April 24, 2006
By Lucille Davie
THERE will be no major disruptions to operations at Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) during construction of the Gautrain.
According to Chris Andrew, a member of the Bombela technical team, there will be "minimal disruption" to operations at the JIA. The Bombela Consortium was selected in July 2005 as the preferred bidder to build the train.
"Bombela has worked in close conjunction with Acsa [the Airports Company of South Africa] in planning the design and construction of the Gautrain JIA Station in order to achieve this objective."
The shell of the JIA Gautrain station will be built by Acsa, "as part of its current upgrades and additions to the terminal buildings", Andrew says.
"Bombela will construct the viaduct structure carrying the railway line and station platforms, the railway line itself and all the installations and finishings within the station, concourse and link areas. These activities will have minimal impact on the JIA."
In addition, the train will probably extend eastwards and westwards once the initial line from Sandton to the airport is laid by 2010.
"The route can be extended as part of the east-west link, in the future," he said at a briefing last week, called by the Sandton Central Management District for those people affected in and around Sandton.
The high-speed Gautrain, construction of which is expected to begin in May once the final paperwork is signed, will consist of 10 stations between Park Station in the Johannesburg CBD and Hatfield Station in Tshwane, with a link eastward to the JIA, a total distance of 80 kilometres. The train will travel at speeds of between 160 kilometres an hour and 180 kilometres an hour.
Construction of the JIA-Sandton Station-Pretoria Station link is expected to take four years.
Sandton Station
The link to the airport will run from Sandton Station, via Marlboro and then eastwards for 15 kilometres to a station in Rhodesfield in Kempton Park. From there it will pass underneath the R24 and head for a station built underneath the airport terminal buildings.
The Sandton Station, which is to be the flagship station, will take about three years to build. There are to be different trains for commuters and air passengers, and the fare for the 20km trip from Sandton to the JIA will be R70. The trip is expected to take 15 minutes.
The other fares will be: R10 for the 6km trip between Sandton and Rosebank Stations; R13 for the 12km trip between Sandton and Park Stations; and R20 for the 45km trip between Sandton and Pretoria Stations. It is expected that there will be some 120 000 passenger trips each day.
The trains will run from 5.30am to 8.30pm, at between 10- and 30-minute intervals.
During construction two northbound traffic lanes will remain open along Rivonia Road between West Street and Sandton Drive. The southbound traffic will be diverted from West Street, into Katherine Street, joining Rivonia Road again at Sandton Drive.
The site of the Rosebank Station, presently Modutec Office Furniture, will be cleared by the end of April. During construction three or four blocks of Oxford Road between Baker and Jellicoe avenues, will be closed.
Once the Gautrain lines have been completed by 2010, the train can be extended south of Joburg and north, east and west of Tshwane, says Andrew.
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