The patronage guarantee government paid to Bombela, the operator of the Gautrain system, had dropped from between R80-million and R85-million a month last year, to between R70-million and R75-million a month this year, said Gautrain Management Agency CEO Jack van der Merwe on Thursday.

The decrease was the result of increasing ridership on the public transport system. Average weekday passenger trips on the train increased from 26 000 at the beginning of April 2012 to 42 000 at the end of March this year.

Gautrain bus trip users were increasing at an average rate of 6.6% a month, while Gautrain ridership grew at an average of 2.1%.

According to the agreement between government and Bombela, signed at the onset of the R26-billion project, a patronage guarantee would be payable to the operator to ensure it covered all of its costs, while still making a reasonable profit.

It was expected that the guarantee payable would decrease as fare box income increased, with a system of 50:50 profit sharing between government and Bombela applicable once the fare box reached a state where all of Bombela’s costs were covered.

Bombela’s costs included operational costs, maintenance and replacement costs and the servicing of loans. Its income included fare box revenue, value-add income (such as advertising revenue), and then the patronage guarantee to make up the shortfall.

Van der Merwe emphasised that public transport was subsidised worldwide, and that the Gautrain was no different. Metrorail was also heavily subsidised, at roughly two-thirds of ticket costs.

He expected to reach the profit sharing phase of the concession “in a few years’ time”.

Fare box income would, in the meantime, show improvement in June as Gautrain ticket prices were set to increase by 6%. However, there would be a 15% reduction in fares during the off-peak period, between 09h00 and 15h00.

This pricing structure was an attempt to flatten out a user curve that showed sharp peaks from Tshwane to Johannesburg in the mornings, and vice versa in the afternoons.

Van der Merwe added that additional train capacity would be implemented in June, when yet another four-car train would become an eight-car train, while it was also possible to change the seating arrangement on the train to accommodate more standing passengers. Trains could also run at a ten-minute headway, and not 12 minutes during peak hours, as was currently the case.

With many station parking areas also at capacity, the system was set to receive 259 additional parking bays at Rhodesfield station, 150 at Pretoria station and 1 800 at the popular Centurion station.

Four Route Extensions Studied
Van der Merwe said that cost benefit analyses were being conducted on four possible extensions of the Gautrain route. He emphasised that any extension would have to make money-sense to government.

As to whether the political will existed to expand the Gautrain footprint – with the construction of the rail system initially met with a rather chilly response from national government – Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi said it was clear that rail would need to become the backbone of public transport in Gauteng, as the province’s population was set to double in the next few years.

However, whether this “inescapable reality” would benefit Metrorail or the Gautrain – or both – was not clear. Costs would play a “vital role” in making this decision.

Vadi acknowledged, though, that the poor and middle class were both in need of public transport solutions, especially as the province’s population numbers expanded.

He added that 2014 would also see the introduction of a new set of government leaders, following a national election.

Although not said, this could imply a possible delay in project execution or a change in policy direction.