South Africa’s Gautrain whisks passengers around the country’s traffic-clogged Gauteng capital region quickly and safely. Completed in 2012, the system is an attempt to both get people out of their cars and revitalise the centers of Johannesburg and Pretoria.

The Gautrain at the Marlboro station. All photos by the author.

The 80-kilometer (50-mile) rail system is entirely separated from the existing Metrorail commuter rail system, allowing for fast express service between the center of Joahnnesburg, O.R. Tambo International airport and Pretoria. The majority of the system runs above ground, allowing for vistas of Gauteng’s rolling urban sprawl, with a subway through central Johannesburg.

A Gautrain map showing above ground and underground segments.

Gautrain operates three service patterns: North-South (central Johannesburg to central Pretoria), East-West (Johannesburg’s Sandton business district to the Rhodesfield park-and-ride) and an airport express.

Gautrain service map.

The system takes a unique approach to its airport service. The first two carriages of the four-carriage East-West trainsets are for airport passengers only, allowing travellers to board at the Marlboro and Sandton stations but not at Rhodesfield station.

The platform at the O.R. Tambo airport station is only long enough for the first two carriages — or “airport express” portion — of trains. Work us underway to extend the platforms to accommodate four-carriage trainsets.

The last two carriages of a Gautrain trainset extending beyond the platform at the O.R. Tambo airport station.

South African urbanism

South Africa had many reasons to invest R26.5 billion ($1.92 billion) in the Gautrain, including cutting traffic congestion and promoting urbanism in the sprawling Gauteng region.

Gautrain has replaced about 21,300 daily car trips, an economic impact reportreleased in July shows.

In addition, the report says the rail system has driven significant additional investments in residential, commercial and office space throughout the region since it opened. This includes new transit-oriented development around some stations, including Sandton.

One of the things many South Africans mention when discussing Gautrain is the region’s focus on getting people into the center of Johannesburg outside work hours. They cite things like weekend festivals and farmers markets that are accessible with the train as part of this effort.

Safety is a key part of any effort to get people out of their cars and onto the train. Johannesburg has a reputation for crime, something that Gautrain takes very seriously. Security guards were patrolling the trains and were visible inside each station on a recent roundtrip between the airport and Marlboro.

Efforts to get people to ride Gautrain seem to be working. In addition to the previously mentioned traffic reductions, the system was averaging nearly 60,000 weekday riders in March and ridership continues to grow, its 2015 annual report states.

For more on transit developments in other cities and around the world, check out Greater Greater Washington’s coverage of Cape Town, Dallas, Hartford, San Diego and San Francisco.