Gauteng and Limpopo are moving forward with an ambitious plan to construct a new high-speed railway between the two provinces.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi provided an update on the project during his State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday, 24 February 2025, stating that the high-speed rail plan has “started to move.”
Back on track
South Africa last received an update on the new high-speed rail (or “bullet train”) in October 2024, when President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote about the project in his weekly public newsletter.
The letter stated that the trains would form part of the nation’s National Rail Masterplan, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.
Ramaphosa’s ultimate vision is to develop South Africa’s major urban centres into “smart cities” that will be connected by high-speed railways serving as a viable transport alternative to the country’s overworked domestic airlines.
A few of the suggested lines include a route between Johannesburg and Durban, Johannesburg and Mbombela, and Johannesburg and Polokwane.
However, the presidency has since released no further updates on the bullet train project, which was conspicuously absent from this year’s State of the Nation address in early February.
Despite this, Premier Lesufi recently confirmed that Gauteng is advancing its plan to construct a new rail line between it and Limpopo, suggesting that most future developments on South Africa’s bullet train service will be done at a provincial level and not a national one.
“The Limpopo-Gauteng Speed Train project is gaining momentum. Following the announcement last year, it has been agreed that given the project’s magnitude and intricacy, it will be executed in multiple phases,” Lesufi said during his 2025 SOPA speech.
“The integrated concept document, endorsed by both Gauteng and Limpopo Premiers, has been approved and will be ready for signing by both provinces in due course. We are jointly ready to approach the National Department of Transport for consultation.”
Officially known as the Gauteng-Limpopo Rail Link Project, the new service will be developed in two phases and will ultimately connect seven towns and cities.
The proposed line will pass through these locations in order:
- Pretoria
- Hammanskraal
- Bela-Bela
- Mokopane
- Polokwane
- Louis Trichardt
- Musina
Phase one will create the primary route from Pretoria to Polokwane, after which phase two will begin with an expansion to Louis Trichardt and Musina.
The following map shows a rough illustration of the route:
For anyone travelling by car, this route would be approximately 500km long and take six hours.
The bullet train should be noticeably quicker than this, but neither province has provided an estimate of the completed route’s travel time so far.
Importantly, the Rail Link Project will link to the existing Gautrain infrastructure in Gauteng, which is getting its own major expansion over the next few years.
The province is investing R120 billion to create new tracks that will add six new areas to the network over the coming five years, which will nearly triple the size of the Gautrain from 80km to 230km upon its completion.
This means that citizens will eventually be able to take the Gautrain from most major areas to Pretoria, whereupon they can then hop on an even faster bullet train to Limpopo.
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