departure around 07:30 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €86.13, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 7h 58m over 895 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €86.13, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for 13 October 2026
€86.13
- 201%Moves across the booking window
201%When it runs, leaving Pretoria
Typical first and last departure on this corridor.
- 07:30First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 3Services per day
- 0%Run direct
07:30
07:30
3
0%Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €258.84Wed23
- about €294.04Thu24
- about €199.44Fri25
- about €203.84Sat26
- about €186.79Sun27
- about €143.34Mon28
- about €177.44Tue29
- about €154.33Wed30
- about €140.59Thu1
- about €131.23Fri2
- about €158.19Sat3
- about €122.43Sun4
- about €110.33Mon5
- about €108.68Tue6
- about €120.78Wed7
- about €127.93Thu8
- about €104.83Fri9
- about €127.38Sat10
- about €133.43Sun11
- about €87.23Mon12
- about €86.13Tue13
Based on what this route has cost recently. The live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into East London. These two partners take it from there, and the bed is theirs to book.
A room in East London for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from East London railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search East London on Booking.com
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When to book Pretoria to East London
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €106.4890 days
- €99.8860 days
- €98.7845 days
- €133.4330 days
- €86.1321 days
- €108.6814 days
- €177.447 days
- €199.443 days
- €258.841 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 21 days ahead, at €86.13.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 201 percent. The dearest point is €258.84, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 21 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 21 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Pretoria to East London 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
895 km
809 km as the crow flies, 11% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south.
Who lives at each end
2,112,693 → 478,676
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
- 0% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 100% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 895 km against 809 km in a straight line, a detour of 11 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Randburg, Johannesburg, Germiston. The gap between arriving and leaving is 61 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 16 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
The fare from ELS into East London is set by whoever drives it.
A car waiting when you land in East London
Settled in advance, so the ride into East London costs what it said it would rather than what the rank says.
Book a transfer from ELS with Daytrip
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
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 East London railway station
Most of the points near East London railway station open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check East London on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Pretoria to East London
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 Pretoria to East London?
The fastest journey from Pretoria to East London takes 7h 58m door to door, of which 6h 34m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 8h 44m, 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 Pretoria to East London?
The cheapest fare from Pretoria to East London is €86.13, as of 22 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €148.83. 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 Pretoria to East London?
The cheapest way from Pretoria to East London is by train, at €86.13 for one passenger on 13 October 2026. That journey takes 8h 19m 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 Pretoria to East London?
Fares from Pretoria to East London bottom out around 21 days before departure, at €86.13. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 201 percent, measured on 22 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Pretoria to East London?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Pretoria to East London, at €108.68. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 22 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Pretoria to East London?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Pretoria to East London, at €73.48 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 Pretoria to East London?
2 operators sell services from Pretoria to East London across 1 mode: Bombela Consession, 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 Pretoria to East London?
0 percent of the services we sell from Pretoria to East London are direct. The rest connect at Randburg, Johannesburg, Germiston, with about 61 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 Pretoria to East London use?
Services from Pretoria to East London by train leave from Pretoria-Wes and arrive at East London railway station. 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 Pretoria to East London?
2 of the 2 operators we sell from Pretoria to East London 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 Pretoria to East London on 22 September 2026: 895 km of route against 809 km in a straight line, 3 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €86.13, and 7h 58m 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 East London is somebody else's catalogue.
Day trips out of East London and across South Africa
Day trips that leave East London in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.
See East London on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Pretoria reaches 44 places in 6 countries on services we hold, over distances from 41 to 1,308 km. East London reaches 29 places in 1 countries, from 79 to 886 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Pretoria
- 44Places you can leave for
- 6Countries
- 3Operators
6
3Arriving in East London
Leaving East London
- 29Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 5Operators