The Gauteng provincial government and Gautrain project team has failed to meet its April deadline on the announcement relating to the successful bidder for the rapid rail link.
Instead, Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa will name the winner in late May — two years later than the initial date.
The delay has been ascribed to the fact that the parties need more time to finalise the evaluation process owing to the complexity of the bids received from the Bombela and Gauliwe consortia.
The Gautrain is expected to help create 1 200 permanent jobs and about 48 000 opportunities during construction. It is estimated that it will cost R7-billion.
With 10 stations, it will link together Johannesburg and Pretoria as well as have a station at the country’s busiest airport — Johannesburg international airport.
Bombela consists of Canada’s Bombardier Transportation — a rolling stock manufacturer — construction firm Murray & Roberts and rail operator RATP Development. Gauliwe is comprised of construction company Dragados of Spain and its local counterpart Grinaker-LTA, Tirisano and others. Both consortia have empowerment partners.
Although naming the winning consortium has been postponed once again, construction is still expected to kick off this year. – I-Net Bridge