Gunship
14th Jan 2003, 12:16
Ok ... ok I know this is about erroplanes and helikoptirs on this forum ... seriously this train will inprove a lot of traffic problems between Smuts and Pta / Jhb never mind the new proposed National airport at Waterkloof ... wait let me start a new thread on that one ;)
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Johannesburg - The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) renewed a call for the multi-billion rand Gautrain rapid rail project to be halted, to allow further substantive research into its feasibility, the chamber said in a statement on Tuesday.
The project aims to alleviate traffic congestion on the Ben Schoeman Highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The initial call to halt the project was made in JCCI's submission to the Bohlweki Environmental Impact Assessment Project in December last year.
JCCI CEO Marius De Jager said that in the course of the chamber's consultations with a range of stakeholders, transport experts, and professional associations, a number of concerns were identified.
De Jager said the chamber believed that several issues had not been sufficiently examined and that the value-for-money benefit needed to be further explored.
"Parliament itself should take an interest in the expenditure in excess of R7.5bn in initial outlay, plus ongoing subsidies of about R300m annually. We understand that the provincial legislature has also not debated the impact of this project on the province's broader commuter transport needs."
He said that converting private car users to the rapid rail system in sufficient numbers to make the project viable was not realistically achievable.
"No hard data, other than demand forecasting models, back up the claim in the Bohlweki Environmental Impact Assessment that a sufficient volume of motorists will be prepared to switch from the convenience of private cars to public transport to make the project financially sustainable, in which case, the government is committed to subsidising the shortfall," De Jager said.
"The success of the Gautrain project hinges on the efficiency of the feeder service in getting the commuter from door-to station-to door. Currently, public transportation in metropolitan Johannesburg is unco-ordinated, inadequate and not user-friendly. No comprehensive planning has been directed at this crucial aspect, it has just been left to the bidders. In our opinion this is highly irresponsible."
De Jager said one objective of the project was to correct the historical distortion of land development, which had contributed to the inadequate public transportation system.
He asked how the proposal would contribute to addressing the transport problem in the wider community, which would be excluded from the project.
Another issue the chamber wanted investigated was the choice of a wide gauge track, which it said would require enormous additional costs.
De Jager said the JCCI was not a proponent of the "do nothing" alternative, and was fully supportive of government's policy to promote public transport. However, it was important that a project of such magnitude be investigated thoroughly and not driven from a "high political profile".
Godfrey Tsotetsi, the Gauteng provincial legislature chairman of the standing committee on public, transport, roads and works, disagreed with the chamber's call for the project to be halted.
Tsotetsi said that a feasibility study indicated that the project was viable.
He said it was natural to expect opposition to something new and different, but it was part of the transformation process and the government was confident the project "will fly".
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Johannesburg - The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) renewed a call for the multi-billion rand Gautrain rapid rail project to be halted, to allow further substantive research into its feasibility, the chamber said in a statement on Tuesday.
The project aims to alleviate traffic congestion on the Ben Schoeman Highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The initial call to halt the project was made in JCCI's submission to the Bohlweki Environmental Impact Assessment Project in December last year.
JCCI CEO Marius De Jager said that in the course of the chamber's consultations with a range of stakeholders, transport experts, and professional associations, a number of concerns were identified.
De Jager said the chamber believed that several issues had not been sufficiently examined and that the value-for-money benefit needed to be further explored.
"Parliament itself should take an interest in the expenditure in excess of R7.5bn in initial outlay, plus ongoing subsidies of about R300m annually. We understand that the provincial legislature has also not debated the impact of this project on the province's broader commuter transport needs."
He said that converting private car users to the rapid rail system in sufficient numbers to make the project viable was not realistically achievable.
"No hard data, other than demand forecasting models, back up the claim in the Bohlweki Environmental Impact Assessment that a sufficient volume of motorists will be prepared to switch from the convenience of private cars to public transport to make the project financially sustainable, in which case, the government is committed to subsidising the shortfall," De Jager said.
"The success of the Gautrain project hinges on the efficiency of the feeder service in getting the commuter from door-to station-to door. Currently, public transportation in metropolitan Johannesburg is unco-ordinated, inadequate and not user-friendly. No comprehensive planning has been directed at this crucial aspect, it has just been left to the bidders. In our opinion this is highly irresponsible."
De Jager said one objective of the project was to correct the historical distortion of land development, which had contributed to the inadequate public transportation system.
He asked how the proposal would contribute to addressing the transport problem in the wider community, which would be excluded from the project.
Another issue the chamber wanted investigated was the choice of a wide gauge track, which it said would require enormous additional costs.
De Jager said the JCCI was not a proponent of the "do nothing" alternative, and was fully supportive of government's policy to promote public transport. However, it was important that a project of such magnitude be investigated thoroughly and not driven from a "high political profile".
Godfrey Tsotetsi, the Gauteng provincial legislature chairman of the standing committee on public, transport, roads and works, disagreed with the chamber's call for the project to be halted.
Tsotetsi said that a feasibility study indicated that the project was viable.
He said it was natural to expect opposition to something new and different, but it was part of the transformation process and the government was confident the project "will fly".