It is a single project which, if it goes ahead, will cost almost three times South Africa's transport budget for this year.

Depending on who you believe, it will either revolutionise the way South Africans see public transport and tempt them away from gridlocked roads - or it will swallow public money while transporting only a handful of white-collar professionals.

The Gautrain is intended to link Johannesburg - South Africa's economic hub - with the national capital, Tshwane (previously called Pretoria), 50km away in 40 minutes.

That would be a huge improvement on a journey that can take up to two hours by car when the traffic is particularly bad.

Pressure on the transport system will intensify when South Africa hosts the 2010 Football World Cup and proponents of the Gautrain see it as a way of moving visitors to and from the airport, their hotels and the match venues around Gauteng province.