The Gautrain: the best way to escape Joburg airport, hands down
Used to be that when you arrived at OR Tambo Airport (the main airport in Johannesburg, and the main port of entry into the country) you’d pretty much be stuck. If you were silly enough not to arrange a shuttle transfer, or book into a hotel with a complimentary shuttle, that is, as people tend to do when they hail from countries with actual public transport systems. So there you’d be, after a 14-hour flight or so, choosing between paying a king’s ransom for a metered cab or, well, or nothing. That was pretty much it.
Until early June 2010, when the ambitious Gautrain finally came into action. It’s part subway, party above-ground train, but half of its purpose in life is to transport you to and from the airport, and in considerable style too.
Trust us, there’s just no comparison. The trip between Joburg airport and Sandton – which is almost certainly where you want to go – can take anything up to three hours by car, thanks to a badly overloaded freeway system. The Gautrain airport express does the same thing in 12 minutes flat, thanks to a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour, conveniently, safely, and pretty damn cheaply too. It’ll change your entire experience of Johannesburg.
The Gautrain waiting for it's first ride.
The seats on the train are very comfy.
Four things need to know about the Gtrain:
* The last run is at 8:30pm every night. Yes, we also think that is silly, and we’re working on them to institute a night service.
* In peak hours, morning and afternoon, there is a train every 12 minutes. The rest of the day your maximum wait will be 20 minutes, and on weekends it goes up to 30 minutes.
* There is a direct run to Sandton, the posh area with the most hotels in the whole country, and the most expensive ones too. Other routes will be opening up soon, including one into the heart of the capital, Pretoria. Bus networks use the stations as nodes, so you can get pretty much anywhere you are likely to need to go.
* It is the safest and cheapest way to escape the airport. Seriously. You’d have to spring for a very luxurious taxi indeed to beat the air conditioning, and nothing short of a helicopter transfer will move you faster.
Details of pricing and routes can be found at the official Gautrain site.
