Driving versus the Gautrain — the winner is clear

A MyBroadband analysis has revealed that using the Gautrain for your daily commute is generally more affordable than driving South Africa’s most affordable car, the Suzuki S-Presso, with one passenger.

Driving the Suzuki S-Presso with one passenger was only more affordable than the Gautrain on one route: Kempton Park to Sandton Station.

MyBroadband compared the cost of riding the Gautrain to and from work to buying and driving the Suzuki S-Presso 1.0GL manual, priced at R178,900, along the same routes.

We chose four popular routes for the comparison:

• Sandton Station to Centurion Station
• Rosebank Station to Midrand Station
• Kempton Park (OR Tambo) Station to Hatfield Station
• Kempton Park (OR Tambo) Station to Sandton Station

Assuming commuters will be travelling during peak demand times, we used Gautrain peak-hour fares for our calculations.

The fare is R76 each way for the Sandton to Centurion route, R55 each way between Rosebank Station and Midrand Station, and R248 each way for the route between Kempton Park Station and Hatfield Station.

The Kempton Park to Sandton Station route is one of the shortest compared. However, this had one of the highest peak-hour fares at R219 each way as it is Gautrain’s service to OR Tambo International airport.

Assuming an average of 22 workdays per month, the monthly costs of travelling these routes using the Gautrain are as follows:

• Sandton Station to Centurion Station — R3,344
• Rosebank Station to Midrand Station — R2,420
• Kempton Park (OR Tambo) Station to Hatfield Station — R10,912
• Kempton Park (OR Tambo) Station to Sandton Station — R9,636

For motorists driving the Suzuki S-Presso, we factored financing, insurance, maintenance, and fuel costs into our calculations.

Regarding finance, we assumed a 60-month period with 0% residual and deposit. At an interest rate of 13%, the finance costs for the Suzuki S-Presso 1.0GL manual are R4,167 monthly.

According to Tracker, the approximate cost per kilometre for the Suzuki S-Presso 1.0 GL Manual is R4.84/km. This combined cost includes fuel, insurance, and maintenance.

For three of the four routes, driving with just one passenger is more expensive than using the Gautrain. However, the Gautrain fare for the Kempton Park to Sandton route is more expensive than driving.

Using the Gautrain between Sandton and Centurion could save workers around R8,320 per month, and using the Gautrain along the Rosebank to Midrand route could save them around R6,560 per month.

The savings are slightly less at just under R4,400 for the Kempton Park Station to Hatfield Station commute.

Driving the Suzuki S-Presso 1.0GL manual was slightly cheaper than riding the Gautrain along the Kempton Park to Sandton Station route at R9,214 per month.

Using the Gautrain would cost R9,636 per month for the same route.

It’s important to emphasise that these savings pertain to driving the Suzuki, with the driver being the only passenger. However, carpooling has a marked impact on reducing driving costs.

This is assuming carpooling participants contribute to the car’s running costs. It is assumed that the vehicle owner will pay the full finance amount.

By carpooling with just one additional person, the cost of driving the Suzuki between Sandton Station and Centurion Station drops by nearly R3,750 per month.

However, it is still significantly more expensive than an individual using the Gautrain.

The same can be said for the Rosebank Station to Midrand Station route. Carpooling with one additional person reduces driving costs by roughly R2,410.

Carpooling with one additional person makes driving the two Kempton Park routes more affordable than riding the Gautrain.

The table below compares the cost of driving the Suzuki S-Presso with one and two passengers to the cost of the month cost of using the Gautrain along popular routes.