”The biggest challenge is to change the mindset of South African travellers… the rest is just mechanics.” To describe the task of building sub-Saharan Africa’s first underground high-speed railway as ”just mechanics” is quite a stretch, particularly given that it is being constructed in some of the hardest rock known to man, and also in the heart of probably the wealthiest city in the continent.

But after a five-year wait while his consortium bid for the Gautrain project, Denis Bouvette, the chief executive officer of the winning consortium, is entitled to a touch of hubris. The project is a high-speed rail link, part underground and part above ground, stretching nearly 80km between Johannesburg, Pretoria and the regional airport.