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The good, the bad and the impact
Consider the current volume of traffic between
Johannesburg and Pretoria. As large as it is, additional capacity seems
imperative in light of the upcoming 2010 World Cup.
Vaughan
Mostert, a
transport and logistics analyst, says the Gautrain will
definitely curb the increasing amount of time people spend commuting to
and from work.
Click here to listen
to Mostert
He says the train
will steer people away from private vehicles (a major cause of
congestion) and onto the rail service. He says the
decreased
traffic congestion will be more beneficial than the short-term solution
of building more roads.
Meanwhile, Jack van
der Merwe, Gautrain’s project manager, says the train must be viewed as
a long term public transport solution especially because other systems
will be linked to it. The train, he says, is targeted at middle-class
car owners.
"Eighty percent of traffic is caused by
road users," he says. “Rail transport will be convenient safe way to
move between the big metros.”
Click here to listen to Van Der Merwe's
explanation on how the Gautrain will be linked to other transport
systems.
Quick facts:
The Gautrain is expected to:
·
Travel at 160km/h - it would take 15 minutes to get from Sandton
to the Johannesburg International Airport.
·
Save an estimated R15.3 million in accident costs if more
people choose to take the train.
·
Cost between R15 - R25 per return trip.
Van der Merwe contends that the new
train will boost economic growth because it will reduce the amount of
time that people will spend getting to work. |
