Growing safe, reliable transport in Gauteng

The GMA is a Gauteng provincial public entity established to manage, coordinate and oversee the concession agreements for the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Project.

In this exclusive interview from the AGES 2026, Jared Gray, Executive Manager of Business Planning at the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA), spoke to ESI Africa Editor-in-Chief Nicolette Pombo Van Zyl about the economics, sustainability and future expansion of rail transport in Gauteng.

Gray started off by sharing insights on why rail is considered a social good: “If I have to speak to just one or two pertinent things, it would be rail economics, particularly as it pertains to passenger rail.

“Philosophically, rail, or transport rather, is a social good and everyone should have access to it. And part and parcel of our mandate is to try and ensure that everyone has access to safe, reliable, comfortable transport within Gauteng.

“Speaking to that is the economics behind it. So how do we ensure that we’ve got a system that is efficient, that operates on time, all the time, but can also wash its face so to speak, so it can cover its cost, and I think that is the conundrum when it comes to any passenger rail system,” explained Gray.

He goes into how modern passenger rail systems remain financially sustainable and why integrated transport networks are key to future mobility.

Cover photo:  Jared Gray, Executive Manager of Business Planning at the Gautrain Management Agency, being interviewed in the ESI Africa Studio at AGES 2026. Source: ESI Africa