Bad news for people who use the Gautrain

Gautrain has suspended its train service between Rosebank and Park Station after illegal drilling on private property situated above a section of tunnel caused soil and water to leak into it.

Speaking to SABC News, Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) CEO Tshepo Kgobe said the company has had to pull buses out of other services to transport passengers between the two stations.

“The Gautrain is still in business. We are running services all the way to Rosebank, and then we have 7km that we have to run into Park Station with buses,” he said.

“It is not the easiest terrain because you have to go over the Brakfontein Ridge to get to the other side, but our buses have been handling it for the past 14 years, and they will be comfortable with that.”

He explained that Gautrain has had to remove buses from other services to meet the Rosebank to Park Station leg demand.

“We have done this before, and we are ready for our passengers tomorrow,” he added.

Kgobe said the company is embarking on legal action against the perpetrators on the basis of multiple contraventions.

“The processes of legal action have already started. There are contraventions of by-laws. There are contraventions of the Gauteng Transport Infrastructure Act,” he said.

He explained that the Act prevents anyone from building anything within a servitude without consulting the Gauteng Transport MEC, Kedibone Diale Tlabela.

“In addition to that, the tunnel is a protected servitude. For you to build or dig a hole above the tunnel, you need our permission to do so,” said Kgobe.

He urged people in Gauteng to stop with “general lawlessness” and follow their local laws and by-laws.

“We hope this general lawlessness stops. If you’re going to build a house, even just a single-story house, you have to submit the plans to the municipality for them to approve those plans,” said Kgobe.

“Us damaging the Gautrain tunnel, us damaging traffic lights and removing them, it is a criminal act. Those criminal acts must be prosecuted.”

He said repairs to the tunnel would begin on Sunday, 16 February 2025.

Big Gautrain expansion plans

In August 2024, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi reiterated the province’s plans to expand the Gautrain rail network by 150km.

The current 80km network will expand to 230km at an estimated cost of R120 billion over two years. The new network will add access to areas like Soweto, Mamelodi, Fourways, Atteridgeville, Vaal, Lanseria, and Springs.

“To uphold the position of Gauteng as the economic hub, we will accelerate our infrastructure investment,” said Lesufi.

“In less than two years, the Gauteng government will invest R120 billion for the expansion of the Gautrain.”

He said the project would create an estimated 125,000 jobs in five years and that the bidding process would close towards the end of 2024. However, it is unclear whether the bidding process has concluded.

The Gautrain network expansion will play a critical role in the new high-speed rail planned for the route between Johannesburg and Polokwane, announced the year prior.

Kgobe said Gautrain had significantly increased the scope of its expansion plans.

“We are now planning for a much wider network than the initial one that had been released,” he said.

In May 2024, Kgobe said the initial expansion project was progressing well, adding that Phase 1 of the proposed extensions from Malboro Station to Little Falls Station had been finalised.

“The extension project to add 150-kilometre of rail network to the existing 80-kilometre Gautrain system is also taking shape,” he said.