Final Two Consortia Bid For South Africa's $700 Million Rapid Rail System Construction

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Two consortia have successfully gone through the contract pre-qualifying phase for South Africa's $700 million Gautrain rapid rail link. They are the Bombela and Gauliwe consortia. The lead company in Bombela is the company Bombardier Transportation (TSE:BBD; Brussels:BOM; Frankfurt: BBDd.F) (Montreal, Canada), the Canadian rolling stock manufacturer. Other companies are; Bouygues Travaux Publics (Paris) the French international contractor, RATP International (Paris), which operates the metro and commuter railways in Paris and the local South African civil engineering companies, Basil Read (JSE: BASREAD)(Johannesburg, South Africa), Concor Holdings (JSE: CONCOR)(Johannesburg, South Africa) and Murray and Roberts (JSE: M&R) (Johannesburg, South Africa).

Gauliwe consists of energy company and rolling stock manufacturer Alstom (Paris, France), Spanish transport infrastructure specialist Dragados Concesiones (Madrid, Spain), Germany's Siemens (Munich), the French national railway company's subsidiary SNCFI, and South Africa's civil engineering company Grinaker LTA, a subsidiary of Aveng Limited (JSE:AVENG) (Johannesburg, South Africa).

The winning consortium will build the 80km of express rail track between Johannesburg and Pretoria and Johannesburg International Airport and the eight stations currently planned. The selected consortium will operate the line for 25 years, after which the ownership will revert to the state. The train is due to start operating in 2006.

The rapid rail system rail will transport passengers at 160kph and cut the travel time between the commercial hub of Sandton and the airport to 15 minutes and the intercity link-up to 35 minutes and is seen as an integral part of the Gauteng infrastructure development plan, which will also see the intercity motorway widened, with two lanes set aside for fast electronically tolled traffic. The $150 million road scheme is also due to start operating in 2006.

Final preparation of proposals and preliminary designs, which include bridging and tunneling, will start at the end of August when an environmental impact study has been completed and route adjustments have been considered. The preferred bidder will be announced in mid 2003.

Gauteng is South Africa's smallest province by area but is responsible for 60% of the country's economic activity and provides jobs over 30% of the nation's formally employed workforce.