The two stations near Carlton Centre in the inner city – Westbound and Eastbound – are enlivened by busy people and striking art.

IT'S 2pm and peak hour is still two hours away, but Rea Vaya's Carlton Station Westbound on Commissioner Street is already full of passengers waiting for the next bus.

Gugu Makhubu, the Rea Vaya ambassador at the station, says: "We have approximately 3 000 people coming through this station daily … Buses from here depart to Thokoza Park, where passengers can board feeder buses to their desired location. At this station passengers can also board buses to Dobsonville."

Gugu Makhubu is Rea Vaya ambassador at the Carlton Station Westbound

There are two boarding platforms at the westbound station, both resplendent in specially commissioned art. At the first, the work of three artists is featured - Alexander Horsler, Molemo Moiloa and Stacey Vorster.

Black steel is the medium, with painted red and white bugs milling around. The artists discussed their work as being way-finders; it brings them up to eye level in a map-like space.

Hannelie Coetzee was responsible for the art at the other boarding platform. Her works depict African women carrying their babies on their backs and moving around a crowded city.

Coetzee explained: "My work, Abba, is about the first mode of transport an African baby experiences."

One work is done on stained glass; the other is on steel. The black steel carries the shape of a woman carrying a baby; her dress is red.

As its name suggests, Carlton Station Westbound is near Carlton Centre, one of the tallest buildings in Africa at 50 floors. Back in the 1980s, it was a shopping mecca in the inner city.

Philani Mngomezulu is waiting for a bus to Diepkloof in Soweto, in the southwest of the inner city. "I use Rea Vaya daily as it is convenient for me," he says. "The station is just outside my house in Diepkloof Zone 4 and the bus drops me off near the Carlton Centre, where I work."

Eastbound

Just a street up is the Carlton Station Eastbound, on Market Street. Unlike its westbound brother, it isn't packed. A sprinkling of passengers gets off the buses.

Hannelie Coetzee's work, Abba, depict African women carrying their babies on their backs and moving around a crowded city

Moloko Ramaboya, the station ambassador, says: "We do not have many people during the day but most people who board the bus from the Westbound Station in the afternoons get off here in the mornings … So nearly 3 000 people go through here every day. Buses here depart to Ellis Park."

It also has two boarding stations, again featuring the commissioned art that makes the distinctive Rea Vaya stations so attractive.

The first boarding platform has artwork by Quinten Williams. Done in steel, the work has images of buses in their dedicated lanes, and signs of T-shirts, boots and pants.

Images on the stained glass section of the station art are coloured red and grey. They depict buses going along a route showing images of belts, bags and shoes.

Of his pieces, Williams said: "The designs are intended to represent an experience of moving through the area of Market Street by Troye Street and the diversity of people who are present and goods that are offered."

The artwork by Quinten Williams is at the Carlton Station Eastbound

At the second platform, the artwork is by Georgia Walsh. She has produced a pattern of circular images in red and white on stained glass and on steel. "The influence behind my design was to bring forward the patterns, shapes and organic forms found in South African textiles," she said.

"Some of these textiles are internationally recognised contemporary South African prints, and have been popular on our shores since the 18th century."

Ghanaian Frederic Enemil, who lives in Edenvale, is a happy Rea Vaya passenger. "I use Rea Vaya to work and leisurely as it is safe and reliable," he says. "I hope the relevant authorities will extend it to Pretoria.

"I have lived in London where buses and trains are used extensively and comparing them to Rea Vaya, Rea Vaya comes out tops."

The majority of people going through the stations use both daily - Westbound is mostly a get-off point in the morning and Eastbound is the boarding point for the ride home in the afternoon.

Related stories:

• Westgate Station tops at transport hub
• Bus ride to Soweto
• See Jozi sights with Rea Vaya
• Rea Vaya reaches milestone