Gautrain in full service as Park Station link opens
NICKY SMITH: Published:2012/06/07 07:08:21 AM
Operation of link between Rosebank and Park stations was delayed by technical problems and contractual disputes
TWELVE years after the project was announced and six years since construction began, the Gautrain begins its full service between Hatfield Station in Pretoria and Park Station in central Johannesburg on Thursday.
The opening of this last link was delayed from its initial start of July last year because the section of tunnel between Rosebank and Park stations has been dogged by technical problems and contractual disputes.
Arbitration to settle a dispute over the amount of water passing through the tunnel that connects the stations will begin in September. In the meantime, the route has been deemed safe to allow for full operation of the Gautrain service.
Bombela Concession Company, which won the 15-year concession to manage the Gautrain, said on Wednesday it was “delighted” that the last leg of the network would now be commissioned.
“We received the final go-ahead from the Railway Safety Regulator this afternoon and we decided that we should go ahead as soon as possible,” said Kelebogile Machaka, a spokeswoman for Bombela.
The first train was to leave Park Station at 5.24am on Thursday morning, and the last would would depart from the newly opened station at 8.30pm.
Commuters between central Johannesburg and Rosebank who have been relying on a bus to ferry them between the two stations will cut their journey time from about 25 minutes to between three and four minutes by using the rail link, Ms Machaka said.
smithn@bdfm.co.za
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