R861m Gautrain bill

LazyLion

LazyLion

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http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/02/27/r861m-gautrain-bill

About 12 million Gauteng residents are paying more than R70-million a month to keep the Gautrain on its tracks.

The province's treasury now looks set to give the transport department an additional R1.2-billion cash injection to enable it to support its agencies until the end of March. The department will, from this amount, allocate R861-million to the Gautrain in what is called a "patronage fee".

On Tuesday next week, finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe is expected to announce this and other cash injections for other departments when he tables the provincial budget.

The multimillion-rand allocation comes after Nkomfe first tabled a draft report on the Provincial Adjustment Appropriation Bill, enabling the provincial treasury to take money from the province's revenue account and streamline it to departmental expenditure budgets to address shortfalls.

Last year, Neil Campbell, the DA's provincial spokesman on transport, called for the Gautrain contract to be made public, adding that reports hinted at the time that taxpayers would pay R700-million a year to subsidise its operational costs.

Yesterday, John Mashele, Gauteng treasury's deputy director-general for sustainable resource management, denied the R861-million was a subsidy.

"Gautrain's allocation was reduced when Gauteng treasury tabled the main budget [last year]. This was because discussions on some aspects of their spending plans had not been finalised. This necessitated treasury to allocate what was reduced through the adjustment process," he said.

Mashele said when the R27-billion Gautrain project was signed off by the Cabinet in 2006, a patronage fee to assist in covering "operating, maintenance and the private sector portion of the capital costs" was part of the deal.

The Gautrain, which started operating in June 2010, was billed as one of the most reliable modes of public transport in Gauteng. Despite this, questions were asked on whether the train would meet its target of 100000 passenger trips a day.

Gautrain spokesman Barbara Jensen said on average the train recorded between 45000 and 47000 passenger trips every weekday, and a further 18000 to 20000 passenger trips on its buses.

"The system is in very early stages of operation and is in what is known as the 'ramp-up' period.

"It's simply too early to give any accurate estimates of ridership or the patronage guarantee."

Jensen said the Gautrain Management Company, under the leadership of CEO Jack van der Merwe, was presently "exploring options" of expanding the project by adding stations at Samrand in Midrand and Modderfontein, east of Johannesburg.
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Another World Cup White Elephant? :rolleyes:
 
This is pretty normal for this kind of transport project. The first few years it burns cash as people get used to the idea.

Petrol is becoming a major expense and if they can keep increasing the Gautrain fees at inflation you will see them hit the 100000 trips per day number in the next few years.
 
Shayd said:
This is pretty normal for this kind of transport project. The first few years it burns cash as people get used to the idea.

Petrol is becoming a major expense and if they can keep increasing the Gautrain fees at inflation you will see them hit the 100000 trips per day number in the next few years.
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I think they could reach it if increasing the frequency in the current peak times. They would also need to build more parking at the stations (those are currently packed) and improve the bus routes.
 
they should have consultant us Taxi owners. Our model generates money everyday. And we cater for all. We know the routes well
 
I like the Gautrain. I use it regularly and it works pretty well. It's just a bit too busy during peak periods - not pleasant being squished up against sweaty people during a hot summer afternoon.
 
Cool E said:
they should have consultant us Taxi owners. Our model generates money everyday. And we cater for all. We know the routes well
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Yes, they should rather have mini bus shuttles contracted and service the different suburbs. Those metered taxi's outside the stations are rediculously expensive. If it costs say R30 to get me to my suburb close enough to my home I would take it easily. No I have to pay R80 for a metered taxi at R10/km
 
Cool E said:
they should have consultant us Taxi owners. Our model generates money everyday. And we cater for all. We know the routes well
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Your model runs on infrastructure you don't pay for.
 
Cool E said:
they should have consultant us Taxi owners. Our model generates money everyday. And we cater for all. We know the routes well
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Set my foot in one of your death traps! Not a chance in the world. Until the barbaric taxi drivers become civilised and start driving decently there is no hope in hell for it to happen.
 
That's what government is supposed to do. Meet the public half-way to subsidize public transport... Either way, in the end... we still pay for it!
 
With Gauteng's population this comes down to the equivalent of about R80 per person per year. I'd gladly give my little bit of tax for something that actually works and means something for me.
 
Garyvdh said:
http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/02/27/r861m-gautrain-bill



Another World Cup White Elephant? :rolleyes:
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Sadly yes. Imagine the interest on all that subsidy money. The project is in its 3th year and sadly nowhere near break-even. And even if it manages to show a small profit someday, it will never ever cover all the lost interest on the capital (never mind the billions of the capital itself). What a monumental waste. With all this wasted billions we could have build an internet infrastructure rivaling the project they are developing in Australia. Quite a number of people could have worked from home. The population would have saved more transport money then they save with the gautrain AND should have had a very fast internet :D
 
phoneJunky said:
Yes, they should rather have mini bus shuttles contracted and service the different suburbs. Those metered taxi's outside the stations are rediculously expensive. If it costs say R30 to get me to my suburb close enough to my home I would take it easily. No I have to pay R80 for a metered taxi at R10/km
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Don't know about your station, but at Sandton they only have taxis using a flat rate fee schedule which works out close to double the meter rate.

I have to phone a driver to pick me up accross the road to get the meter rate.
 
Messugga said:
I like the Gautrain. I use it regularly and it works pretty well. It's just a bit too busy during peak periods - not pleasant being squished up against sweaty people during a hot summer afternoon.
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The next step is to increase frequency, they have already moved to 8 car trains from 4 car in the morning. I remember then mentioning that at maximum they could have 8 car trains running every 3 minutes to give them a station to station capacity of 30000 per hour.

Frankly it can only go up from here. Just give it a few more years. A Gautrain every 3 minutes ftw.
 
CR34M3 said:
With Gauteng's population this comes down to the equivalent of about R80 per person per year. I'd gladly give my little bit of tax for something that actually works and means something for me.
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Would happily pay more tax for them to radically expand the Gautrain system myself
 
Part of the reason, if not the main reason for etolls is to make road traffic expensive and force people onto this useless train.
Indeed useless. It is fast and avoids traffic, but bus service is erratic, it has a very limited route and pathetic time table and is not cheap.

For example on the stupidity of the train time table, 60,000 people at loftus except for super rugby night games, the train service ends before the match ends, so it can't be used as a mode of transport for rugby supporters for these games, what a waste.
 
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