File: Passengers wait to get on the Gautrain in Pretoria.
JOHANNESBURG - Gautrain has outlined plans to expand commuter travel options through its new e-hailing service called Gau-Express.
The initiative aims to provide faster, on-demand transport for passengers.
It also aims to address ongoing tensions in the e-hailing sector, alongside broader concerns around regulation and fair competition within the industry.
Gautrain Management Agency CEO, Tshepo Kgobe, said giving commuters more options on how to travel has always been part of their plan.
"It's about being able to make sure that somebody who travels quite quickly on the Gautrain, if they are rushing to a meeting or rushing for an interview or something that requires them to leave immediately, and they don't have to wait for scheduled services of the bus or the midi buses, can actually leave immediately with our services.
"But there's a greater plan, and the greater plan is also about us resolving the, you know, the e-hailing violence that has occurred in and around our stations. And if you look at the violence and altercations that have occurred, it goes beyond sharing markets and all of that."
Kgobe said it was an economic problem.
"It's about us making sure that those who have operated in the system as MetaTaxi owners are given a better and fair opportunity, and also are able to still be able to feed their families. But also, we are actually localizing the services to a great deal.
"A lot of these apps are from other countries and we can talk about the challenges of, you know, whether they pay tax, they don't pay tax in the country, and all sorts of other things, but it's part of our services as a whole."