Pretoria - A Rovos Rail train derailed on Wednesday, claiming two lives.
The train, travelling between Cape Town and Pretoria, derailed between Centurion and the Pretoria station.
Twenty five other passengers were taken to hospital while 23 people received treatment for lesser injuries at the scene, Netcare 911's Chris Botha told BuaNews.
Botha said coaches were piled on top of each other. Holes had to be cut in the roofs of the coaches to free trapped passengers.
Botha estimated the train may have been carrying 55 passengers when it derailed.
Railway Safety Regulator inspectors are on the scene, trying to establish the cause of the accident.
Railway Safety Regulator spokesperson Lawrence Venkile said the train travels from Cape Town with an electric locomotive, which is then exchanged for a steam locomotive in Centurion station, after which it continues the rest of its journey into the capital with steam power.
"It appears that the train went into motion at Centurion station after the electric locomotive had been uncoupled, but before the steam locomotive had been attached."
In normal circumstances, the carriages' vacuum brakes engage automatically when the electric locomotive is uncoupled, he said.
Venkile said their inspectors would focus on the procedures followed in the changeover of the locomotives, the condition of the brakes as well as all other contributory factors to the accident.
Rovos Rail, which describes itself as the world's most luxurious rail company, has two classic trains that run between Cape Town, Pretoria and Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border.
The cheapest ticket for the three-day journey from Cape Town to Victoria Falls costs 23,500 rand (3219 dollars), according to the Rovos website.
