Watched a documentary on the Gautrain the other night on National Geographic... all I can say is wow!
Lots of smiley faces from the people who just went for the ride today. Some were using ot for real but most seemed to just want to try it out. I could have done the trip to have been there on launch day but I'm waiting until we (the family) can all do it together.
It is a little annoying that you can only buy one card at a time. I bought 6 - 4 for us and 2 for guys in the office and that was 6 transactions. There are lots of people to help you and it is rather quick once you know how. A caution - don't be too quick though, it freaks the machine out a little
One of the helpers (very friendly and polite) said that they are upgrading the software to allow for multiple cards to be bought on one transaction.
A gripe - the parking for the first 24 hours is R9.50. And for the next 24 hours, it's just under R100. IF YOU USE THE TRAIN. If you don't ride the train you pay just under R100 for the parking - that's insane. But I guess it's cheaper than a day at Sandton City so I suppose it will discourage people cottoning onto cheap parking.
The area around the station is still a construction site but that will get better.
Also saw lots of buses - struck me as odd that 3 left the station at the same time. I thought they were meant to be 12 minutes apart. But maybe they were all heading in different directions.
Last point - the 'cheapest' amount is R50, which automatically goes to R60 if you don't have a card. I heard that there are temporary cards but didn't see any.
Lots of tv crews. I was interviewed so maybe I'll be famous
My son is at boarding school and we're waiting for the holidays to take a ride. We'll go from Sandton to Rhodes Field and back. Just for fun. Just to have done it. Whatever. No real reason other than it is something shiny and new.
