ROUTE DEVELOPMENT TO DATE

After the initial planning and pre-feasibility investigations were undertaken for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link project in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Gauteng Provincial Government decided to develop a rapid rail system based on a north-south spine between Tshwane and Johannesburg, and an east-west spine between OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton.

Sound progress has since been made in developing a route alignment for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link. A feasibility study was completed 2001, and a Reference Route was published in early 2002 which was then subjected to public scrutiny via an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and an associated Public Participation Process.

The EIA included a series of solution-orientated public and focus group meetings, and a comprehensive set of specialist environmental investigations.  The EIA process enabled a route to be recommended which had optimum public acceptance and the least ecological and socio-economic impact, whilst allowing the project to remain technically and financially feasible.  In fact, the original proposed route alignment was substantially amended due to the public input during the EIA process.

Alternative route alignments were investigated during the feasibility studies and the EIA, but some of these proved not to be viable due to a number of factors. These factors included poor financial feasibility linked to potentially lower levels of users, technical factors (e.g. gradient), environmental impacts, infrastructure and operating costs.

The 80-kilometre rail system will ultimately link Johannesburg, Tshwane and the OR Tambo International Airport.  Station locations were evaluated in terms of a set of criteria such as existing land use and residential density, current and future growth potential, environmental acceptability, accessibility and road capacity, amongst other criteria. Ten nodes were decided upon for station locations for the Gautrain project:

• Johannesburg Park Station
• Rosebank
• Sandton
• Marlboro
• Midrand
• Centurion
• Pretoria
• Hatfield
• Rhodesfield
• OR Tambo International Airport

It is at station locations where the demand for travel is served and, therefore, the rail route corridor was largely dictated by the proposed station locations. The Gauteng Provincial Government is committed to a route that takes into consideration the vital role the project will play in stimulating economic growth and job creation in the Province, addressing transport needs and traffic congestion problems, whilst taking account of environmental impacts and the socio-economic dynamics of communities.

On 15 April 2005, the Gauteng Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works (GDPTRW) published a notice for the route determination of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link in the Gauteng Provincial Gazette. Through this notice, the GDPTRW’s MEC Ignatius Jacobs gave notice that he proposes to determine the route for the Gautrain in terms of section 6 of the Gauteng Transport Infrastructure Act, 2001 (Act No. 8 of 2001) subject to written comments from interested and affected parties.

On 09 March 2006, the preliminary design for Gautrain along all sections of the route that have not been subject to variant alignments proposed by the preferred bidder has been agreed to by GDPTRW’s MEC Jacobs. This marked the official start of the Gauteng Transport Infrastructure Act process that includes:

• Route determination
• Preliminary design
• Proclamation and expropriation

Construction commenced in September 2006. Passengers will be able to experience the completed rail system towards 2011.