South African railways linked at Union Junction

Background. The Natal Government Railways was established with the aim of driving the extension of Natal's railways inland, towards the Drakensberg and eventually the Orange Free State. Its core line reached Charlestown, 4 kilometres from the South African Republic border, in 1891. Under an agreement of 3 February 1894 between the South African Republic government and the NGR, the NGR was to build a 250 km link from the Natal-ZAR border to the NZASM network.

Construction and Opening. The link from the border to Heidelberg was built in two sections. The first half opened in April 1895, and the second in November 1895. On December 1, 1895, a branch line to Charlestown opened. Subsequently, on December 15, 1895, a 41 km branch from Heidelberg to Union Junction opened, completing the connection to the Witwatersrand.

Legacy Claims and Verification. The legacy row asserts that the railways of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Orange Free State, the South African Republic and southern Mozambique were linked at Union Junction. The passages support the Natal link to the Witwatersrand in the South African Republic via the Heidelberg–Union Junction branch. The Cape Government Railways existed as the Cape Colony's operator from 1874, but no passage states that its system, or those of the Orange Free State and southern Mozambique, were joined at Union Junction on this date. The Orange Free State government took over its portion of a line only in 1897, which is not evidence of an 1895 Union Junction link.