Name of the Project
Gautrain expansion project.

Location
Gauteng, South Africa.

Client
Gauteng Roads and Transport Department and Gauteng Management Agency.

Project Description
The proposed expansion of the Gautrain will add 140 km of rail network to the existing Gautrain system, incorporating 19 new stations. The current 82 km route has ten stations.

Tshwane will secure six new stations, Ekurhuleni three and Johannesburg ten.

The following main stations have been identified:
• On the link between Jabulani through Cosmo City and Samrand to Mamelodi, stations include Roodepoort, Little Falls, Fourways, Sunninghill, Olievenhoutsbosch, Irene, Tshwane East and Hazeldean.
• On the link between Sandton and Cosmo City, with a station at Randburg.
• On the link between Rhodesfield and Boksburg there will be a station at East Rand Mall and possible link-up with the OR Tambo International Airport Midfield terminal development.
• A future link from Cosmo City to Lanseria Airport.

The expansion project, however, will be too big as one project, and indications are that it will comprise five phases.

Jobs to be Created
The proposed expansion of the Gautrain rail system has the capacity to create about 211 000 direct jobs.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Initial planning slates construction of the first phase to start in 2021.

Latest Developments
The GMA would like to see Phase 1 of the proposed five-phase expansion of the Gautrain network come into operation in 2027, GMA COO William Dachs has said.

The concession on the current 80 km Gautrain system will have consluded in 2027, with the system paid off and the current government subsidy payable to the Gautrain system possibly available for transfer to the Phase 1 expansion.

Phase 1 of the expansion plan proposes a rapid rail link from Randburg and Little Falls to Sandton.

Proposed expansions to the Gauteng rapid rail network will add 150 km of rail line to the current 80 km Gautrain network. The expansion will reach hubs such as Soweto, Pretoria East, Boksburg and Lanseria.

Dachs has stated that the expansion project requires “significant capital; we can’t talk numbers yet”.

The GMA has approached the National Treasury for approval for procurement of Phase 1 of the expansion project.

Dachs has acknowledges that the South African national Budget is in “for a tight two . . . three years” but that “the cycle will turn”. “We need a plan for when capital is available . . . [and] have to start thinking [about] what happens when the concession comes to an end,” he has said.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
SMEC Consortium, comprising SMEC South Africa, DLA Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr and Deloitte (feasibility study).

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Gauteng Roads and Transport Department, tel +27 11 355 7000 or email GPRoads.Transport@gauteng.gov.za.