A proposal for an elevated Cape Town sky train – linking Cape Town International Airport, Woodstock, the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and Cruise Terminal, DHL Stadium and Sea Point – is being positioned as a potential catalyst for tourism growth, business travel and congestion relief in the city’s most pressurised precincts.
The concept, driven by Engineer Gareth Ramsay, is intended to create an express air-to-city-to-sea transport corridor serving Cape Town’s conference, cruise, hotel and events infrastructure.
Ramsay said the location of a proposed station next to the CTICC and Cruise Terminal is critical for Cape Town’s position as a conference and exhibition destination.
“You’re basically giving delegates direct access from when they land off their flight to the conference that they’re attending.”
This will directly benefit hotels in the precinct, added Ramsay, pointing to Century City, which has seen an “explosion of hotels” but still relies on the N1 to access the CTICC. Later phases of the sky train concept could link multiple conference and accommodation nodes, he said.
Congestion already limits Cape Town’s tourism carrying capacity, according to Ramsay.
Traffic delays are also framed as a direct economic cost to tourism and business, which affects logistics, working hours, time spent in the city for tourists and overall experience, he pointed out.
The proposal depends heavily on the Three Anchor Bay mixed-use site currently under public participation for redevelopment. Ramsay said it is the last viable location for a rail terminus on the Atlantic Seaboard.
“Once that disappears with some kind of development, you’re never going to be able to get a mass transportation system in the form of rail to that part of the city.”
The site will allow trains to be stored and dispatched during peak periods, including CTICC and DHL Stadium events as well as cruise ship days, said Ramsay, warning that, without this capacity, “it’s not going to solve the issues of the congestion within the city.”
The City of Cape Town has confirmed that the sky train proposal is not currently part of its plan.
