The 80km Gautrain rail line included the construction of 15km of tunnelling and a number of viaducts, stations, depots, and parking bays. The scope of the project also included supporting facilities, in addition to the rail track and rolling stock. The project was completed in two phases, with the first delivery date of 8 June 2010 and the second delivery date of 7 June 2012. Due to the upcoming FIFA World Cup, the first phase was accelerated and delivered three days ahead of schedule.

Phase 2 of the project runs from Midrand to Pretoria and Hatfield, and from Sandton to Park (Johannesburg). Phase 2 was delayed by five months due to delays associated with land acquisition and the dispute related to water ingress in one of the tunnels between Rosebank and Park. These challenges are detailed further below under the heading "Key Events".

The Procuring Authority approached the transition from financial close to construction in a proactive way by commissioning the Project Company to undertake enabling works once the preferred bidder had been identified (prior to the start of the construction phase). This was also beneficial to the Project Company itself, as it already had a team in place when construction started.

There were many challenges in the construction of the project, including difficulties in obtaining land access. Because of the time pressure arising from the need to complete parts of the system before the FIFA World Cup, some approvals from local governments along the proposed route could not be obtained prior to financial close, and in some instances, these local governments capitalised on the urgency and pressured the Project Company to deliver additional works to improve some roads. There were other problems with engaging stakeholders, such as the requirement to relocate one of the stations to accommodate property developments along the route. While land acquisition risks were retained by the Procuring Authority, the costs of relocation of the utilities and road improvements around the stations were transferred to the Project Company.

An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process was successfully concluded and the necessary environmental authorisations were obtained for the project by 2009. Obtaining the necessary environmental authorisations took longer than envisaged. This delay was caused by the EIA process having to commence at the planning stage of the project and so it was based on preliminary designs. This resulted in amended EIA applications that had to be submitted to cover changes to many sections of the alignment, proposed by the Project Company.

During the construction period, some technical issues arose, including the tunnel not meeting the specifications for maximum water ingress. This resulted in a dispute that was settled along with all other disputes in an agreed settlement in 2016, which is detailed below under the heading "Key Events".