The people of Gauteng will have to fork out R1.5-billion to keep the Gautrain on its tracks as the company celebrates five years in operation. Transport MEC Ismail Vadi told the transport sector at a business breakfast yesterday that the provincial government would spend R1.5-billion - or 22.7% - of a total budget of R6.6-billion on the Gautrain. In the previous financial year it spent R1.008-billion.Since the maiden journey from Sandton to OR Tambo International Airport on June 8 2010, Gautrain has made 50million passenger trips, 300000 train trips and 1.5 million bus trips.An estimated 60000 people use the trains on a typical weekday and about 23000 passengers take the buses.But this cannot be compared with the more than a million people who travel using Metrorail trains and the thousands who take minibus taxis.In July last year commuter organisations lashed out at the government for the amount of money spent on the Gautrain, arguing that it served only a few people and was for the rich.Stephen Sangweni, leader of the SA Commuter Organisation, told parliament's portfolio committee on transport that the government should rather spend more money on the Metrorail system."The improvement that needs to be done is on the existing Metrorail network. It must expand to other areas as the townships have expanded over the years but the rail network has remained the same," he said. "Some people in the province travel long distances to get to rail stations."The provincial government is conducting feasibility studies for the expansion of the Gautrain network to include possible new routes: linking Park Station, underneath the city, to Westgate; a link from Rhodesfield Station to Boksburg; a link from the Sandton Station to Randburg and Honeydew; and a link from Naledi, in Soweto, to Mamelodi, via either the proposed Samrand Station, or the existing Midrand Station...