|
What Johannesburg Has to Say
Speaking to people in
and around Johannesburg, it's clear that many have only vague
ideas about what
 exactly the Gautrain aims to do. Some welcomed the development
- not because they are willing to abandon the comfort of their cars, but
because they have no alternate means of transport. Similarly,
others raised concerns about the Gautrain being an ‘elitist’ operation
aimed at benefiting a suburban few.
In light of the fact that the Gautrain
needs to attract a large volume of commuters to be successful, it seems more general education
should have been undertaken.
Click to hear
what Joburg citizens have to say
More views
More views
More views
In more specialised quarters however, the concept of the Gautrain has sparked
an outcry.
The envisioned rail link has not escaped criticism – and praise.
Barbara Jensen, the spokesperson for
Gautrain, says that they have been dealing with discontented groups who
are directly affected by the route of the train. Although the groups
have applied for interdicts to oppose the route, Jensen says that
Gautrain is within its legal rights to commence construction.
Jensen says the only course of action that will halt the
train, is a court order to reverse the decision to construct the rail
link in the first place.
Jensen says they have decided not to start construction in the areas where
there are disputes.
In total, 650 properties have been
earmarked for expropriation. Jensen says that land owners who have to
move will be compensated according to market value and will
further receive a percentage of that land cost as an ‘inconvenience fee’
to assist in relocation costs.
On the business side...
The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (JCCI) made a call in 2003 to halt plans for the Gautrain. The
chamber also made a request for further research into the feasibility of
the project.
The JCCI was mainly concerned with the
fact that the Gautrain has to attract at least 60 000 passengers a day
to be sustainable. This means that if commuter numbers
do not reach the expected quota a day, the province will pay the
shortfall. The province could end up paying millions each year in terms
of this agreement.
Marius de Jager, the JCCI CEO,
highlighted that it could be a big challenge to convince car-loving
South Africans to use public transport. Furthermore, the JCCI does not
believe that the public transport systems needed to take commuters from
the train to their places of work are viable. "Currently, public
transportation in metropolitan Johannesburg is uncoordinated, inadequate
and not user-friendly," said De Jager.
Commuters using the Ben Schoeman freeway
between Johannesburg and Pretoria spend approximately three hours per round trip, and Jack van der Merwe, the Gautrain project
manager, hopes that the "cost and frustration" involved in this trip
will motivate commuters to take the train.
Sources:City of
Johannesburg website
|
