Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- South Africa's planned high-speed rail link between the capital Pretoria and the largest city Johannesburg may cost as much as 24 billion rand ($3.55 billion), a government official said.

The government will spend about 20 billion rand on the so- called Gautrain, while construction companies building the line will invest 3 billion to 4 billion rand, Jack van der Merwe, who is managing the project for the Gauteng provincial government, told lawmakers in Cape Town today.

Johannesburg-based Murray & Roberts and Montreal, Canada- based Bombardier Inc. are part of the Bombela group chosen by the government to build the 80-kilometer (50-mile) line, which aims to ease traffic congestion. The 50-kilometer drive between Johannesburg and Pretoria can take as long as two hours.

In February 2002 the government projected that the Gautrain would cost it 7 billion rand. That estimate rose 71 percent to 12 billion rand after insurance, property and tunneling costs rose, Van der Merwe said.

``If this estimate is escalated to a December 2005 number and expressed as a total exposure of government over the next five years, in nominal terms, it is 20 billion rand,'' he said.

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