{"id":482065,"date":"2021-04-09T11:23:48","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T09:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=482065"},"modified":"2021-04-09T11:23:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T09:23:48","slug":"warning-over-gautrains-expansion-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/482065\/warning-over-gautrains-expansion-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning over Gautrain&#8217;s expansion plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Competition Commission has raised concerns that a &#8216;two-tier&#8217; rail system between the Gautrain and Metrorail in Gauteng could further deepen inequality in the province.<\/p>\n<p>In a report published this week, the commission said that the Gautrain was not intended to compete with Metrorail, but complement it &#8211; with the intention behind the system to encourage private motorists to use the train.<\/p>\n<p>However, it highlighted some conflict in that the Gautrain was rolled out after Metrorail, and it appears as if the system was not planned with Metrorail in mind.<\/p>\n<p>The commission said that while there is not a major duplication of routes between the two services, they do overlap at four stations &#8211; Hatfield, Pretoria, Rhodesfield and Park Station.<\/p>\n<p>It added that further expansion plans for the Gautrain service could exacerbate this, and solidify a &#8216;two-tier system&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The expansion project is perpetuating the status quo of a two-tier rail transport system; one for the working class and one for the middle class,&#8221; it said. &#8220;The approach may deepen mobility-related exclusions, as it essentially creates a two-tier system based on geographically distinct areas of the province.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Expansion plans\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Gautrain Management Agency said that it plans to expand its operations and has done some feasibility studies.<\/p>\n<p>A feasibility study for the expansion of the Gautrain network identified the following main links and stations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jabulani via Cosmo City and Samrand to Mamelodi: stations include Roodepoort, Little Falls, Fourways, Sunninghill, Olievenhoutsbosch, Irene, Tshwane East and Hazeldean;<\/li>\n<li>Sandton and Cosmo City: station in Randburg;<\/li>\n<li>Rhodesfield and Boksburg: station at East Rand Mall;<\/li>\n<li>Cosmo City to Lanseria Airport.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Gautrain-expansion.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-482073 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Gautrain-expansion.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"758\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Gautrain-expansion.png 758w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Gautrain-expansion-300x191.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Previous issues and recommendations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In its report, the commission acknowledged similar concerns raised before the Gautrain was first implemented.<\/p>\n<p>The South African Communist Party in particular voiced worries at the time that the implementation to the Gautrain would prejudice other transport functions in the province.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Gautrain was driven provincially, and the province by-passed the spirit of the law and of national policy by setting up the Gautrain as a separate public company, which meant that the three major metros in Gauteng had to accommodate it retroactively, prejudicing their own plans and potentially compromising funds available for more pressing priorities,&#8221; the SACP said.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Department of Transport said that consultations between regulators, Prasa, the Gauteng province and itself occurred before the rollout of the Gautrain, including the expansion plans for the system.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the group said that the design of the system and the requirements of Prasa were continuously discussed and agreed on by stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p>In its list of recommendations, the commission said that the Department of Transport should develop a policy that ensures efficiency and integrated planning in commuter rail services.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This policy may include, among others, the <strong>integration of Metrorail and Gautrain<\/strong> in Gauteng, and a rail devolution strategy setting out the criteria for devolution of commuter rail services,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n<p>In addressing ongoing issues with the Metrorail, the commission said that infrastructure backlogs should be curbed by exploring alternative funding sources and fostering private sector participation.<\/p>\n<p>It added that high-density\u00a0corridors should be prioritised for rail services.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Incorporation of the new rail expansion in the grant network (should) target high-density corridors, in addition to the refurbishment of existing infrastructure,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/481947\/south-africa-at-risk-of-losing-pilots-and-other-valuable-skills-overseas-minister\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">South Africa at risk of losing pilots and other valuable skills overseas: minister<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Competition Commission has raised concerns that the\u00a0 &#8216;two-tier&#8217; rail system between the Gautrain and Metrorail in Gauteng could further deepen inequalities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":435057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-482065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482065"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482161,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482065\/revisions\/482161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}