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After long negotiations, Gauteng Province has signed the agreement with the Bombela consortium for building, operating and maintaining the Gautrain rapid rail project from Johannesburg to Pretoria.

Though the provincial government said nothing in its statement about the financial implications of the deal, it is understood that the Gautrain will require funding overall of the order of 25 billion rand. or US$3.25 billion.

The rail project is a public private partnership for which the government is reported to have pledged funding of around 22 billion rand. The remainder will be contributed by the private sector.

An important feature of the Gautrain deal is the undertaking of the Bombela Group to have the Sandton to Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo international airport operating in time for the Soccer World Cup in 2010. This rail connection as well as the link between Sandton and Midrand adjacent to the Grand Central Airport are to be completed and tested in 45 months.

The remaining five stations inclusive of the links between Sandton to Johannesburg Park Station and Midrand to Hatfield (Pretoria’s airport) will be completed and tested within 54 months (March 2011). The construction works are expected to mobilise up to 6,000 people at times of peak activity.

The Bombela consortium, named some time ago as preferred bidder for Gautrain, comprises Bombardier Transportation, Bouygues Travaux Public, Murray & Roberts and the Strategic Partners Group. Each of the four has an equal share of the equity. 

Bouygues Construction says in its own statement on the award that the civil engineering component is worth around €1.2 billion (about 12 billion rand), being carried out in partnership with Murray & Roberts and the Strategic Partners Group.

Announcing commencement of construction, the Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said the province is entering into a single contract with Bombela to ensure there is one point of accountability.

To undertake these obligations, Bombela has entered into two separate contracts – one with the Turnkey Contractor TKC and the other with the operations and maintenance joint venture (O&M).

In turn TKC, a specialist integration management company, has entered into two contracts, one with a civils joint venture and the other with an electrical and mechanical joint venture (E&M).

The initial phases of the work include shaft-sinking for the tunnel in the Sandton vicinity, at the same time commencing tunnel works at the Marlboro Portal. A series of road and intersection upgrades and traffic diversions to accommodate construction activities will be taking place in the southern portion of the project.

Denis Bouvette, Bombela’s chief executive, confirmed that the consortium has 54 months in which to build a world-class high-speed railway. Thereafter the group will be responsible for operation and maintenance of the system for 15 years.

The international stakeholders for the venture are Bombardier in rail transportation  and Bouygues in construction and tunnelling expertise. Local stakeholder Murray & Roberts is one of South Africa’s leading engineering and construction groups, together with the Strategic Partners Group, a consortium of black companies in civil construction and engineering.

Following soon after the announcement that construction was starting on the 160 km/hr Gautrain project came a warning from South Africa’s Soccer World Cup local organising committee that the republic will need more than 8 billion rand to finance building five new stadia for the event and the renovation of a further five for the Confederation Cup in mid-2009.

The latest figures are more than three times greater than the 2004 estimate of 2.3 billion rand when the country won its bid to become the first African host for football’s World Cup. The new estimate is well in excess of the 3 billion rand the government said last year that it would set aside for upgrades in connection with the football tournament.

The South African Parliament is expected later this month to pass enabling legislation for disbursement of funds allowing the appointment of contractors by the end of this year. But no precise forecast has been made about when the work will start.

Johannesburg’s Soccer City, where the opening and final matches of the 2010 World Cup will be played, is to undergo a major upgrade which is expected to take 30 months. This project will increase the venue’s capacity to more than 100,000 seats.

This story has been reproduced from the CIOB's International Construction Review website www.iconreview.org