French, SA engineers win 'bullet train' bid
July 04, 2005 Edition 1
South Africa named an international consortium as preferred bidder for a multi-billion rand high-speed train project, described by officials as Africa's biggest public-private partnership.
The 80km train is designed to link Johannesburg and its airport with Pretoria in time for the 2010 soccer World Cup.
It would create 148 000 jobs and be a much-needed boost in a country with an official unemployment rate of 26%.
The Gauteng administration picked the Bombela consortium, made up of the world's biggest passenger train maker Bombardier, local engineering firm Murray & Roberts and French firms Bouygues Travaux Public and RAPT to build the train.
"By announcing the preferred bidder for the Gautrain project ... we are joining hands with the private sector in the biggest public-private partnership yet tackled in Africa," Gauteng premier Mbazima Shilowa told reporters.
The project was initially estimated to cost R7bn. Officials said they could not yet put an exact price tag on the project, adding that the administration would enter into negotiations with Bombela and expected to announce cost details by November.
"It would be premature to announce any cost as this will jeopardise the next phase of the construction procurement process," said provincial finance head Paul Mashatile.
"The construction period allowed is 54 months, which means that the project will be completed in a few months before the World Cup."
Construction will be undertaken by Murray & Roberts and Bouygues, while Bombardier will deliver the Electrostar train. Final assembly will be in South Africa.
RAPT will operate and maintain the system. The project is seen contributing to revival of the civil engineering sector, which contracted 6% in real terms last year.
The train will be designed to travel at a speed between 160km/h and 180km/h, the journey between Johannesburg and Pretoria lasting less than 35 minutes.
It will transport soccer fans between Johannesburg's international airport and both the city centre and Pretoria - and serve commuters as an alternative to the congested highway between the two cities once the tournament is over.
Mashatile said the project would increase Gauteng's gross domestic product (GDP) by 0.7% to 1%, boosting what is already South Africa's richest province, accounting for 33% of national GDP and around a tenth of the GDP of the entire African continent.
Some economists say the overall boost to the national GDP from the project could be R2.6bn annually.
Bombela beat the rival Gauliwe consortium, comprising Spanish transport company CAF, South African builder Grinaker/LTA, Spanish civil contractor Dragados Concesiones and rail operator Metro de Madrid. - Reuters.
