Skytrain to link metro airports? Great idea, says Winde

Premier tells Cape Chamber members an elevated rail network between Cape Town International and the proposed Winelands Airport could "change the whole city." 

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has voiced support for a Cape Town skytrain to help improve urban mobility.

Winde specifically spoke of a future skytrain linking Cape Town International Airport and the newly proposed Winelands International Airport. “If we get that right, then we've got terminal one and terminal two. We could change the whole city just by putting a trainline in,” Winde said late last week during an engagement with Cape Chamber Prime and Premium members. 

The skytrain is one of several talking points among urban mobility stakeholders grappling with Cape Town's transport woes. The city is considered the eighth most congested city worldwide, prompting Winde to remark: “There's a lot of work for us to do.”

He noted that the Western Cape could also consider setting up its own infrastructure company in order to accelerate the pace of development. 

Winde also highlighted the need for blended finance models to tackle transport and infrastructure challenges: “We want to see R10-billion borrowed. We're really pushing to put that in place. But you can only borrow money that would be for economic projects, and we would need to show the return.”