The feasibility study on the possible expansion of the 80 km Gautrain (South Africa) system should be completed by January next year, says Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) CEO Jack van der Merwe.
The proposed routes include a link from the existing Gautrain Park station, underneath the city, to Westgate, a link from the existing Gautrain Rhodesfield station to Boksburg another one from the existing Gautrain Sandton station to Randburg and Honeydew and a link from Naledi, in Soweto, to Mamelodi, through either the proposed Gautrain Samrand station or the existing Gautrain Midrand station.
The proposed rail expansion routes were planned around this land use development plan.
For example, the proposed Naledi – Mamelodi line could have as many as 14 stations.
A study by consultants KPMG has shown that the existing Gautrain has spurred on developments to the value of R46-billion (USD 3.9 billion). “The system has produced massive secondary benefits – more than 1.5 times its costs.”
Van der Merwe says that the expansion project has been registered with government as a public-private partnership and is part of the Gauteng government’s new 25-year Integrated Transport Master Plan (ITMP25).
“The ITMP25 wants to provide more certainty on three aspects: what the economy will do, what the population will do and how land in Gauteng will be used.”
ITMP25 provides for a land use plan to integrate all of the province’s existing inhabitants, as well as the newcomers into the small economic heartland of South Africa.
Source: engineeringnews.co.za
Share on:
