AFP/Johannesburg

Commuters wait to get on the Gautrain
The main link on Africa’s fastest railway opened yesterday to thousands of commuters who shuttled at 160kph between Johannesburg and the South African capital Pretoria.
Passengers applauded as the first Gautrain trains left their stations at 5.25am (0325 GMT), from the university district of Hatfield in Pretoria and the Rosebank commercial centre in Johannesburg.
“We are now running at 160kph. Please sit back, relax and enjoy the ride,” the conductor said.
About 11,000 passengers had taken the new line by mid-day, with security guards in full view to ease worries about security in a nation with one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime.
“Everything is running perfectly smoothly, the trains are on time,” said Alain Esteve, director-general of the Bombela Operating Company, a subsidiary of the French firm RATP.
He expects more passengers at the weekend as people come out to try out the $3.8bn Gautrain, which is meant to ease traffic in the tiny but wealthy province of Gauteng.
“We aim to transform transportation in this country. This is the first step,” said transport ministry official Nirdesh Bhikshu.
The first line running from Johannesburg’s Sandton business district opened three days before the football World Cup last year.
The new line runs 56km, with one final station in downtown Johannesburg expected to open by the end of the year, after engineers deal with water seeping into the final stretch of tunnel.
“The system is designed to accommodate 100,000 passengers a day at the start. It will be probably somewhat less at the beginning, but it should go up when people realise that the train is efficient and cost-effective,” Bombela spokesman Errol Braithwaite said.
Bombela includes French construction giant Bouygues and Canada’s Bombardier, the world’s railway leader.
Although the first day had a quiet start, thousands braved the chilly morning and took the train for the experience.
“It was a smooth and exciting journey and we are very pleased,” said Grahame Gertsch from Pretoria. “We came to Joburg for coffee, but it’s too early, so we brought our own.”
Another Pretoria resident, Marie van Hoof joined her husband for breakfast in Rosebank, near his office at petrochemical giant Sasol.
“He commutes every day to Rosebank, where he works at Sasol. He usually has to wake up at 4.15am, but now he can get up at 6am. It makes a big difference,” she said.
At the Midrand station, halfway down the line, student Victoria Seipati said that she would take the train every day to Pretoria.
“I think the train is convenient for me. It will save me time and money, compared to the (minibus) taxis.
“I won’t be stuck in traffic,” she said, adding that she expected the train to cut her transport costs by 40%.
For many, the main appeal was flying past the traffic on the N1 highway.
“Cheaper? Not really. It’s convenient,” said Ncumisa Ndungane, a public servant on her way to Pretoria. “I think it will be better than being on the N1, basically.”
The Gautrain makes the trip between the cities in 38 minutes, compared to more than two hours on the highway at rush hour, and less than half the time of the journey on the ageing Metrorail system, which connects the region’s townships to the cities.