Gibela speeds up train-building effort
The R1bn factory to be built for the production of nearly 600 new trains for the Passenger Rail Agency of SA will be one of the biggest and most productive in the world, says Gibela CEO Marc Granger. Special purpose company Gibela, which is 61%-owned by French power and transport group Alstom, has a R51bn contract to manufacture the new trains for Prasa's urban Metrorail service.
Prasa has taken delivery of two of the 20 trains being built at Alstom facilities in Brazil to speed up the modernisation of the Metrorail service. The remaining 580 will be built at the new factory in Ekurhuleni over 10 years. Metrorail has been criticised by its users and analysts for the age and unreliability of its trains.
When the first test train arrived in November, Prasa had not yet built a depot to park it or a test track. Prasa said last week the trains were being parked at Wolmerton, north of Pretoria, and the test track had been built. The trains will begin testing this week.
It's not a small factory
The main factory site, unveiled at an event attended by Transport Minister Dipuo Peters on Friday, is 33 hectares in size and will be built on 78ha of land. The area will also accommodate a 4,000m² training centre and supplier park.
"It is not a small factory like those found in a lot of places in the world. It will be one of the most, not to say the most productive, manufacturing plants," said Granger. "Even as a reference within the worldwide Alstom footprint, we know that what we have to do here is at the top of what Alstom facilities are able to deliver."
A huge industrial challenge
Construction of the factory will begin in May, with production expected to start in October 2017. By the end of 2019, the factory will be capable of producing trains at its maximum capacity of two train cars a day, a performance found in most advanced facilities in the world, said Granger.
"It is a huge industrial challenge and the suppliers to Gibela will have a huge role to play. And we will focus on supporting them through our supplier development initiative," he said.
Already 32 suppliers have delivered parts for the first 20 trains being built in Brazil. They include seats, doors, stainless steel, luggage racks and cables. Local content in the two trains built in Brazil has reached 20%, said Granger.
Socio-economic gains
Peters said that the factory would deliver socio-economic gains through skills development, job creation as well as SMME development. "The accomplishment of this project is set to help increase the number of employed youth and serve to reinvigorate our national rail industry," said Peters.
Head of Prasa's fleet renewal programme, Piet Sebola said the trains would be fitted with air-conditioning, CCTV cameras and would automatically stop in the event of a potential collision. "The future of SA rail is here," he said.
Source: Business Day
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