The second section of Gautrain, linking Johannesburg and Pretoria, will become operational on Tuesday, 2 August 2011.
After opening the first section between O.R. Tambo International Airport and the business district of Johannesburg in June 2010, the line will now be almost entirely in service, with 9 out 10 stations open to the public.
Only the section between Rosebank and Park in the south of Johannesburg will remain closed for further work but is scheduled to open in a few months.
The Gautrain will link Pretoria, the administrative capital of the country, and Johannesburg, its most populous metropolis.
This transport axis is vital for the country, as previously the cities were only connected by a very busy motorway.
The Gautrain will run from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily, with one train every 12 minutes during peak hours and one train every 20 minutes off-peak. On weekends and holidays the train will run every half hour. The network also has 125 buses and parking stations enabling passengers to ‘park and ride’.
The first section of the Gautrain (the name combines Gauteng, the province it crosses, and train) has already proved very popular, carrying 10,000 passengers daily.
The line, which is 77 km long, will ultimately be used by 100,000 passengers daily.
As part of a concession contract, Bombela Concession was given a 15 years contract for the design, financing (up to 20%, with the remaining 80% being publicly funded), construction, operation and maintenance of the Gautrain.
Bombela has given the operation and maintenance of the network to RATP Dev, via the Bombela Operating Company, a company its controls.
RATP Dev is a subsidiary of RATP Group created in 2002 to develop the operations and maintenance of the Group in France and abroad, outside the Group’s historic network in Paris region. RATP Dev is now present in 12 countries on 4 continents.
Carrying 12 million passengers each day, the RATP Group ranks as the 5th largest urban transport operator globally.
