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Johannesburg - Gauteng's rapid rail link will be ready and start commercial operations in time for the 2010 Fifa World Cup in two months' time.
In fact, the first group of passengers will be able to travel on the Gautrain airport link (between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport) three days before kick-off.
"Commercial operations will be starting on June 8," said Gautrain spokesperson Barbara Jensen.
The train is undergoing trial runs on the section "exactly like it would be in operation," said Jensen. She said the trains run according to scheduled commercial intervals of 10 minutes.
During trial runs, the Gautrain will not carry any passengers. The first passengers will be transported towards the end of the trial runs in the middle of May.
"Those passengers might be a chosen group like school pupils," said Jensen. The trial runs are the second test phase.
"Since the first Gautrain Electrostar train arrived at Sandton station on February 26, test running of trains between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport has been taking place on a daily basis," said Jensen.
Never part of the World Cup process, the Gautrain's airport link was fast-tracked to help ease travelling during the month-long soccer tournament. The provincial government has spent R27bn on the infrastructure project.
Jensen said all tunnel excavations - covering a distance of about 15.5km from Park Station in the CBD to Marlboro near the airport - were completed in September 2009. Track-laying and other civil works have also been completed.
The other leg of the project, which will link the airport to Pretoria and the Johannesburg CBD, is expected to be completed in 2011.
- Fin24.com