"The service was suspended for a while for necessary maintenance, but the Western Cape's Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Alan Winde, and about 60 invited guests will commemorate its return with a ride from George to Mossel Bay, where they?ll enjoy refreshments as the guest of our Mayor, Alderlady Marie Ferreira," said Mossel Bay Tourism's Marcia Holm.

Ms. Holm said that some unfortunate uncertainty about the Choo Tjoe had arisen during the maintenance period, but that she was delighted that the service would be resumed in time for the coming summer holidays.

?We?re not yet sure what the timetable will be, but we hope that the Choo Tjoe will again run three times a week in the quieter periods, and once a day in season.

?This will have to be confirmed by Transnet, and we will communicate with the tourism industry as soon as we have the final programme,? she said.

The chairman of Mossel Bay Tourism, Neels Zietsman, said that the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe had suffered a serious set-back when floods had damaged the traditional George-Knysna line some years ago.

"Fortunately, though, and at the suggestion of Mossel Bay Tourism, the train was re-routed to the George-Mossel Bay line, and was thus preserved as a tourism attraction for the country as a whole.

"In the process, Mossel Bay Tourism paid for the construction of platforms at the Dias Museum, and, with the train ride starting and ending at the Transport Museum in George, began marketing the unique Museum-to-Museum Tour."

Ms. Holm said that the return of the service would see a resumption of marketing: "We hope that everyone in the tourism industry in the whole of the Garden Route and Klein Karoo and especially in George and Mossel Bay will inform their guests and suppliers that the Choo Tjoe is running again, and that it will soon be running to capacity once more."

Members of the public wishing to travel on the train on the 19th of October will be able to buy one-way tickets from Mossel Bay to George in the usual way.

The train?s timetable will be published on www.visitmosselbay.co.za, and in the local press as soon as it becomes available.