The Gautrain made its first passenger run to Park Station in the Johannesburg CBD on June 6, according to a report in Business Day.

The opening of this last link was delayed from July 2011 because the section of tunnel between Rosebank and Park stations had been affected by technical problems and contractual disputes.

Arbitration to settle a dispute over the amount of water passing through the tunnel that connects the stations will begin in September.

In the meantime, the route has been deemed safe to allow for full operation of the Gautrain service.

"We received the final go-ahead from the Railway Safety Regulator this afternoon and we decided that we should go ahead as soon as possible," said Kelebogile Machaka, a spokeswoman for Bombela Concession Company, which manages the Gautrain.

Machaka said commuters between central Johannesburg and Rosebank, who had been relying on a bus to ferry them between the two stations would cut their journey time from about 25 minutes to between three and four minutes by using the rail link.