Metrorail’s first new passenger train would arrive in November next year, said Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) CEO Lucky Montana on Thursday.

“Next year we will be able to put our hands around the infrastructure and equipment we have been talking about for so long.”

The new train formed part of a R51-billion deal to acquire 600 new trains from the Gibela consortium, with the first 20 to be imported from Brazil.

The remaining 580 trains would be produced locally.

Metrorail is a subsidiary of PRASA.

Speaking at the Transport Forum, at the University of Johannesburg, Montana said that several lessons could be learned from the rolling stock deal.

The first was that South Africa “should never again” underinvest in its railway system as had been the case over the last 30 to 40 years, leaving it to spend billions of rands on revitalising passenger rail in the country.

“Buying this amount of trains is inefficient,” said Montana. “You need to buy a few at a time because you are expanding a line – that’s how to do it.”

The second lesson was that maintenance was vital to operating any railway system, he added.

“When we talk underinvestment, we include maintenance.”

Montana said proper maintenance would have ensured a better running Metrorail service today, even without investment in new rolling stock.

The third lesson was that the proposed factory in Nigel, on the East Rand, set to build the new rolling stock, should not only build trains for South Africa, but also Africa, as the coaches should be suitable to do duty all over the continent.

A fourth lesson was that the rail industry allowed skills to disappear through a cycle of underinvestment.

The good news was that many people working in the UK and other countries wanted to return to South Africa to participate in government’s new rail programmes, said Montana.

A fifth lesson was the vital importance of the relationship between land use and the provision of transport, he noted.

“Housing development and transport provision and expansion must correlate,” he emphasised. “We need to look at densification and land use patterns.”

This was necessary to combat the current over-use of rail systems in only one direction during peak periods, with low passenger numbers outside peak periods.

“We need to carry more people, all the time, in all directions,” said Montana.

He said minibus taxis had been successful in the South African landscape as they had always been the quickest to respond to customer demands.

Montana added that thriving cities required railways to be the heart of the transport system.

“Rail has the capacity. Yes, it costs a lot of money at the beginning, but it benefits all of us in the long term.”