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Gautrain Rapid Rail TO find out more about the Gautrain, click here RELATED LINKS: Gautrain to dig deep hole in Sandton WITHIN a month Sandton residents will see the beginnings of a vast hole some 10 storeys deep being excavated in their suburb, as the construction of the Gautrain station gets off the ground. Read more Gauteng's bullet train gamble THE highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria is the busiest in the southern hemisphere, carrying 300 000 passengers each week day between the country's commercial heart and its administrative capital. Read more

Sandton parking to move for Gautrain Work on the Gautrain swings into action, with the municipal parking area in Sandton becoming a construction office. The taxi rank is also moving. October 19, 2006 By Lucille Davie THIS week the municipal parking area in Sandton will be transformed into a construction office for the Gautrain. From Thursday, 19 October the council's parking area will be converted into a public parking area; staff who normally use the parking will be accommodated in the Sandton City parking garage. At the same time the Sandton taxi rank will be relocated around the corner in front of the Sandton library. These changes will be in place for the next four years. Large machinery will be moved into place, to begin digging the 42m tunnel for the Gautrain Sandton Station. The area will be fenced but a two-metre wide pedestrian path will be provided for pedestrian traffic between the parking area and the council buildings. "Pamphlets are being distributed to all people currently using this parking area," says Barbara Jensen, the spokesperson for the Gautrain. The site arrangement during construction The estimated opening date for the new public parking area in West Road is December this year. The estimated opening of the temporary taxi rank is February 2007. Construction of the 80km Gautrain will start in Johannesburg, with work starting on stations at Park Station, Rosebank, Sandton, Marlboro and Midrand, and the link eastwards to Rhodesfield Station and the OR Tambo International Airport. Intersection and road upgrades will take place at Rosebank, Park Station and Sandton. Shafts will be sunk and work on tunnelling will now begin. This work will last for 45 months and it is hoped it will be completed in time for the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup. The second phase of the construction will include the three Tshwane stations of Centurion, Pretoria and Hatfield, and will be completed by March 2011. The map shows the new locations of the parking and taxi rank areas. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za