[4] The line runs on "Cape gauge" 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) track, and is electrified with 3,000 V DC overhead catenary.

[5] The Class 5M2 and 10M3 units were made up in an eight-car configuration, shorter than on the other Metrorail routes in Cape Town, because many of the platforms on the Southern Line are too short to handle longer trains.

After Salt River, the route bends southwards, passing through the Southern Suburbs stations at Observatory, Mowbray, Rosebank, Rondebosch, Newlands, Claremont, Harfield Road and Kenilworth to Wynberg.

From Muizenberg the line runs south-west, immediately beside the coast, with only a thin strip of rocks and beach separating the tracks from the sea.

Those that continue wind along the coastline on single tracks through Sunny Cove and Glencairn to the terminus at Simon's Town.