Cheapest€34.44
- Shosholoza Meyl SM929706:302h 25m08:55Polokwane stationLeralla
Door to door 3h 9mCO2 10.0 kgChanges 0Refundable
Polokwane to Thembisa train
Trains from Polokwane to Thembisa start at €40.49 and take 3h 9m at their fastest.
The Trains from Polokwane to Thembisa starts at €40.49 and takes 3h 9m door to door, run by 1 operator over 304 km, with around 4 departures a day. Fares bottom out about 60 days before departure.
- 3h 9mDoor to door
- 2h 25mMoving
- €40.49From
- 10.0 kgCO2
The cheapest and the fastest on September 28, 2026
Two journeys we can sell today, with the service number each operator files them under.
Rail operators
Speed, flexibility and what is on board. Nothing here is a rating, because we have not earned one.
| Operator | From | Fastest | Typical speed | Flexibility | On board |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shosholoza Meyl | €34.44 | 2h 52m | 140 km/h | Refundable | Power outlets, Wi-Fi |
That is the traveling done. What happens after you walk out into Thembisa is not something we sell.
Where to stay in Thembisa
Hotels and apartments near downtown, most of them with free cancellation, on a map that shows what is walkable.
Search Thembisa on Booking.com
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 Polokwane to Thembisa
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €48.7490 days
- €33.3360 days
- €33.3445 days
- €33.3430 days
- €48.1921 days
- €64.6914 days
- €65.797 days
- €64.693 days
- €87.791 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €33.33.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 163 percent. The most expensive point is €87.79, 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.
Which departure day costs least
Median cheapest fare for each weekday, taken across the next three weeks of real prices.
- €51.49Sun
- €45.44Mon
- €40.49Tue
- €60.84Wed
- €58.64Thu
- €65.79Fri
- €64.69Sat
Where you leave from and where you arrive
The stations, airports and ports each mode on this corridor actually uses.
Thembisa
Rail
- Leralla
- Midrand
- Oakmoor
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 25% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 75% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 304 km against 264 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 Soshanguve, Middelburg, Emalahleni. The gap between arriving and leaving is 70 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.
- First and last departure
- The first service of the day leaves Polokwane at 06:30 and the last at 07:30, across 4 departures. The return direction keeps its own timetable, so the times back are not these times reversed.
Questions about Polokwane to Thembisa
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 the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa take?
The Train from Polokwane to Thembisa takes 3h 9m door to door, of which 2h 25m is spent moving. The route runs 304 km. The difference between the two times is reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end, which every time on this page includes.
How much does the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa cost?
The Train from Polokwane to Thembisa starts at €40.49 for one passenger, checked on September 12, 2026. A typical fare is €48.46. Both are the total including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so the price here is the price at checkout.
Who runs the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa?
1 operators run the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa: Shosholoza Meyl. Between them they file around 4 departures a day. The operator table on this page compares them on fare, journey time, cruising speed, fare conditions and what is provided on board.
Which terminal does the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa use?
The Train from Polokwane to Thembisa leaves from Polokwane station and arrives at Leralla. Allow about 44m for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one. That time is already inside every door to door figure quoted on this page.
When should I book the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa?
Fares for the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa bottom out around 60 days ahead, at €33.33. The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time across the window is 163 percent, measured on September 12, 2026. Booking inside the final week has consistently cost more.
How much CO2 does the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa produce?
The Train from Polokwane to Thembisa produces about 10.0 kg of CO2 per passenger over 304 km, which works out at roughly 33 grams per passenger kilometer. That figure is for the whole journey and for one traveler, not for the vehicle.
What is provided on board the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa?
Operators on the Train from Polokwane to Thembisa publish Power outlets, Wi-Fi. That is what 1 carriers on this corridor state about their own fleets, across a journey of 3h 9m door to door. Where a carrier publishes nothing, this page lists nothing for it.
Where these numbers come from
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.
Schedules, seat counts and fares are generated by our own model until the supplier contracts are signed. Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance are real. We would rather say that on every page than let a modeled number pass for a filed one.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Polokwane to Thembisa on September 12, 2026: 304 km of route against 264 km in a straight line, 4 services a day, 1 operators, a cheapest fare of €40.49, and 3h 9m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
Related journeys
The train is the simple part. What you do once you are in Thembisa is somebody else's catalog.
Things to do in Thembisa
Day trips that leave Thembisa in the morning and cover a good part of South Africa by evening.
See Thembisa 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.