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I have used the Gautrain train a lot during my stay in Johannesburg and I love it.
The Gautrain (pronounced Hah-ooh-train) is a fantastic first-class train service that takes you to major destinations in Johannesburg.
The stations are well organised and signalled, with plenty of ticket machines and info booths, and electronic boards informing of time and platform of the departures. The trains run every 10-15 minutes and they are fast, reliable, uber-clean, pleasant to the eye, and comfortable. They have a very efficient information system on the train: voice information is given throughout the trip regarding stops, connections and destinations, while the electronic boards provide the same info in English, Afrikaans and Zulu (?) languages. There is lot of space to park your baggage while travelling, but they get filled up quickly and a landscape of suitcases is part of the Gautrain experience.
At the moment, the Gautrain has two train lines. The first one goes from Park to Hartfied (Park, Rosebank, Sandton -change line here if you go to the airport- Malrboro, Midrand, Centurion, Pretoria, and Hartfied) and the second one from Sandton to the Airport (Sandton, Malrboro, Rhodesfield, and O. R. Tambo International Airport).
If you are the distracted type of person or your brain is off during the trip, no worries, you don't have to remember anything about these lines. Once you get your train gold card (the one you use to top up and use as a ticket pass), turn it over, look at the back, and voila, the route of both lines is shown there. How mindful is that?!!!
Prices are OK for foreigners, but a bit high for most working class locals; however, discounts are available by purchasing weekly and monthly passes. The ticket to the airport is around 135-155 Rands, depending on which station you jump on the train; nothing compared to the rip-off prices that taxis charge foreigners from/to the airport.
I hope the train adds some more stations or lines in the future.
More ticket windows, or at least two vendors per window, are needed at certain stations and times when cues are normal and you can easily spend more than 10 minutes waiting. No kidding.
MIND
The Gautrain station and the sightseeing Red Bus are directly connected and easy to combine.
