A first ride on the Gautrain

The Gautrain is coming

13 January 2010 - 12:49

The Gautrain is being tested on the line to OR Tambo International Airport.

The long awaited fast train will see several milestones this year. The most important milestone this year is that the Gautrain will commence its Phase 1 operations on the section between Sandton Station and OR Tambo International Airport. Although the contractual completion date for Phase 1 is 27 June 2010, Bombela and the Gauteng government is negotiating in order to see whether it can be completed by 27 May 2010.

The following are expected to be some of the most important achievements for 2010:

Phase 1: Sandton Station to OR Tambo International Airport
• In January, all the Electrical and Mechanical (E&M) installation work will be completed with the exception of some Automatic Fare Collection equipment.
• Complete Area Integration testing in February.
• The main Bus depot is expected to be completed in February.
• In March 2010, the Operator is expected to commence with its Trial Running for Phase 1.
• The Operator is expected to complete its 10-week trial running phase for the Phase 1 section in May.
• OR Tambo International Airport station, Rhodesfield, Marlboro and Sandton stations should all be largely completed and operated before the end of May.
Phase 2: including the line north to Tshwane and the line south to Park Station
• Viaduct 5 construction through Centurion is expected to be completed by the middle of 2010.
• Hatfield Station should be handed over from the Civil Contractor to E&M Contractor by July or August.
• Testing and Commissioning of the Midrand Section is expected to be completed in August 2010.
• The Testing and Commissioning of systems for the Centurion Section is expected to be completed during the second half of the year.
• Trackwork installation for Phase 2, that is for the full Gautrain system, should be completed by the end of the year.
• The Power Supply and Distribution for Phase 2 is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
• Most of the physical construction and installation work, as well as the bulk of the testing and commissioning on the Gautrain should thus be completed by the end of 2010.
• Handover and access of stations for electrical and mechanical installations from the Civil Contractor to the Electrical and Mechanical Contractor is expected to take place as following:
Pretoria Station – February 2010
Rosebank Station – March 2010
Centurion Station – April 2010
Park Station – May 2010

Rolling Stock:
• The last sub-assembly for the rolling stock cars delivered from Derby to Nigel is expected to be completed by February.
• The last rolling stock 4-car unit is expected to be completed for final acceptance testing by June

See more pictures on www.gautrain.co.za

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2010: Gautrain may not be ready

Cape Town - The R25bn Gautrain project may not be ready in time for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, the project's chief executive told Parliament on Tuesday.

Jack Van der Merwe told Parliament's portfolio committee on transport that the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) would not pay an "unreasonable amount" to the Bombela consortium to accelerate the project for a four-week-long event.

"There has to be value for money. If we have to pay an unreasonable amount, the answer is no," Van der Merwe said.

"It was never said that this was a soccer project. This train has to run for another 100 years.

"You cannot spend this kind of money on a four week event."

The World Cup is due to run from June 11 to July 11.

Costs

The Gautrain project was announced in January 2000. South Africa was awarded the World Cup in April 2004.

Van der Merwe did not know how much it would cost to accelerate the construction work to May 27.

The GMA was negotiating with Bombela.

He said any extra costs would have to be paid by the provincial or national government.

The costs would not be passed on to passengers through increased ticket fares, which are expected to cost between 50 and 60 cents a kilometre or R20 for a trip from Johannesburg to Pretoria.

Van der Merwe said 125 buses would be ready to transport passengers from the airport to their hotels should the train - which will run from the airport to central Johannesburg and Pretoria - not be ready in time.

'Carrot' for motorists

Van der Merwe said the Gautrain would be "carrot" for motorists using the Ben Schoeman highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The train journey between central Johannesburg and Hatfield in Pretoria will take approximately 38 minutes and will cost commuters between R800 and R1 000 a month.

Traffic congestion and a R1 000 a month toll fee to be introduced on the highway would be the "stick".

"People will be stuck in traffic on the Ben Schoeman and they will see a train shoot past and they'll think maybe I made a mistake.

"Then five minutes later they'll see another train and they'll think I really did make a mistake."

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Businesses around Centurion

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