The example of Gautrain- high speed in Johannesburg

South Africa’s economic hub, located in the province of Gauteng, suffers from a high degree of congestion on main roads, especially between the cities of Johannesburg and Pretoria. The main transport infrastructure between these two cities are basically focused on road transport, congestion and experiencing results in a high cost in economic terms, in travel time, number of accidents, pollution and quality of life. These were the reasons that led the Gautrain line to be developed.

The Gauteng Provincial Government raised several alternatives to relieve congestion, finally committed to building a system of High-Speed trains which, as well as facilitating transport of passengers, will also contribute to the economic development of the region while having other environmental advantages over alternative transport.

Characteristics of the line

Thus, the construction of the Gautrain project is a fast passenger line of about 80 km. The line linking Johannesburg, Pretoria, Ekhuruleni and OR Tambo International Airport and was conducted through the Franco-Canadian consortium Bombela, the largest public-private partnership in Africa.

With a standard gauge of 1.067mm, the trains run at an average speed of 160km/h.

This project has also been heavily criticized, fruit of the variations in costs thereof. Initially it was budgeted at €280M, following the upward review of €500M, with the environmental impact study, finally won by €1,400 M. Reviews argued that alternatives such as an efficient bus system could reach similar levels of service at a much lower cost. About 62,000 daily passengers will require service that was not viable in this transport mean.

These questions were never subjected to public debate when the project was designed, prompting a public outcry, however, it has proven to have been a success by the number of daily passengers who use it to travel between Pretoria, Johannesburg and the International airport. In fact, an extension of the Gautrain in the near future is being considered, in addition to a 3,000 million rands (€ 215 million) investment to increase rolling stock and ease congestion on its trains, according to the Commercial Office of the Embassy of Spain in South Africa.