The pandemic’s legacy of remote working and resistance to being cooped up in enclosed spaces with strangers have slashed Gautrain passenger numbers, with the country’s only high-speed rail network transporting just over half the passengers it did pre-Covid.
However, this has not derailed its expansion plans. Now in its 14th year of operation, Gautrain is adding 150km to its 80km network, with construction of the first phase of the expansion — between Marlboro in Sandton and Little Falls on the West Rand — expected to commence next year.
Tshepo Kgobe, CEO of the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA), said in an interview this week that passenger numbers had dropped to 32,000-33,000 trips a day on the busiest days, or about 56% of pre-Covid usage. But the numbers were gradually picking up.
“People have not come back because of the work-from-home phenomenon, but it is a global issue. We are seeing [the numbers] growing organically but we also discovered that people are not comfortable in closed spaces. Post Covid, people’s lifestyles have changed and that deters [many] from using public systems,” he said.
The agency manages the R45bn infrastructure on behalf of the department of transport & roads in Gauteng. It signed a 20-year concession with the Bombela Consortium in 2006 for the consortium to design, build, operate and maintain the network.
In June, Gautrain cushioned the impact of reduced traffic by hiking fees. It generates revenue from ticket sales and a subsidy comprising loans from private companies with a stake in the concessionaire, Bombela.
In its 2022/2023 annual report, the GMA recorded 7.1-million passenger trips on the Gautrain, a 65% increase from the previous year.
Kgobe said the public private partnership model best suited the agency and a tender was out to find a new partner.
“The question is, why don’t you operate it yourself? The learnings are clear; we have done well on the basis of separation of the system. When things don’t work out there is a penalty regime so there is pain in not doing things the right way. So, when you have the owner, operator and maintainer of the infrastructure as the same person, you don’t have an incentive to run the system the right way.”
The state does well when it is the owner … and making the assets available for the private sector. Where we have not done well is in operations
— Tshepo Kgobe
He said the model would help to improve management of state-owned freight and passenger rail.
“The state does well when it is the owner … and making the assets available for the private sector. Where we have not done well is in operations. It is in the right direction that policy allows other people to have access to the railway line on the freight side.
“Lines that are not profitable or cannot be operated by the public sector should be given to the private sector to operate,” he said.
Gautrain, which employs 1,500 people, is one of a few rail systems on the continent that went where people “want to go”, Kgobe said.
“If you are developing Fourways... Where is Fourways? It is in the middle of nowhere. There is no public transport there and you wonder why William Nicol [now Winnie Mandela Drive] is permanently full of cars, including Saturdays and Sundays.”
He said Gautrain’s future lay in expanding even further to the west, south and east.
The number of passengers using Gautrain on a busy day, down to 56% of pre-Covid level
— IN NUMBERS: 33,000
“Hendrik Potgieter Road [in Roodepoort] does not cope today and will not in the future. You need to retrofit a system like ours into a space like that so that you can decongest the place and allow it to grow.”
Urban sprawl was one of the biggest problems in Johannesburg and made it necessary to expand the Gautrain network. The Sandton line would be extended to Randburg via Cosmo City, going all the way to Little Falls and Lanseria. There would be a branch serving Jabulani in Soweto.
“That will rejuvenate the area, it will create a new centre forming part of the long-term, high-speed line to go to the south of Johannesburg. That gives the ability to go from Soweto to the Vaal. Why stop at the Vaal; why not go to Bloemfontein, why can’t you get to Cape Town?”
To the north, the line would branch from Irene, passing the Menlyn shopping and office district on its way to Mamelodi. There was also a longer-term plan for links to Boksburg and Alberton.
“We hope to complete the route determination process [for phase 1] later in the year.”
Kgobe said the agency was awaiting approval from the Treasury for the preliminary design phase, but declined to say what the budget was. “We want to maintain a competitive bid.”
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