TRIBE VIBE: The financial trainwreck that is the Gautrain
In a recent BizNews interview, Layton Beard of the Automobile Association criticized the Gauteng provincial government's R120 billion plan to extend the Gautrain service. Highlighting the financial strain on taxpayers, Beard pointed out that since 2012, billions have been funnelled to the operating company, Bombela, under the Patronage Guarantee due to disappointing ridership. The expansion plan, announced by Premier Panyaza Lesufi, comes despite warnings about the province's precarious financial situation and looming bankruptcy.
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BizNews Reporter
With concerns over taxpayer funding and the province's alarming financial state, Layton Beard's comments raise critical questions about the sustainability of such large-scale infrastructure projects amidst economic uncertainty. Here is what our BizNews community had to say.
Many commenters highlighted the cost of using the Gautrain
The Gautrain is far too expensive for myself and the masses
@jeraldrabie7392 on YouTube
The cost of the Gautrain must come down and it must expand it's rail network across Gauteng.@Clayzzy on YouTube
Pointing fingers towards the ANC government in Gauteng
Anc is a train wreck without a train; major incompetence; citizens want the railroads and busses back that Anc destroyed
@monicakieck7501 on YouTube
Lesufi is like a bull in a China shop,what happened to the 18 hospitals he was going to buy for his own NHI.
@CRA-k2c on YouTube
Everything the A N C does is a wreck
@janvanaardt3773 on YouTube
How is the taxi industry impacting public transport?
The taxi industry will never allow buses to operate .
@kennethhamburg8909 on YouTube
The taxi industry will not allow the masses access to rail services nor the Gauteng train system
@GerritConradie-wz9tk on YouTube
It is all good and well to use the Gautrain, but if you can't even get an Uber from the station to your guesthouse, what is the use. I used the Gautrain from OR to Pretoria. Got there and had to walk 300m to a petrol station before an Uber would pick me up.( This due to the taxis, not allowing Uber near the station) Would have been much easier to rent a car at OR.
@stblad3 on YouTube
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