Name of the project and location
Gautrain rapid-rail link, Gauteng.

Project description
The Gautrain project involves a modern state-of-the-art rail connection, linking Sandton, Johannesburg, Tshwane and the OR Tambo International Airport (formerly Johannesburg International Airport). The network, which will consist of approximately 80 km of railway line and which may be extended in the future, will be made up of two links - one between Tshwane and Johannesburg and between Sandton and Rhodesfield for commuters and another from OR Tambo International Airport to Sandton for business and leisure tourists.

A dedicated service for local and international air passengers will be operated between OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton, with a possibility of decentralised check-in facilities available at Sandton station depending on international aviation regulations. Apart from the three anchor stations at Johannesburg Park station, Tshwane and OR Tambo International Airport, there will initially be seven other stations: Hatfield, Centurion, Midrand, Sandton, Rosebank, Rhodesfield and Marlboro.

The project is expected to generate numerous benefits for the people of Gauteng, including economic development, job creation, a world class transport system and environmental benefits.

The Bombela Consortium was appointed as the concession company to design, build, operate and maintain the Gautrain over rival Gauliwe.

In announcing Bombela as preferred bidder in June 2005, Premier Shilowa advised that the consortium had exceeded most of the targets that government has set for the project. These include a 15,3% target for equity participation, which Bombela set at 25,6%; a 32% target for procurement from black economic-empowerment companies, which Bombela set at 41%; and a 32% target for subcontracting to empowerment companies, which Bombela exceeded by 10%. Bombela has also set aside R54-million for social investment programmes.

Value
According to Gautrain Management Agency's CEO, Jack van der Merwe the Gautrain will cost 4,6% more than initial estimates owing to the rand's drop against the dollar, increasing costs of machinery imports.

The rail project will now cost R25,1-billion and not R24-billion.

Duration
The construction period allowed for is 54 months.

The Sandton to OR Tambo link and the link between Sandton and Midrand will be completed and tested in 45 months - in time for the 2010 soccer World Cup - and the remaining five stations, linking Sandton with Johannesburg Park station and Midrand with Hatfield, will be completed by March 1, 2011.

Breakdown of main contracts
Construction, station developments, technology, feeder and distribution systems, rolling stock and traction, signalling and control systems and commercial-property development in and around stations. The latter aspect, that is, commercial-property development in and around stations, is not part of the current scope. However, Bombela Consortium has commissioned research into land-use planning in these ‘zones' and will be discussing such developments with the client during the process from preferred bidder to financial close.

Client
Gautrain has been structured as a public-private partnership project. The client is the Gauteng Provincial Government. Bombela Concession Company is the private sector partner and comprises Bombardier Transportation (25%), Bouygues Travaux Public (25%), Murray & Roberts (25%), and Strategic Partners Group (SPG) (25%) as shareholders.

Latest developments
The Gautrain project office has revealed that a 885-t tunnel-boring machine (TBM), which will be used for tunnelling in the construction of the Gautrain rapid-rail link, is scheduled to arrive in South Africa in October.

The TBM will initially be used for a portion of three kilometers of tunnelling at Parktown Ridge. The stretch of tunnelling comprises soft rock and waterlogged soil that is not suitable for drilling and blasting, the statement said. The 160-m long machine will excavate a tunnel of 6,8 m in diameter with a ground cover of 30 m at some places. The excavation of a drill-and-blast shaft for the underground station at Park station is 74% completed.

Once the vertical shaft is completed, the excavation of the horizontal underground tunnel can start.

Besides the three kilometers to be tunnelled by the TBM, the rest of the tunnelling will be drilled and blasted. 

The area to be drilled by the TBM has a shallow water table and will involve drilling underwater.
TBM boring will start in January 2008. 



Meanwhile, building materials firm Infrasors has been awarded a three-year contract to supply aggregate and crusher sand to the Bombela Civils joint venture, the consortium responsible for the Gautrain project.

The R26-million contract is for the supply of about 12 000 t/m of aggregate and crusher sand from Infrasors' subsidiary Lyttelton Dolomite.



The material will be supplied to Bombela's Centurion batching plant, for the production of concrete, mainly for the construction of box culverts which will house the Gautrain rails in the Centurion area.



Two additional crushers, as well as additional structures and conveyor belts required to manage this additional supply capacity at Lyttelton, are being installed, and will be ready in time for the first deliveries which are expected during September 2007.

Participants
Bohlweki Environmental (environmental-impact assessment and biophysical and socioeconomic evaluation), Standard Bank and Rand Merchant Bank (lead arrangers, underwriters and sole lenders to the Gautrain project), Nedbank (agent bank to the lender to manage the financial transactions and bank issuing project bonds to contractors), Arup SA (independent certifier), Tractionel Enterprise (supply and installation of the OCDS), Thales Transportation Systems and Sims (automatic fare collection system) and Infrasors (aggregate and crusher sand).

Construction materials
Tunnels are being constructed using traditional drill and blast methods, as well as tunnel boring machines.

On budget and on time?
According to Van der Merwe, the project is one or two weeks behind schedule, but is progressing well. The project has spent R5,89-billion so far.

Contact details for project information
Gautrain Management Agency CEO, Jack van der Merwe, tel (011) 997 8900, fax (011) 997 8901/2/3, email Jackvdm@gpg.gov.za.
Bombela Concession Company communications and marketing executive, Yolisa Tyantsi, tel (011) 997 8222, fax (011) 997 8011 or email yolisa.tyantsi@bombela.com.