Managing performance and maintenance assurance of the Gautrain project

Abstract

Paper presented at the 30th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 11-14 July 2011 "Africa on the Move", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.

The Gautrain Project commenced operations on Phase 1 (the line between Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport) on 8 June 2010 just before the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The commencement date for the operations on Phase 2 (the remainder of the system from Park Station in Johannesburg to Hatfield Station in Pretoria, Tshwane), is planned for completion by the end of June 201 1. The Gautrain is being implemented by means of a Public-Private Partnership, using a DBOMT model. This implies that the Concessionaire has to Design and Build the project over a period of 4.5 years and then Operate and Maintain the system over a 15-year period, after which it is Transferred back to Government. This project structure required much thinking and investigation as one could not rely on conventional project implementation and operations. The Technical Specifications were written from an Output perspective, and the Concession Agreement focuses on performance and a different strategy towards asset and maintenance management. The Paper will provide the background information on the technical structuring of the Gautrain and use examples of the output specifications approach, and will then make some suggestions how this could be implemented in future in other projects. Some of the pitfalls and challenges will be highlighted, and the current model of managing the assurance of the Gautrain system will be discussed, together with the challenges that may have to be resolved in the future.