#GautrainStrike: Buses prevented from leaving depot
OR Tambo advises travellers who want to use their cars that ample parking is available
Striking Gautrain workers have been preventing buses from exiting the depot on Monday morning as a wage strike began.
Buses scheduled to service the airport, Centurion, Sandton and Park stations have been delayed.
In the meantime, passengers travelling to OR Tambo International Airport are advised to allow for delays and longer travelling time to the airport. More than 130 000 passengers a month use the Gautrain route to the airport in both directions.
Also read:
• Reduced Gautrain services available on Monday
• Wage strike will leave Gautrain commuters stranded
“People travelling to the airport are advised to check the contingency plans put in place by the Gautrain operating company. However, given the circumstances, airport management advises air passengers to give themselves more time than usual to get to the airport,” says Leigh Gunkel-Keuler, spokesperson for the airport.
The Gautrain operating company has advised that for people travelling to OR Tambo International Airport and Rhodesfield stations, there will be a bus service between Sandton and Rhodesfield stations and a bus or midi-bus service between Rhodesfield and OR Tambo stations. This service will operate from 5.45am to 7pm. A fixed fare of R21 per bus trip will apply for this service.
“For those who wish to use their cars to get to the airport, there is sufficient parking available to cope with any additional demand,” says Gunkel-Keuler.
A map of parking areas at the airport can be viewed at https://www.airports.co.za/airports/or-tambo-international/At-the-airport/parking-maps.
Striking workers have been preventing buses from exiting the depot and as such buses scheduled to service the airport service as well as Centurion, Sandton and Park stations have been delayed. We will keep you updated.
— Gautrain (@TheGautrain) July 30, 2018
Passengers flying out of OR Tambo International Airport for longer periods can also use the new long-term parking area that opened earlier this year. Travellers can book online at https://www.airports.co.za/utilities/parking-calculator.
The long-term parking area in the “MSP2” parkade under the City Lodge hotel offers 4 300 parking bays over five levels. This parkade is a five-minute walk from domestic and international terminals.
The long-term parking area is most suitable for travellers who will be away for three days or longer.
More than a hundred of the 250 members of the United National Transport Union (UNTU) working for the Bombela Operating Company (BOC), kicked-off the Gautrain’s first ever strike by singing and dancing in the cold from midnight outside the Midrand train depot in protest against their employers’ arrogance against their wage demand.
Employees gathering at the Midrand depot as they where knocking off from their final shift before the strike commenced, found that BOC already blocked their e-mails and access cards while they were still on duty as part of the company’s lock-out of all UNTU members when the strike commenced.
Steve Harris, general secretary of UNTU, says this infuriated UNTU members as the company only provided the employees with water and access to toilets at 4am,” says Harris.
“To the majority of these members, this strike has become much more than just a fight about annual wages. They want to know what their employer is hiding from them by refusing the union to have confidential access to its financial statements.”
