Gauteng SDI Rail Link - Gautrain

425.3 LEGAL ASPECTS INCLUDING OBTAINING RIGHT OF WAYThe proposed rail link will require a rail reserve along the alignment which willbe determined as part of this planning and implementation study. Thisalignment will cross different metropolitan authority areas. It will also crossdifferent types of land uses of which some will be open and others developed.Some will be very high valued and others cheaper. Existing servitudes forservices such as electrical supply, telecommunication and pipelines will alsobe crossed.Due to time constraints on the implementation on this project, the onlypractical way to obtain the required rail reserve, would be throughproclamation of the railway line and the expropriation of the required land,which allows for a fair compensation process for land owners. As wasmentioned before, it seems at this stage if the ownership of the infrastructurewould be in the hands of the Provincial Government, at least for the initialperiods.Provincial Government has concurrent legislative competence for publictransport, including rail, in terms of the Constitution of RSA Act. Previouslyprovincial governments were mainly responsible for roads and much of theexisting legislation, therefore, deals with roads, including the right toexpropriate land. Gautrans is currently busy drafting a Gauteng TransportInfrastructure Bill which includes in the definition of transport infrastructure,facilities for the use of trains and its passengers. It provides powers to theMEC to plan, design, construct, control, manage, develop, maintain, protectand rehabilitate transport infrastructure, as well as to expropriate land fortransport infrastructure. The Gauteng Provincial Government will thus havethe power to expropriate land for the construction of railway lines and stations.What is however important, is that the above Bill should be completed assoon as possible and passed by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Should aproblem arise with the above process, it can be considered to utilise theexisting SARCC legislation.Gauteng SDI Rail Link – Inception Report, 15 June 2000