A comfy commute
The newest passenger commuter train was launched by Metrorail at the Springs Station on October 30, during which guests were transported to Park Station.
The Metrorail train, which is the newest in the Business Express Service project, was proudly named the East Rand Business Express.
Arriving at the Springs Station, Ekurhuleni MMC for Roads and Transport, Thumbu Mahlangu, Johannesburg MMC for Transport Christine Walters, Provincial Manager in Gauteng for Metrorail Tembela Kulu and their guests gathered for the official opening of the train.
Once the ribbon was cut by Mahlangu, the party boarded the train, which stops at the Pollak Park, Benoni and Germiston stations before reaching its destination of Park Station.
Once at Park Station, a wonderful breakfast was served at the Premier Class Lounge to end the morning.
The East Rand Business Express train service is offered to commuters travelling in comfort and style as part of the revitalization of rail transport between Springs and Joburg.
A normal Metrorail train will travel this distance in an hour and 45 minutes, but the Business Express line is designed to do the same distance in 50 minutes.
“The East Rand Business Express is a major contribution to joining the two cities. We want to bring better and safer travelling to business people and now the people of Ekurhuleni will be given that opportunity,” says Provincial Manager, Tembela Kulu.
Kulu added that with the announcement of Ekurhuleni being an inland port, this brings more opportunity for freight imports into the city.
“Because of the introduction of E-tolls, we are expecting to see a lot of commuters choosing to use the Business Express instead of taking a taxi to work.”
The Business Express Service concept was introduced in 2007 with the first Soweto Business Express running between Naledi and Joburg, which was followed by the Tshwane Business Express in 2008 running between Pretoria and Joburg.
In March 2012, the second Soweto Business Express was introduced to run between Naledi and Pretoria, extending the service beyond Johannesburg to Pretoria Station daily.
The East Rand Business Express is the fourth train to be launched in this project, and although it does not transport commuters to Pretoria, connections to Pretoria will be introduced in the near future.
That is the last time the guests will be on that train. All for the show. How many police were gaurding them ?
I like the idea of the business express. It only accomodate commuters of Springs to Johannesburg what about Commuters of Springs to Centurion-Pretoria. Those commuters are not cartered. Prasa should try to make way for those commuters too. I tried to use springs express to Johannesburg then connect the gautrain to centurion. I was always late at work. I went back to use my car. But its not working but I have no choice because the public transport is available and reliable. We have a lot of people working in centurion-pretoria who stay in springs brakpan and benoni area who will want to use the train.