GAUTRAIN PLANS – REMEMBER WHEN?

Categorized | Gautrain

GAUTRAIN PLANS – REMEMBER WHEN?

Posted on 21 November 2009

The following appeared in the publication African Business almost exactly four years ago – on 1 October 2005:

“The high-speed urban train project, designed to move commuters around the gridlocked Johannesburg-Tshwane (formerly Pretoria) axis, has finally been awarded to a consortium. The question, asks Tom Nevin, is whether there is still enough time to complete the project before the 2010 World Cup? “First mooted four years ago by premier of Gauteng province Mbhazima Shilowa, the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link inauguration sights were set on 2009, a year before kick-off of the South African-hosted soccer World Cup. It is a critical component in moving fans between principal venues and a South African showcase for millions of football fans to admire. But when deadline after deadline passed for the naming of the winning bidder, the space-age commuter system was all but written off as a non-starter.

Then, on 2 July, Shilowa announced the consortium that will build and operate the service. Although the provincial government has not yet disclosed how much the new service will cost, industry guesses run as high as R14bn – double the cost estimated at the outset of the project. All Paul Mashatile, Gauteng provincial finance minister, would say was that “we have set aside R900m for the Gautrain project in the current (2005/06) financial year. Treasury has given us affordability limits and it would be premature to announce any cost as this would seriously jeopardise the next phase of the procurement process. The final contract amount will be within the affordability limit as set out in the Treasury authorisation.”

“Brian Bruce, leader of the winning Bombela Consortium, is also playing mum on the what the taxpayer will have to fork out for the spectacular project, although few will object to any way of beating the province’s grinding and increasingly desperate traffic conditions crammed with vehicles on roads long since past their capacity to carry them.

“’Considering that the Gautrain will be constructed over a distance of 80km with 10 stations, some upgraded and some newly-built, parking garages, and extensive road infrastructure upgrades to make the stations accessible, it seems highly unlikely that the Gautrain project will be completed in time,’ opposition party transport spokesman James Swart said.

“Minister Mashatile doesn’t agree. ‘The Gautrain Rapid Rail Link is on track despite some delays in announcing the successful bidder,’ he insists.”