Article: Gautrain Tsunami

Sounds great! The Gautrain seems like a nice success story. Hopefully will show people that much more public transport is needed in Gauteng.
 
I think it is a very positive development. Can't wait for the parkstation leg to open. I'm one building away from it :)
 
Took my first Gautrain ride on Saturday and it was wonderful .... superb ... excellent !

As the train pulls into the station, everyone is clicking away with their cellphones and cameras .... the train drivers must feel like celebs, getting their pictures taken all the time :)
 
Nuro said:
I think it is a very positive development. Can't wait for the parkstation leg to open. I'm one building away from it :)
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I'm a bit further but its still very exciting, going to check out the trains this week. I think if you go now then you get the special edition smart card as well.
 
"A tsunami of about 40,000 passengers -- several times the predicted volumes -- was carried on Saturday and Sunday as many Gautengers used it for a fun family outing," Kelebogile Machaka said in a statement.
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Assuming that those passengers went to the airport and back, that a nice R 8 Million, banked this weekend. Add to that the parking, it was a good weekend for Bombela.

:D

EDIT: But some may have taken shorter trips to the other stations on the way...
 
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The Gautrain is brilliant - I just have a problem with the feeder bus services. It seems like it's been implemented with "minimizing" the catchment area in mind.

Whilst the buses run 12 minutes after the trains arrive at the station - they don't run on weekends and public holidays (they will for the duration of the World Cup). So on a weekend, I cannot use the train for leisure, because I'll have to drive to Sandton station, take the train and have someone pick me up from Rhodesfield if that's where I want to go. It would just be easier driving there then - it would be a different story if there were buses at both ends.

Another issue I have is that the buses all run up and down the same routes. For example, the Rosebank route goes down to Rosebank on Oxford/Rivonia (with a little detour via the Wanderers) and then back up the exact same route. Why do they not rather go back a different route (for example Jan Smuts/William Nicol)? Sure, someone who wants to catch the bus to Sandton from somewhere in Rivonia Road will now have to catch it going to Rosebank and wait a little longer, but at least you extend the catchment area to include almost double the amount of passengers. The same goes for the Fourways route -it goes straight to Monte Casino and straight back again - there are many different ways it can deviate to pick up more passengers (for example, instead of just turning around at Monte Casino - it could carry on and go down Witkoppen, either through Douglasdale or through Bryanston (via Main Road) - maybe even split the route in two - an A route and B route).

Whilst it's a brilliant service, I'm just a little disappointed in the way the feeder routes have been set up. I can see that they will blame passengers for not making use of the service - but I just feel that there are many more efficient ways you can set up the service to deal pick up as many potential passengers as possible.
 
mulderpf said:
The Gautrain is brilliant - I just have a problem with the feeder bus services. It seems like it's been implemented with "minimizing" the catchment area in mind.

Whilst the buses run 12 minutes after the trains arrive at the station - they don't run on weekends and public holidays (they will for the duration of the World Cup). So on a weekend, I cannot use the train for leisure, because I'll have to drive to Sandton station, take the train and have someone pick me up from Rhodesfield if that's where I want to go. It would just be easier driving there then - it would be a different story if there were buses at both ends.

Another issue I have is that the buses all run up and down the same routes. For example, the Rosebank route goes down to Rosebank on Oxford/Rivonia (with a little detour via the Wanderers) and then back up the exact same route. Why do they not rather go back a different route (for example Jan Smuts/William Nicol)? Sure, someone who wants to catch the bus to Sandton from somewhere in Rivonia Road will now have to catch it going to Rosebank and wait a little longer, but at least you extend the catchment area to include almost double the amount of passengers. The same goes for the Fourways route -it goes straight to Monte Casino and straight back again - there are many different ways it can deviate to pick up more passengers (for example, instead of just turning around at Monte Casino - it could carry on and go down Witkoppen, either through Douglasdale or through Bryanston (via Main Road) - maybe even split the route in two - an A route and B route).

Whilst it's a brilliant service, I'm just a little disappointed in the way the feeder routes have been set up. I can see that they will blame passengers for not making use of the service - but I just feel that there are many more efficient ways you can set up the service to deal pick up as many potential passengers as possible.
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I suppose the feeder buses simply chose the routes where they assume the most passengers will come from ... or is that a silly assumption? Maybe they will change the routes in time ...

I would like to hear from someone who has actually used the buses whether they are indeed punctual. I was at Benmore shopping centre today trying to see if the buses did their route. I was watching the bus station / pickup point for a while but no buses came past ... it may be that my timing was just out, because in offpeak hours, the buses comes past every 20 mins AFAIK.
 
blunomore said:
I would like to hear from someone who has actually used the buses whether they are indeed punctual.
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I work opposite Trupps centre in Illovo. I see the buses frequently on Oxford Road but have not timed them. I have my Gautrain Gold Card now and I will use the bus later this week just to test their efficiency.
 
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