Forget all that!
Forget the numerous delays and the many postponed start dates; the ever-escalating costs and the vast amounts of Government money spent; the fact that a foreign consortium will earn the profits and that water seepage problems will delay completion until the end of the year.
Forget all that - it is finally here!
Eleven years in the making and desperately anticipated, the Gautrain has started operating between Pretoria to Johannesburg!
80km of tracks now finally connect 10 stations; 24 trains run every 12 minutes; trains are 160km/h fast and expected to cut congestion by 20% - according to commuters the Gautrain is the “best thing that ever happened to South Africa”.
And even though you can clearly not put a price on saving thousands of commuters three hours of sitting in traffic every day; on fewer accidents and better air quality; on fathers returning home before their children have gone to bed; on people not having to drive like complete lunatics to beat the traffic anymore; on making the whole province happy and an the entire nation proud…
... even though all this is clearly priceless, rumour has it that costs for the prestige project totaled R31 billion (€3.1 billion)… up from R24.4 billion at the beginning of the year… up from R20 billion in 2005... up from R4 billion when the idea was born back in 2002.
But let’s forget about that…
... let’s not think about what else tax payers’ money could have been spent on; how much was actually used for building and construction and how much for “opening doors”; and that the Gautrain is a luxury treat that the majority South African’s will never be able to afford.
Let’s forget all that and welcome the Hero of the Year – what do I say, of the Century!
Is it a car? No!Is it a plane? No!
Is it a space jet? No
What is it then?
It’s the Gautrain – the best thing that ever happened to South Africa!!!
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