Chinese firm to build 95 new locos for Transnet

The purchase will boost Transnet's operational performance‚ reliability and overall energy efficiency the Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Monday.

The winning bidder is a joint venture between CSR, which has a 70% stake and Matsetse Basadi, which owns the remainder. It will be known as CSR E-loco Supply.

CSR is a leading railway rolling stock manufacturer in China. It is the biggest supplier of electric locomotives‚ electric multiple units (EMUs) and metro rail cars in China. It makes new technology railway engineering vehicles and the medium and low speed Maglev trains‚ sub-systems and components.

The consortium and Transnet have agreed on a tight delivery schedule that will see the first batch of locomotives delivered to the company by December next year‚ while the final batch will be delivered in September 2014. The parties are committed to producing the majority of the locomotives locally.

The first 10 locomotives will be assembled in CSR's factories in China‚ while the remainder will be made in South Africa in line with the agreed supplier development targets of 60.5% of the total value of the contract being handled locally.

Speaking at the official signing ceremony at Transnet Freight Rail's depot in Capital Park, Pretoria‚ Gigaba said the award followed an open tender process, which drew interest from leading manufacturers around the world.

He added that the proposals, which closed in April, were evaluated by different sub-teams of specialists from Transnet. In line with Transnet's governance processes‚ the evaluation was overseen and monitored by Transnet's internal audit team.

The purchase is part of Transnet's long-term fleet renewal programme aimed at increasing its capacity while reducing the average age of its fleet. Transnet Freight Rail plans to grow its freight volumes from the current 201-million tons to over 350-million tons in seven years.

Transnet has invited additional proposals for the supply of 1,064 locomotives (465 diesel and 599 electric) as part of the company's R300bn seven-year capital expansion programme.