{"id":842244,"date":"2025-11-09T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=842244"},"modified":"2025-11-09T18:05:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T16:05:11","slug":"driving-vs-the-gautrain-and-only-one-option-makes-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/842244\/driving-vs-the-gautrain-and-only-one-option-makes-sense\/","title":{"rendered":"Driving vs the Gautrain – and only one option makes sense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Gautrain is South Africa\u2019s only world-class infrastructure development and is a fantastic choice for Gauteng’s commuters, but it only makes sense to use either drive or use the Gautrain’s services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a person who commutes between Johannesburg and Centurion throughout the week for work, I have grown incredibly tired of the N1 and the traffic on the route. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thus decided to try the Gautrain more over the last few weeks to see which service is better in terms of cost, time and emissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched in the early 2010s, the Gautrain provides high-speed rail service between Johannesburg, Pretoria, and OR Tambo International Airport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) has given the Gautrain an A- rating, which makes it the only world-class infrastructure project in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For context, most of South Africa\u2019s other infrastructure projects only received a D from SAICE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An A rating from SAICE indicates that the infrastructure is in excellent condition, well-maintained, and can withstand pressure from unusual events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the rapid rail network, which can reach speeds of up to 160km\/h, the Gautrain also features a comprehensive bus network to complete the final part of a journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there are still questions about its future management<\/a> and financial viability ahead of its expansion, I thought it was worth comparing it to my regular commute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who is becoming more environmentally conscious, I also wanted to test public transportation, as it has a significantly smaller carbon footprint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thus decided to compare the cost of transportation between the two locations, as someone who travels during peak times, to determine which was more cost-effective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost <\/h2>\n\n\n
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Travel is one of the most significant costs for South African travellers, and a comparison between road and rail travel has several variables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I personally drive a hatchback that achieves an incredibly low fuel consumption of 5.32 litres per 100km, which is particularly impressive given that I primarily drive on highways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that I still need to pay off my car and its insurance, the costs extend dramatically from just the fuel costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While using the train, I would drive for about 10 minutes to reach the Rosebank station and utilise the R1 per day parking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would then use the Gautrain buses when I reached Centurion, which works out to a mere R13 for those who used the rail. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After finishing work, I would use the bus service again. However, since I had not used the rail service in the last hour, my fare increased to R29 for the trip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to using the train, I would typically pay R83 in the morning and then R67 in the evening as a non-peak traveller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total, I paid R193 per day to use the Gautrain\u2019s services, including trains, buses and parking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This would differ depending on how the service is used, but this is the easiest way to suit my schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I expand my experience to a full month involving 22 working days, I would have to pay over R4,200 to use the Gautrain\u2019s services if I stuck with the pay-as-you-go product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Gautrain does offer weekly and monthly products, which can save rail users 7.5% and 15%, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as a pay-as-you-go customer, the total monthly cost was far smaller than my car payment, insurance and fuel costs combined, where I pay over R330 per day on average. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the one caveat is that I don\u2019t spend close to R4,200 on petrol per month, which is the only cost I save using the train instead of my car. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that I still have to cover my car payment and my insurance, it is not economical to pay off my car and use the Gautrain at the same time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time <\/h2>\n\n\n
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While the Gautrain is incredibly efficient, it does still take far longer for commuters who have to travel to areas far from the stations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a perfect morning, I would need to drive 10 minutes, catch a train that took 23 minutes, wait 8 minutes for the bus to leave, sit on the bus for 20 minutes and then walk for 5 minutes to get to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would then have to repeat the process the following evening. This would take my total travel time to 2 hour and 12 minutes per day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, I need to perfectly time every single train and bus, as they depart every 10 minutes and 20 minutes, respectively. If one was missed, the waiting time increased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, missing the services is relatively easy, as the Gautrain App allows you to track buses in real-time, which makes it difficult to miss one, and the trains typically run like clockwork. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While driving, I would typically spend around 35 minutes in the car each way, assuming there was no traffic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As someone who drives against the typical flow of traffic on the highway in the morning and evening, I can usually cover the distance quite quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, while the train is far faster than your typical drive, it is best used by people who work or live next to a station. Hence, the prices near a station are higher<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gautrain\u2019s website estimates that I would save 54 minutes per day travelling between Centurion and Rosebank if I just travelled between the two stations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Work <\/h2>\n\n\n
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Working is one area where the Gautrain is vastly superior to driving. As I was not driving, I could often work for an extra hour each day on the train. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my case, this often includes writing emails, drafting articles, and preparing for the day ahead in the morning, and then completing CFA coursework on the way back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Gautrain\u2019s connectivity varies significantly<\/a> and is particularly poor in the underground stations in Sandton and Rosebank, it was fine for me 90% of the time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving, on the other hand, requires your full attention and offers phone calls as the only avenue to do any work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

E<\/strong>missions<\/h2>\n\n\n
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With transportation being one of the worst emitters globally, I am looking for ways to lower my carbon footprint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public transport systems significantly lower emissions compared to personal internal combustion engine cars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with my car\u2019s relatively low fuel consumption, the Gautrain\u2019s website estimates that I reduce my CO2 emissions from 9.5 kilos per day to 4.7 kilos per day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the use of a bus may increase CO2 emissions, buses are still less environmentally damaging than personal vehicles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts <\/h2>\n\n\n
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Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed using the Gautrain for my commute, even if there are some cost and time issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I enjoyed the communal and friendly environment with fellow passengers and staff. I also had no safety fears, which I often do on South African roads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to work on the train is also a huge plus, given my heavy workload currently, while I was also happy to lower my emissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the total time to get from point A to point B and back took its toll, while the overall cost doesn\u2019t make sense for someone who is paying off a car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My experiance of the Gautrain in numbers can be found below: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparison per Day<\/strong><\/td>Car<\/strong><\/td>Gautrain<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Cost<\/td>R328<\/td>R193<\/td><\/tr>
Time<\/td>1hr 10m<\/td>2hr 12m<\/td><\/tr>
Work+Study<\/td>N\/A<\/td>2Hr<\/td><\/tr>
Emissions*<\/td>9.472kg <\/strong>of CO2<\/td>4.65kg of CO2<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>
*Between Centurion and Rosebank Stations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other users of the Gautrain will have vastly different experiences, and can check the Gautrain’s website <\/a>to get a rough idea of the change in their commutes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Gautrain is a world-class mode of transport, but there are several drawbacks to using the system instead of driving. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":842249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[725],"class_list":["post-842244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-gautrain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842244","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\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842244"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842452,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842244\/revisions\/842452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}