Last week, the Gautrain announced that commuters travelling from Hatfield in Pretoria to Park Station in Johannesburg, and those using the OR Tambo International Airport service in the morning peak period, would pay more than other commuters. The new fare structure aimed to promote balanced use of Gautrain services.
Under the structure, fares from Hatfield to Park Station increase from R57 to R68 between 6.30am and 7.30am; are R49 on weekdays before 6am, between 8.30am and 3.30pm, and after 6pm; and are R62 between 3.30pm and 6pm on weekdays, and all day on weekends and public holidays. Airport-service train fares increase by R10 a trip.
The Democratic Alliance in Gauteng called on the province's MEC for roads and transport, Ismail Vadi, to scrap the increases, describing them as "exorbitant and exclusive".
The DA said the fare hikes "do not make sense" given the passenger volume guarantees the train's operator has with the provincial government. When there is less than a guaranteed number of commuters on the Gautrain, the provincial government pays Bombela Concession Company, the train's operator, the difference.
Up to the end of March last year, the provincial government had paid Bombela R831m, in line with 10 ridership guarantees for the train, Transport Minister Ben Martins said in Parliament last year.
The Gautrain Management Agency said electricity and fuel costs had risen above inflation in the past year, and the bargaining council had agreed to a 9.5% labour increase.
Public transport analyst Paul Browning said that this was the first time the Gautrain had found it necessary to use a pricing mechanism to control and manage demand. He said it was important that the ridership guarantee budget be managed as there was a tendency for agreements such as this to get out of hand.
"It has presumably been budgeted for. If prices continue going up, there is pressure for Bombela Concession Company to get money from fares," he said.
Souce: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
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