And future for sustainable development
The system has become a symbol of Gauteng’s culture of pride in its people, constant upward mobility and vibrant relationships. Like with the heritage of Gauteng, Gautrain’s brand represents what a nation can achieve with the right leadership and attitude.
But Gautrain has respected heritage since its inception and construction. Preservation of Gauteng’s heritage and the envi- more than 60 years old. A list was drawn up and a full cultural-historical analysis accompanied by photographs was provided for each item. Following heritage protection guidelines, the following were preserved:
Technical College was demolished to make way for the Gautrain Park Station. Artefacts of historical significance such as doors, iron gates and window frames were preserved and handed over to authorities for preservation. -
Pretoria Station precinct was renovated, preserved and incorporated into the new Gautrain Pretoria Station.
- served in Tshwane. The trees were treated, pruned and replanted on University Road. directly affected by construction
Valley and the Salvokop/Freedom Park precinct were regularly inspected during the construction phase and, in some areas, fenced for protection.
When asked about Gautrain’s brand, a Gautrain passenger said “The Gautrain is an excellent service, an excellent project. Gauteng is now embedded in transport excellence, thanks to public transport projects such as Gautrain. Our transport heritage is now paved with gold — Gautrain is becoming our golden heritage.”
Currently over 60 000 train passengers and over 23 000 bus passengers use the complete service on a typical weekday. Since Gautrain’s operation has started, the overall system (train, buses and parking) has performed extremely well and continues to receive very high customer satisfaction ratings
reflected in the monthly customer satisfaction surveys.
This airport service recently competed with the best in the world on customer service and was consequently awarded the Global AirRail Alliance (GARA) Award for customer service excellence in 2014. The GARA awards are international awards dedicated to the airrail industry, recognising the best services of delivering an enjoyable and stress free journey between air and rail travel. Some of the finalists included Birmingham Airport (UK), Flytoget (Oslo, Norway) and Canada Line (Vancouver, Canada).
Apart from offering a stellar service to the people of South Africa, Gautrain also stays true to the heritage of South Africa by making public transport of choice part of everyday life — a sustainable culture of public transport.