Butterworth to Mthatha runs about 3 times a day, with the first departure around 06:31 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €16.29, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 1h 36m over 117 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €16.29, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for October 2, 2026
€16.29
- 164%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Butterworth
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:31First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 3Services per day
- 33%Run direct
Kei Rail runs this service and does not sell it here. Bookaway takes the payment.
Buying this trip
Bookaway lists departures for Butterworth to Mthatha on your date, and you pay on their side.
See Butterworth to Mthatha on Bookaway
Partner link. We do not sell this ticket, and 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 €37.19Fri18
- about €32.24Sat19
- about €30.59Sun20
- about €27.29Mon21
- about €27.29Tue22
- about €25.09Wed23
- about €28.39Thu24
- about €21.79Fri25
- about €20.69Sat26
- about €26.74Sun27
- about €19.04Mon28
- about €22.89Tue29
- about €24.54Wed30
- about €22.89Thu1
- about €16.29Fri2
- about €18.49Sat3
- about €16.29Sun4
- about €16.29Mon5
- about €16.29Tue6
- about €16.84Wed7
- about €21.24Thu8
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Mthatha. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Mthatha for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Intercape and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Butterworth to Mthatha
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €17.3990 days
- €14.0960 days
- €14.0945 days
- €20.1430 days
- €21.2421 days
- €22.8914 days
- €28.397 days
- €30.593 days
- €37.191 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €14.09.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 164 percent. The most expensive point is €37.19, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 60 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 Butterworth to Mthatha 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
117 km
102 km as the crow flies, 15% further by the route services take. The bearing runs north-east.
Who lives at each end
53,086 → 164,848
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
0/2
2 of these connections were inferred from service-area overlap rather than observed in a timetable. We would rather say so.
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
- 33% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 67% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 117 km against 102 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 East London, Mdantsane. The gap between arriving and leaving is 67 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 14 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.
The fare from UTT into Mthatha is the one price on this trip we cannot show you, because it is not ours.
A car waiting when you land in Mthatha
Settled in advance, so the ride into Mthatha costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from UTT with Daytrip
Partner links. We do not operate transfers. 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.
Baggage storage near Intercape
Most of the points near Intercape open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Mthatha on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Butterworth to Mthatha
The questions people actually ask about this trip, 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 Butterworth to Mthatha?
The fastest journey from Butterworth to Mthatha takes 1h 36m door to door, of which 1h is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 1h 40m, 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 Butterworth to Mthatha?
The cheapest fare from Butterworth to Mthatha is €16.29, as of September 17, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €22.89. 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 Butterworth to Mthatha?
The cheapest way from Butterworth to Mthatha is by train, at €16.29 for one passenger on October 2, 2026. That journey takes 1h 44m 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 Butterworth to Mthatha?
Fares from Butterworth to Mthatha bottom out around 60 days before departure, at €14.09. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 164 percent, measured on September 17, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Butterworth to Mthatha?
Monday is the cheapest day to depart from Butterworth to Mthatha, at €19.04. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 17, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Butterworth to Mthatha?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Butterworth to Mthatha, at €12.44 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 service from Butterworth to Mthatha?
No operator record names Butterworth to Mthatha directly. Kei Rail publish service areas covering both ends and may serve it, so we list them as possible operators rather than confirmed ones.
Is there a direct service from Butterworth to Mthatha?
33 percent of the services we sell from Butterworth to Mthatha are direct. The rest connect at East London, Mdantsane, with about 67 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 Butterworth to Mthatha use?
Services from Butterworth to Mthatha by train leave from Butterworth station and arrive at Mthatha 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 Butterworth to Mthatha?
1 of the 1 operators we sell from Butterworth to Mthatha 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.
Derived from service area No carrier record names this exact pair. The operators listed publish a service area covering both places at a distance their mode plausibly carries people, which is evidence that the corridor is served and not evidence of a specific service. Pages state which, because presenting the two as the same thing would be dishonest.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Butterworth to Mthatha on September 17, 2026: 117 km of route against 102 km in a straight line, 3 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €16.29, and 1h 36m 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 Mthatha is somebody else's catalog.
Day trips out of Mthatha and across South Africa
Day trips that leave Mthatha in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.
See Mthatha on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Butterworth reaches 3 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 76 to 102 km. Mthatha reaches 4 places in 1 countries, from 102 to 603 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Butterworth
- 3Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 1Operators
Arriving in Mthatha
Leaving Mthatha
- 4Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 2Operators