Monday, January 27, 2025 Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Sandton are now connected by Gautrain’s $3.6 billion high-speed rail, featuring Africa’s longest 15.4-kilometer underground tunnel.
The Gautrain project in South Africa has revolutionized infrastructure development on the African continent, boasting the longest underground tunnel in Africa—a remarkable 15.4-kilometer stretch that seamlessly connects key destinations in Gauteng province. Constructed at an estimated cost of $3.
6 billion (£2.83 billion), this engineering marvel stands as a testament to how innovation can drive transformative progress and improve lives. This underground wonder forms an essential part of an 80-kilometer high-speed rail network linking Johannesburg, Sandton, Pretoria, and OR Tambo International Airport.
Along its route, it incorporates three major underground stations—Johannesburg Park, Rosebank, and Sandton—offering thousands of commuters daily access to economic hubs and vital services. Building a tunnel of this scale required extraordinary engineering expertise. Advanced tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and conventional drilling and blasting methods were employed to cut through the earth with exceptional precision.
Maintaining alignment was crucial to ensure the tunnel’s structural stability, making accuracy a priority throughout the project. Engineers faced unique challenges, including the absence of magnetic fields and the inability to use GPS for navigation. To overcome these obst.
