Capacity problems, extended hours for Gautrain

[John Ashworth]

Bombela ponders capacity problems, extended hours as Gautrain enters year three of operation

Gautrain ridership has seen average growth of 5% each month since May, with between 37 000 and 40 000 people currently using the train each day. The highest daily number to date stands at 42 000 train passengers.

These numbers “are significantly higher than we anticipated at this stage of the operation”...

An independent survey conducted for Bombela each month by Catalyst Research indicates that users rate the punctuality of the Gautrain, as well as how clean, comfortable and easy to use it is, at well above 90%...

[Steve Appleton]

“are significantly higher than we anticipated at this stage..."

There seems to be two sides to the Gautrain story. Here the ridership quantity is being praised but elsewhere I have seen statements that reflect a dissapointment at the poor and slow uptake. Which is it?

[Rob Jamieson]

On one hand they say the current number of passengers is below expetation and claim a subsidy from government for this and then on the other hand they say passenger numbers exceed their expertations. It's just confusing.

They constantly claim that the system is designed to convey 100,000 passengers per day but I think that this is only achievable if the flow of passengers is spread out evenly throughout the day.The majority of commuters only use the system during the peak periods to get to work and back and I can't see this changing. During peak times they struggle with capacity as they do not have sufficient trainsets at present to really meet this peak demand. If you look at their Facebook site, you will see countless complaints about overfull trains during peak times and the standard answer seems to be that the trains are designed for standing passengers. But in reality, they don't seem to understand that the trains are so full that sometimes passengers are left behind on stations because there is no more space onboard for them to get in. It also happens that at some stations, passengers cannot get off the train due passengers not being able to reach the exists in time before the trains starts moving again. Another common complaint is that to use the Gautrain is not regarded as cheap and as you are paying a premium to travel aboard this so called world class service, commuters expect a safe and comfortable trip, not to be squashed like sardines into a train coach that is clearly not designed to carry that number of passengers. It is actually unsafe and it is only a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

I really think that the initial research into passenger numbers done before the opening of the system seems to have been way off and urgent important decisions to address the capacity problems now need to be made, not tomorrow or at some time in the future. This could really be a world class operation, but the capacity problems need urgent attention to avoid the whole system failing and becoming a white elephant.

[Steve Appleton]

Rob, thanks. You raise some interesting observations. Commuter rail anywhere has to have the capacity to cater for peak hours and accept less than economic services outside this. Most have some sort of peak hour alleviation policy such as off-peak fare reductions, Gautrain does not.
It also seems that their projections for the ORT service uptake were incorrect too. I believe they very soon realised that the 2-car platforms at ORT are too limiting and will need lengthening to accommodate at least a 4-car train. I also do not understand why at least some of the ORT services could not start and end at Jhb Park station instead of forcing a time-consuming train change at Sandton for Park and Rosebank passengers.

[Derek Walker]

I do know there have been a lot of complaints about the parking getting full at many of the stations and people haveing to ride around for ages trying to get parking, and occasionally have to abandon the search and drive to work instead. I do a once weekly trip from Marlborough to Pretoria and they have been building on the parking there since before June and it is a mission to know which part of the parking is open and whether any parking is actually available. My trips are also outside of peak hour and I have only seen the train slightly full, never jam packed. However, a lot of passengers from Pretoria do bail at Marlborough to catch the airport link.