Trans Karoo Express Trans Karoo Express The Trans Karoo Express, or simply Trans Karoo, was a South African express passenger train service which travelled an approximately journey between Johannesburg and Cape Town. It operated daily in each direction, meaning that there were in fact two "Trans Karoos" - they passed each other during the night, heading in opposite directions. The service was operated by Spoornet, the national railway company. The "Trans Karoo" was named from the Great Karoo scrubland, one of the most extensive geographical features of southern Africa, across which the train operated. The route was identical to that operated by the
Tadjourah Region road of the region, providing a circuitous, up and down route to the capital city compared to the sea route which is approximately a fifth of the distance. It also provides the only proper road of the region into Ethiopia. This is the largest forest in the country, a semi-arid surrounded by semi-desert, with four dominant species: "Juniperus procera", "Olea africana", "Buxus hildebrantii", and "Tarchonanthus camphoratus". Elevations play a major factor in temperature, with the escarpments and plateaus on average 11°C (52°F) cooler, day or night. The climate of the coastal strip is influenced by warm ocean waters, keeping the