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Gautrain staff, dignitaries and guests celebrated the symbolic meeting of the Mushroom Farm Park and Marlboro Gautrain tunnels.
WEB EXTRA: Journey by taxi into the Gautrain tunnel and see the symbolic meeting of the twin-tracks
Newly appointed Gauteng Premier Paul Shipokosa Mashatile performed an official ceremony signifying the meeting of Gautrain’s two twin-track tunnels which were excavated simultaneously towards one another.
Accurate geological surveying ensured that these two tunnels were right on target when the remaining few metres separating the two tunnels were blasted away.
The actual "break through" was achieved on 24 September, thus forming one continuous tunnel, just over 4,200 metres long.
The section between Mushroom Farm Park and Marlboro Portal will accommodate two sets of tracks which will be separated by a dividing wall. This stretch of the tunnel forms an important part of the 15-minute airport link between Sandton Station and the O.R. Tambo International Airport Station.
More about the Gautrain:
* Gautrain carriages will travel at 160 kilometres per hour;
* Each four-car commuter train will carry up to 321 seated passengers;
* The first phase of Gautrain is expected to start operating at the end of June 2010 between O.R. Tambo Airport and Sandton.
* The complete Gautrain system is expected to be fully operational in March 2011.
Sowetan Online
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