Gautrain marks 14 years of operations, Gautrain Management Agency Chief Executive Officer, Tshepo Kgobe has described the high-speed rail network as a trailblazer in the South African rail and public transport sector.
Highlighting some of the Gautrain project successes, Kgobe said since it started operating on 08 June 2010, the project has successfully completed approximately 192.8 million passenger trips. “The Gautrain’s transport network includes 10 stations that connect Johannesburg, Pretoria, Ekurhuleni, and O.R. Tambo International Airport, 96 rail cars , a fleet of 125 heavy haul buses, and 29 midibuses. In many ways, the Gautrain is a trailblazer in the South African rail and public transport sector…it is the first and only rapid rail network in the country, and it was the first Public-Private Partnership of its scale in South Africa when it was launched,” Kgobe said.
“The Gautrain has brought jobs, new skills, the easing of mobility for ordinary people, and major economic developments around stations. It is estimated that R46 million total GDP impact has been added to the Gauteng Provincial Government economy and a total of 245 000 jobs have been created due to property development induced by the Gautrain.