Johannesburg - The government was excited to have achieved another milestone in the journey of transforming and modernising the passenger rail system, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said yesterday as she unveiled the final design of a train to be acquired by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa).
The agency is spending R51 billion on its rolling stock fleet renewal programme to acquire 3 600 coaches over a 10-year period from 2015 to 2025. It will also train 19 500 people, including 500 engineers, technicians and other professionals.
The contract was awarded to Alstom South Africa, part of the French multinational that is a global leader in power and transport.
Alstom is the lead partner in the Gibela consortium, in which it has a 61 percent stake, while New Africa Rail, a black-owned rail and infrastructure conglomerate, owns 9 percent and the black-owned Ubumbano Rail holds 30 percent.
Peters said the government had realised that in future the Metrorail commuter service, a division of Prasa, might not be in a position to cope with the growing demands of the economy, and the service had been declining as a result of many years of underinvestment in the rail sector.
She said Prasa and Gibela had reached financial close in April and the government was looking forward to the creation of much-needed jobs.
Peters said: “The manufacturing of the first 20 trains has started in the Alstom Lapa (Brazil) plant. We are likely to see the first body shell in October. The first of these trains will arrive in South Africa in the fourth quarter of 2015.”
In addition, she said, Gibela would provide technical support to Prasa and supply spare parts over an 18-year period.
“Reaching the financial close means the industrialisation of the South African economy is in full swing and we are excited about that,” Peters said.
Gibela will spend R1 billion on a manufacturing plant in Dunnottar on the East Rand, to produce 580 train sets. The 600 000m2 manufacturing facility is also designed to house an engineering centre and a training facility.
Peters said the project would create over 33 000 direct and indirect jobs over 10 years, achieving a local content of over 65 percent in the Prasa train sets.
“Let us remind ourselves again that this process is much more than a train purchase. We are reviving our rail engineering sector, contributing to skills development and job creation, among other bigger objectives.
“A long journey still lies ahead of us. We will walk with our fellow citizens and keep them informed. Today marks a significant milestone on our journey to give our people a modern, affordable, comfortable, safe passenger railway system,” she said.