Johannesburg - The Bombela Concession Company has awarded the contract to supply 125 buses for Gautrain's dedicated bus feeder fleet to Mercedes-Benz South Africa.
The dedicated feeder and distribution bus service is a critical part of the Gautrain system as it provides an alternative to cars as a mode of access to Gautrain stations, according to Bombela's Chief Executive Officer, Jerome Govender.
Officially the deal was signed last week, however, Bombela made the announcement on Thursday.
Mr Govender further expressed his confidence that Mercedes-Benz will deliver on time.
The Mercedes-Benz 0500U 1726 low-entry buses have been selected to service the Gautrain. These buses have a 35 to 45 seat configuration with standing capacity of approximately 17 passengers.
The low-entry design makes accessibility easy for wheel-chair users, young children and the elderly.
The fleet will initially comprise 125 buses which will together cover the nearly 430km of bus routes and travel nearly 26 000km every day. It is expected to be delivered in 2010.
The bus chassis will be assembled from knock-down kits on a dedicated assembly line at the Mercedes-Benz plant in East London, while the bodies will be built by Busmark 2000/Caio at their plant in Randfontein.
Busmark 2000/Caio have a long standing successful partnership with the Mercedes-Benz Bus division and together these companies have supplied a significant proportion of South Africa's luxury bus fleet.
The Gautrain bus fleet will operate on approximately 36 routes from nine of the ten Gautrain stations, the exception being OR Tambo International Airport.
Fare payment will be completely cashless as passengers will access the bus service using the same contactless smart cards used to access the train service and station car parks. Each bus will be connected by radio to the Gautrain's bus operational control centre and will also feature continuous satellite tracking.
Dr Hansgeorg Niefer, President and chairman of Mercedes-Benz South Africa said they were delighted to be part of the new dimension in the public transport sector which would put South Africa on par with the rest of the world.
"It is with a great deal of pride that we value this opportunity of providing reliable and efficient mobility," he said.
