- Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - FIFA express concerns over World Cup traffic
- Date: 10th June 2010
- Summary: JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 9, 2010) (REUTERS) FANS ON STREET, FAN BLOWING HORN VARIOUS FANS NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) FIFA OFFICIAL RICH MKHONDO, SAYING: "One thing I need to mention is the issue of transportation. As I said earlier in my introduction that we edge the 90,000 to exercise restraint as to using their own cars because there are buses and there are trains which will drop them right at the door. So, if you were to ask me whether I'm concerned, I would say it's a worry that we may have some gridlock or congestion from nine o'clock in the morning up to eight o'clock at night. Therefore, I'm shifting that concern to fellow South Africans and the hundreds of visitors who are coming here to use our transportation system, which is very good." PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA (FILE - APRIL 21, 2010) (REUTERS) WIDE OF MINIBUS DRIVERS PROTESTING/ POLICE POLICE LINED UP WIDE OF PROTESTERS MORE OF PROTESTERS MINIBUS OPERATORS FLAG PROTESTERS WITH BANNER WITH DEMANDS WRITTEN PROTESTERS BEHIND A FENCE JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA (JUNE 9, 2010) (REUTERS) TRAIN STATION (SOUNDBITE) (English) FIFA OFFICIAL RICH MKHONDO, SAYING: "It takes about 15 minutes from downtown Johannesburg to Soccer City when you're coming. To go back it takes about 12 minutes by train. When you have a car it could take you up to an hour and a half. And we don't want people to miss the opening ceremony, so that's another issue. So we are very happy but we just urging people to make sure they arrive early and they use our public transportation system." VARIOUS OF TRAIN STATION
- Embargoed: 25th June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: South Africa
- Country: South Africa
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA6O07MKF7RYFU8QHDB3FSSRJQ0
- Story Text: The hosts of the World Cup inaugurated Africa's first high speed urban train in Johannesburg on Tuesday (June 8), just in time to help fans bypass the city's notorious traffic jams, but FIFA officials still express concerns over transportation during the event.
In the past, traffic jams and poor road quality caused fans to miss the opening ceremony of the South African Cup and part of a historic rugby match in Soweto's Orlando arena, with fans waiting for as much as two hours in traffic.
The issue was raised at a news conference by 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee spokesperson Rich Mkhondo.
"One thing I need to mention is the issue of transportation. As I said earlier in my introduction that we edge the 90,000 to exercise restraint as to using their own cars because there are buses and there are trains which will drop them right a t the door," Mkhondo said.
"So, if you were to ask me whether I'm concerned, I would say it's a worry that we may have some gridlock or congestion from nine o'clock in the morning up to eight o'clock at night. Therefore, I'm shifting that concern to fellow South Africans and the hundreds of visitors who are coming here to use our transportation system, which is very good," he added.
The new Gautrain, which runs from the airport to the Sandton district where many fans are staying, could be a godsend, but getting to and from match venues still raised concerns.
"It takes about 15 minutes from downtown Johannesburg to Soccer City when you're coming. To go back it takes about 12 minutes by train. When you have a car it could take you up to an hour and a half. And we don't want people to miss the opening ceremony, so that's another issue. So we are very happy but we just urging people to make sure they arrive early and they use our public transportation system," Mkhondo said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
