Mthatha to Port Elizabeth runs about 2 times a day, with the first departure around 07:30 and the last around 07:30. One passenger pays €50.94, every fee included. The fastest door to door is 5h 6m over 474 km, on services run by 2 operators across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
Every operator we hold on this corridor starts at €50.94, so there is no spread to show.
Typical fares · Priced for October 12, 2026
€50.94
- 189%Moves across the booking window
189%When it runs, leaving Mthatha
Typical first and last departure on this corridor.
- 07:30First departure
- 07:30Last departure
- 2Services per day
- 0%Run direct
07:30
07:30
2
0%Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €150.49Wed23
- about €173.04Thu24
- about €127.39Fri25
- about €119.69Sat26
- about €101.54Sun27
- about €91.09Mon28
- about €97.14Tue29
- about €83.39Wed30
- about €85.59Thu1
- about €76.24Fri2
- about €86.69Sat3
- about €76.79Sun4
- about €69.64Mon5
- about €59.19Tue6
- about €67.44Wed7
- about €69.09Thu8
- about €62.49Fri9
- about €72.94Sat10
- about €72.94Sun11
- about €50.94Mon12
- about €52.04Tue13
Based on what this route has cost recently. The live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Port Elizabeth. These two partners take it from there, and the bed is theirs to book.
A room in Port Elizabeth for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Redhouse and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Port Elizabeth on Booking.com
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When to book Mthatha to Port Elizabeth
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €61.9490 days
- €55.3460 days
- €59.1945 days
- €73.4930 days
- €52.0421 days
- €59.1914 days
- €97.147 days
- €127.393 days
- €150.491 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 21 days ahead, at €52.04.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 189 percent. The most expensive point is €150.49, 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth 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
474 km
397 km as the crow flies, 19% further by the route services take. The bearing runs south-west.
Who lives at each end
164,848 → 1,050,078
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 474 km against 397 km in a straight line, a detour of 19 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Mdantsane, East London. 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.
Port Elizabeth is large, and the road in from PLZ can take longer than the last hour of the flight. Cars are not our business.
A car waiting when you land in Port Elizabeth
Settled in advance, so the ride into Port Elizabeth costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from PLZ 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.
Baggage storage near Redhouse
Most of the points near Redhouse open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Port Elizabeth on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Mthatha to Port Elizabeth
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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
The fastest journey from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth takes 5h 6m door to door, of which 3h 34m is spent moving, on the train. Most services take around 5h 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
The cheapest fare from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth is €50.94, as of September 22, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €77.89. 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
The cheapest way from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth is by train, at €50.94 for one passenger on October 12, 2026. That journey takes 5h 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
Fares from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth bottom out around 21 days before departure, at €52.04. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 189 percent, measured on September 22, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth, at €59.19. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of September 22, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
February is the cheapest of the next 5 months to travel from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth, at €43.79 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
2 operators sell services from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth across 1 mode: Kei Rail, 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
0 percent of the services we sell from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth are direct. The rest connect at Mdantsane, East London, 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth use?
Services from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth by train leave from Mthatha station and arrive at Redhouse. 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth?
2 of the 2 operators we sell from Mthatha to Port Elizabeth 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 labeled 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 Mthatha to Port Elizabeth on September 22, 2026: 474 km of route against 397 km in a straight line, 2 services a day, 2 operators a cheapest fare of €50.94, and 5h 6m 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 Port Elizabeth is somebody else's catalog.
Day trips out of Port Elizabeth and across South Africa
Day trips that leave Port Elizabeth in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.
See Port Elizabeth on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
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The two ends, compared
Mthatha reaches 7 places in 1 countries on services we hold, over distances from 102 to 1,003 km. Port Elizabeth reaches 36 places in 1 countries, from 112 to 947 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Mthatha
- 7Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 2Operators
1
2Arriving in Port Elizabeth
Leaving Port Elizabeth
- 36Places you can leave for
- 1Countries
- 7Operators