Neglected Dundee railway station ‘long gone off the tracks’
There was also a thought to let homeless people use one of the warehouses as a shelter, but that also came to nought as fears arose over who would control the shelter.
Dundee’s railway station has long since ‘gone off the tracks’ and continues to be an eyesore in the middle of town.
So say residents and business owners living and operating near the historic station, which looks rather forlorn since Transnet ceased operations there over three years ago.
Businesses operating on the premises – including a car and a truck depot – were given notice to move last year by Transnet, ahead of an expected shopping development which is yet to happen.
Since then, the area has continued to deteriorate, with many of the old sheds now home to vagrants.
The site has also become a dumping ground for domestic refuse and other rubbish.
The stench of human faeces and urine permeates the air, and the overgrown clumps of bush make for hiding places for criminal elements.
There is no sign of security or any Transnet personnel on the premises.
Attempts by private investors to either rent or buy warehouses on the erf have been met with no response from Transnet.
The trees and weeds have invaded the lines, and only one railway line seems to be in use.
A local entrepreneur, who wished not to be named, said he had previously embarked on an idea to let local craft people use one of the sheds as a marketplace where they could make and sell their wares as a local tourist attraction.
However, this never came to fruition.
Residents living in nearby Robertson Lane, Beaconsfield Street and Somnuir Avenue also expressed concerns that criminals who prowl around in the area use the railway premises as a hiding out place’.
Much like the huge Glencoe railway property, Dundee’s once thriving and busy railway station has become a beacon of decay.
Brief history of the Dundee railway station
In March 1889, the Dundee (Natal) Coal Company entered into an agreement with the Natal Colonial Government for the construction and working of a branch line seven miles (3440 feet) long from Biggarsberg Junction (later Glencoe Junction, now Glencoe) to their coal mine on the farm Coalfields (Talana).
It was arranged that the surveys and construction would start and the contract for the earthworks and masonry was let in April 1889 and in October for laying the rails and ballasting.
The line was opened to coal and passenger traffic on March 28, 1890, and for general freight on July 8, 1890.
Two stations were provided: one at Dundee and the other at Coalfields (Talana).
This line was taken over by the Natal Government Railways on July 1, 1896.
Older residents speak fondly of catching a train from Glencoe to Dundee to go ‘to the shops’ and from the outlying areas such as Tayside to attend school in Dundee.
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