Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Dr Ismail Vadi, today announced the yearly revisions to the Gautrain fares and timetable, which will come into effect on Monday, 1 June 2015.
Fare revision
Announcing the revised fares today, Vadi said that commuter and airport passengers will, depending on their rail trip and time of the trip, experience an increase in fare of between four and six percent. This is in line with the Consumer Price Index.
Daily parking fare will increase by only R1, from R18 to R19. The bus fares during off peak periods, which passengers will recall were substantially decreased on 15 January 2015 has stayed the same. However, for the first time in five years, the bus fare during peak period has increased by R1.
The multi-tiered fare structure that was introduced in the previous year on the general passenger services will remain unchanged. Therefore, users traveling with a period product and/or enter stations within the different time periods specified (Orange, Red or Green) will experience an approximate 5.5% increase. It is noted that a red fare (peak hour) is applicable only between 06:30 to 07:30 in the South and East bound directions while a green fare is applicable in off peak periods. The orange fare, which is the standard fare is applicable to peak periods (except where a red fare is specified) and on weekends. )
Some practical examples of fare increases are as follows:
- Sandton to Airport currently is R135 and as of the 1st June the fare will be R142 single trip
- Park Station to Pretoria is currently R64 during peak and R58 during off-peak. As from the 1st June 2015 the new fare will be R68 during peak and R61 during off-peak.
- Pretoria to Rhodesfield is currently R61 during peak and R55 during off-peak. As from the 1st June 2015 the new fare will be R64 during peak and R58 during off-peak.
The fare structure also aims to promote balanced usage of the trains, buses and parking facilities and to ensure that the Gautrain remains price-attractive to its respective target markets, particularly private vehicle users.
Vadi said that the Gautrain remains a highly cost-effective, safe, reliable and convenient transport solution for many commuters in Gauteng. Independent research has shown that commuters have high satisfaction ratings for the Gautrain. Passengers are particularly pleased with the punctuality, safety, cleanliness of the service and the timely information provided to users. So far this year, monthly train punctuality and availability has consistently exceeded 98 percent.
Gautrain’s weekday train patronage now exceeds 56,000 passengers per day and its bus patronage is on average 22,000 per day.
Time table changes
Vadi said that he was pleased that train service intervals during peak periods will reduce from 12 minute to 10 minute intervals, increasing the number of trains from five to six per peak hour. This will address the overcrowding experienced by commuters during peak hours.
The earlier and later departure times on the service between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport, that were introduced recently, remain unchanged. More details will be made available at stations and other media i.e. the website. The bus services at the different stations will for now remain unchanged.
Year-on-year train patronage has grown by nearly 11 percent. This is strong confirmation of the attractiveness of the Gautrain to thousands of Gauteng’s daily commuters.
For detailed fares and time tables customers can log on to the Gautrain website www.gautrain.co.za or contact the Gautrain call centre on 0800 (GAUTRAIN) 42887246 by 08:00 tomorrow.
Contact person:
Dr. Ingrid Jensen, Executive Manager Reputation, GMA
E-mail: ingridj@gautrain.co.za
Cell: 083 457 8715
