Subsidy amounts to R60 a trip

TAXPAYERS will, over and above the R30 billion Gautrain construction price tag, have paid well more than R50bn for this service if current subsidy levels continue, the DA said yesterday. The current Gautrain subsidy was the largest single item of expenditure in the budget of the Gauteng roads and transport department, making up about 35 percent of its budget for the past financial year, DA spokesperson Justus de Goede said. The recent announcement of the expansion plans for the service had focused attention on the possibility that this high subsidy would be perpetuated should a new contract be signed. This made it possible to subsidise each passenger trip by about R60.