I was determined to do a trip on Gautengs newest toy and on 15 October 2010 I did the trip between Sandton and Rhodesfield for the lark. I was impressed, the staff at the stations were excellent, everything is clean and tidy with an all pervading brushed aluminium look. The station was a problem to find (why are they forever digging up the roads in Sandton?), but getting my gold card and down to the train (all those escalators down) was a breeze. The train itself is not as big as what I am used to, but its got a slick "I am going there in a hurry" look about it, and inside it was all clean, well lit and compareable to what I had seen in Hong Kong. Then we were off. It takes roughly 4 minutes to Marlboro and 8 minutes to Rhodesfield. The added stretch to the airport takes an additional 2 minutes, and you can see the ORT station from Rhodesfield, although that trip costs R105 one way, whereas my return trip plus parking and the cost of the card only cost me R62. The portion between Marlboro and Sandton was mostly underground and from then onwards mostly surface. The approach to Rhodesfield takes in the Kelvin Power Station and the airport is within walking distance.
On 22 September 2011 I rode the Gautrain to Pretoria, using Marlboro as a base. It was a smooth trip and interesting to see how much work has actually been done to achieve this milestone. Consequently I am re-arranging this page to reflect newer images as well as old.