Johannesburg - The Gauteng Transport Department is moving forward with its planned Gautrain route expansion.
The proposed expansion has been a subject of discussion for a lengthy period of time. The Gauteng provincial government commissioned the Gautrain Management Agency to develop a detailed strategy to improve travel around Gauteng. A critical point of the strategy was to ascertain the possibility of extending the rapid rail network in Gauteng.
Gauteng Public Transport and Roads Infrastructure MEC Jacob Mamabolo had announced the new route for phase 1 of the proposed Gauteng Rapid Rail Integrated Network (GRRIN) project.
Mamabolo detailed the process that had preceded the announcement of the expansion as intensive.
He said: “There has been a lot of technical expertise, analysis assessment that has gone into the rail reserve determination. We had to bring in a lot of experts, do a cost-benefit analysis and look at what is feasible and what is possible.”
The next step will be to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment, which will form part of the preliminary design for phase one of the proposed extension.
This will also include consultation with affected parties and stakeholders.
Mamabolo said: “It is important to note that the route determination is an important milestone in the Province’s rail planning process and that we are still in the early stages of the process of defining the future rail reserve that will be undertaken with consultation with all interested and affected parties and stakeholders.’’
- The published route for Phase 1 of the GRRIN Extensions begins at the proposed location of a new station at Little Falls, which is located to the east of Hendrik Potgieter Road in Willowbrook.
- From the proposed Little Falls Station, the route runs in a north easterly direction towards Zandspruit, where the route will pass to the west of Jackal Creek Golf Estate.
- The route then changes in a southeasterly direction towards Cosmo City and a newly proposed Cosmo City Station.
- From the Cosmo City Station, the route will continue in a southeasterly direction towards the newly proposed Randburg Station, passing through North Riding, Olivedale, Bryanston, and Ferndale.
- The route will continue in a southeasterly direction through Randburg, Bordeaux, and Hurlingham. Once it has reached Sandhurst, the route will change direction towards the existing Sandton Station, where an upgraded station is proposed.
- From Sandton, the route will run in a northeasterly direction through Sandton, Sandown, Marlboro, and Alexandra towards the existing Marlboro Station, where the existing station will be upgraded to accommodate the new alignment.
This process of route determination will be undertaken for each phase of the proposed GRRIN Extensions.
IOL