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Facilitating travel between Johannesburg and Pretoria

Considering the drive between both cities can take up to two hours at rush hour, freeing the Johannesburg-Pretoria corridor had become a priority. In 2001, the Gauteng Province therefore launched a bid for offers that the Bombela consortium (to which RATP Développement belongs) won in 2005 with the Gautrain project.

A region with dynamic economy... and heavy traffic

Within a private-public partnership (PPP), the consortium is entrusted with the design, construction, operation, maintenance and part of the funding of an integrated transport system, consisting in a rapid rail link, a network of buses providing feeder service and car parks close to the stations. Approximately 70 % of the funds will be public.

Gautrain’s mission is to free the Johannesburg/Pretoria corridor, but also to contribute to the economic development of a very dynamic region where many business centers are to be found, such as Sandton. RATP Development will ensure the network’s operation and maintenance for fifteen years, starting in 2010.

Our asset? The expertise of a multimodal operator

The construction phase will last 54 months: 48 months to build the connection between Johannesburg airport and Pretoria, then 6 months to finish the last extensions of the network to Johannesburg in the south and Hatfield in the north.

We were selected thanks to certain specific assets, including our experience as a multimodal operator and our ability to train operating staff. The quality of the structures implemented in order to transfer our know-how to local teams was also a decisive factor. The project includes creating a company with South African partners, of which RATP Development will be the main shareholder. This company will subcontract maintenance (to the company Bombardier), as well as the operation of the bus network.

Important means will be employed to promote this new transportation network:
- very comfortable trains, designed to bring about a modal transfer and attract drivers who regularly use the Johannesburg/Pretoria route
- parking facilities next to the stations
- a bus network providing efficient service to the train stations
- fixed-price fares, based on the use of non-contact passes.

Location: Johannesburg-Pretoria / South Africa
Client: Gauteng Province
Name of the company: Gautrain
Nature of the project: Rail link completed by a bus network

80 km railway network and 10 stations
A 42 km North-South line connecting Hatfield (Pretoria suburbs) and Johannesburg in 42 minutes at a maximum speed of 160 km/h
A link serving the international airport in less than 15 minutes (from Sandton)
A network of 125 buses providing distribution and feeder service to complement the rail system within a 10km radius
Staff expected to operate and maintain the network: 320 people

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