{"id":726652,"date":"2023-10-23T12:34:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T10:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=726652"},"modified":"2023-10-23T12:34:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T10:34:12","slug":"major-gautrain-expansion-coming-almost-tripling-in-size","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/726652\/major-gautrain-expansion-coming-almost-tripling-in-size\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Gautrain expansion coming &#8211; almost tripling in size"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) announced that the agency is in the \u201cadvanced stages\u201d of finalising a massive expansion project for the Gautrain \u2013 which will see the rail network almost triple in size. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was revealed at a community engagement initiative which celebrated October Transport Month (OTM) by profiling the province\u2019s approach to making rail the backbone of public transport and highlighting contributions by Gautrain towards socio-economic development in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, the Gautrain is an 80-kilometre express commuter rail system which links Johannesburg, Pretoria, Kempton Park and O.R. Tambo International Airport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, speaking at the event, GMA CEO William Dachs detailed the background and future plans for the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The current Gautrain project was in phase one, with 80km of rail network linking key economic areas in the province. <strong>The agency is planning to expand by another 150km of rail network, <\/strong>which will link the<strong> <\/strong>outlying areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This would bring the railway up to a total of 230km &#8211; almost triple its current size.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/589958\/here-is-the-new-route-and-station-map-proposed-for-the-gautrain\/\" target=\"_blank\">Last year<\/a>, the agency completed a route proclamation that included areas such as Randburg, Little Falls, and Cosmo City. Dachs noted that this was a critical stage in the process of securing and obtaining land rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The below graphic shows how the new route will fit into the existing Gautrain model.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Gautrain-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"714\" height=\"417\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Gautrain-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-726670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Gautrain-1.jpg 714w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Gautrain-1-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 714px) 100vw, 714px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>He added that <strong>work is underway conducting Phase 2 of the proclamation routes towards Roodepoort and Soweto.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The upgrade is expected to kick off in 2026 when the Gauteng Provincial Government is set to assume ownership of the express commuter rail system after the current concession expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGautrain is a strategic asset which will be handed over to the province at the end of this current concession. The Gauteng Provincial Government will own a R45 billion asset which has contributed significantly to the issues of the provincial economy, infrastructural spinoffs and employment opportunities,\u201d noted the Head of Department (HoD) Thulani Mdadane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mdadane also highlighted that Gautrain has made possible the creation of over 61,000 indirect job opportunities, with a further 10,000 direct jobs created \u2013 contributing over R61 billion to the country\u2019s GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He further added the main objective is to build, operate and maintain a sustainable rail system for the benefit of all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, <strong>Mdadane further assured commuters the new concession will look into the ticket price model to accommodate low-income groups and areas as Gautrain expands its services across the province.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/726216\/the-nhi-could-work-in-south-africa-but-not-like-this\/\">The NHI could work in South Africa \u2013 but not like this<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gautrain Management Agency CEO revealed that a massive expansion project for the Gautrain is at an advanced stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":726674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[725,18672,853],"class_list":["post-726652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-gautrain","tag-gautrain-management-agency","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726652","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=726652"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":726682,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726652\/revisions\/726682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}