Over the coming months we will be publishing a series of articles, compiled by Peter Ball, on the history of Southern African railways. The first installment looks at some of the earliest railways in the country and the extension of various lines into the interior (driven by the great mineral discoveries of the second half of the nineteenth century).
The Gautrain which now runs between Johannesburg and Pretoria was opened in stages commencing with the spur from Sandton City to O.R. Tambo Airport, which started running at the time of the 2010 Soccer World Cup. It was built as a high speed commuter train service having interchange stations with the existing Metrorail system. As the speed of a train was required to be 162 kph (100 mph), the latest railway technology, as tried and tested in Britain was incorporated into the design brief. Part of that brief was to base the Gautrain carriages on the "ElectroStar" electric multiple units already in use on the London outer suburban services. Britain's mainline railways run on tracks having a gauge of 1435 mm (4'-8 ½") between the rails (known as the Standard Gauge), whereas in Southern Africa the gauge is the Cape Gauge of 1067mm (3'-6"). The "Gautrain Rapid Rail Link: Planning and Implementation Study" evaluated the two gauges and recommended utilising the Standard Gauge on the grounds of safety (at speed) and ease of procurement of rolling stock, thus reverting back to the gauge used by the first railways built in Southern...
