Gautrain opens Johannesburg-Pretoria route

[John Ashworth]

BBC 2 August 2011 Last updated at 12:40 GMT

South Africa Gautrain opens Johannesburg-Pretoria route

Africa's fastest train has opened its new route to the capital, Pretoria, from Johannesburg in a bid to speed up travel between two of South Africa's major cities.

The Gautrain takes less than 30 minutes for the 54km (34 mile) journey.

It can take up to two hours to travel this distance by car during rush hour.

The Gautrain's inaugural airport route was opened just in time for the 2010 World Cup, when it was used by thousands of football fans.

But by reaching Pretoria, it is likely to be used by ordinary South African commuters to beat the traffic on one of South Africa's busiest roads.

Tickets for a single trip between Rosebank and Pretoria cost 46 rand ($6.90; £4.20) - 18 rand more than the price of a minibus taxi but cheaper than the cost of driving.

Hundreds of commuters turned up at Johannesburg's Rosebank station as early as 05:30 local time (03:30GMT) for the train's first trip to Pretoria.

"I arrived here at 06:30, the bus dropped me right in front of the building here. The train ride was brilliant - everything is well organised [and] on time," one commuter told Talk Radio 702.

Some minor glitches were reported, including technical issues in one of the carriages but engineers have since attended to the problems, Gautrain officials said.

The government says it aims to make rail transport the backbone of the public transport system, according to Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele.

"Transport infrastructure over the next two years is guaranteed to radically change the way South Africans travel due to a multibillion rand boost by the government," Mr Ndebele said, reports the New Age newspaper.

The train's top speed is 160 km/h (100 mph) - a long way from the world's fastest trains but still far superior to the locomotives chugging along most of the rest of the continent's tracks, which mostly date from the colonial era, says the BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg.

The Gautrain is expected to reduce the number of cars on the N1 Ben Schoeman motorway which links Pretoria and South Africa's economic hub Johannesburg by 20%.

This would mean 25,000 to 30,000 fewer cars on that stretch of road, where traffic is currently increasing by 7% each year.

The train operates between 05:30 and 20:30 weekdays, running every 12 minutes during peak times.

Water seepage

Although the project created close to 100,00 indirect and direct jobs it has seen its fair share of controversy.

The Gautrain cost 25bn rand ($3.8bn; £2.29bn) to build, more than three times the initial 2005 estimate of 7bn rand.

This raised questions about whether it was a worthwhile investment.

Critics also argued that it would only benefit the elite.

They said the money spent should be used instead to improve the existing transport system, which includes the old Metrorail network, which transports two million people daily, instead of beginning a new one.

The Metrorail trains are mainly used as a link between townships including Soweto and Johannesburg.

The last leg of the Gautrain - between Johannesburg's Rosebank and Park Station - could not be opened due to water seepage problems.

It will only be ready later in the year, Gautrain said.

Last week, officials said the delay was a "precautionary measure to ensure that the highest passenger safety standards are adhered to while engineering works are in progress".

Gautrain in Numbers

* 10 stations from Johannesburg to Pretoria with an extension to OR Tambo International Airport
* Construction began in 2006
* Cost: 25bn rand [$3.8bn/£2.29bn]
* Initial estimate: 7bn rand
* Speed: 160 km/h [100 mph]
* Length: 80km (50 miles)
* Single ticket between Rosebank and Pretoria costs 46 rand ($6.90; £4.20)
* Trains based on Electrostar design and built by Bombardier in Derby, UK

[John Ashworth]

ROSEBANK-PRETORIA GAUTRAIN ON 2 AUGUST

Railways Africa on August 1, 2011 in Gautrain

The Gautrain line between Pretoria and Johannesburg will start operating on 2 August, says Gauteng MEC Ismail Vadi.
However, the section south of Rosebank will not be included. The stations that will be operational include all those between Hatfield and Rosebank. The actual stations are to open to the public from 29 July, to familiarise commuters with the facilities. The section between Rosebank and Park station will be opened at a later date. According to Vadi, “extra” engineering and construction by the contractors, led by construction company Murray and Roberts, is needed here. The work should be finished by December .

Vadi apologised to the public for the delays.

[John Ashworth]

iol WEDNESDAY AUG 03, 2011

All aboard as Gautrain ushers in new era for commuters

Minister of Transport S'bu Ndebele welcomed the opening of the Hatfield to Rosebank Gautrain line yesterday, and said it would change the lifestyle of commuters.

"The Gautrain has ushered in a new era in public transportation, matching world standards for passenger rail transport," said Ndebele, who encouraged commuters to use the line.

He said families would be able to spend quality time together, as opposed to spending hours stuck in traffic and only getting home when some members of the family were sleeping.

The much-anticipated launch saw more than 11 000 passengers boarding the high-speed train by midday yesterday, and officials said they were very happy with the overall turnout. Apart from one train which had to return to the platform after a mechanical glitch, everything ran smoothly.

The first train to depart from Hatfield station was almost packed to capacity.

The Gautrain is expected to cut traffic on the roads by 20 percent, and as more people get used to the idea the number is expected to increase.

Errol Braithwaite, the marketing executive at Gautrain, said: "We are happy with the turnout and this is exactly what we wanted. We are expecting the numbers to increase as people get used to the train."

Gauteng Transport MEC Ismail Vadi also boarded the 5.30am train, and said he was happy with how people had responded.

"We as government are determined to make the Gautrain the public transport of choice, and commuters will never experience the same frustrations as motorists do on the roads," said Vadi.

He added that it was hoped that 100 000 commuters would use the Gautrain daily. "Gauteng stands out as the pride of this nation."

Ndebele also took the time to tell people the government was making steady progress towards ensuring that rail became the backbone of South Africa's public transport system.

He said the government would spend more than R30 billion in the next three years on rail upgrades across the country.

More than R19bn of that was earmarked for capital spending to upgrade infrastructure, signalling systems and rolling stock.

The minister said that people driving alone in their cars would hopefully have a change of heart when they saw more than four trains passing them while they were stuck in traffic, and become part of the Gautrain lifestyle going through the province.

Pretoria News