Name of the Project
PRASA New Rolling Stock Acquisition Programme.

Location
South Africa.

Client
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).

Project Description
PRASA and Gibela signed the Manufacture and Supply Agreement and Technical Support and Spares Supply Agreement (which governs the maintenance of the new trains) in October 2013, as part of its New Rolling Stock Acquisition Programme.

The programme involves the acquisition of 7 224 new rail vehicles and will be rolled out in two ten-year phases.

The first ten years will involve the supply of 600 new trains comprising 3 600 coaches, with the remainder to be manufactured over another ten years.

The first 20 trains will be manufactured in Brazil, with the remainder to be manufactured in the PRASA train manufacturing plant currently under construction at Dunnottar, in Ekurhuleni, at a cost of R1-billion.

Each train will comprise six cars capable of transporting more than 1 300 passengers. The trains will travel at speeds of up to 120 km/h and could be upgraded to travel 160 km/h.

PRASA modernisation programme
In support of the acquisition programme, PRASA has embarked on a major modernisation programme aimed at updating all rail infrastructure in line with the new trains. 

The modernisation includes the design and construction of the Wolmerton and Braamfontein depots, in Gauteng, and three other depots in the rest of the country; station modernisation; a rolling stock refurbishment programme; and perway, bridges, infrastructure and signalling upgrades.

Jobs to be Created
The project will create 65 000 direct and indirect jobs.

Value
PRASA plans to invest R172-billion over ten years (from 2013/14 to 2023).

The manufacturing contracts are valued at R123.5-billion.

The Medium-Term Expenditure Framework for the depot modernisation is estimated at R3.1-billion.

Duration
The programme will be undertaken over 20 years.

Latest Developments
The first trains delivered in the R51-billion rolling stock acquisition programme for Metrorail operations are gearing up for service, PRASA has said.

The agency says the testing and commissioning of the units “have progressed well in the past six months, with no major technical issues recorded”.

PRASA will now introduce the new trains into Metrorail operations in a three-phased approach, starting in December.

The first trains will travel between Pienaarspoort station (Mamelodi) and Rissik street station (Hatfield), daily from December until January 16.

These trial runs will take place during off-peak periods, between 09:30 and 15:00, so that the normal peak operations of the current train sets are not interrupted.

During this time, the new trains will operate without passengers, as part of the pre-operation safety protocol set by the Rail Safety Regulator.

Phase 2 will run from January 18 to February 27. 

During this phase, passengers travelling from the Mabopane, Saulsville and De Wildt stations will continue to travel on the current trains. However, all trains will converge at Koedoespoort station, which will become a change-over station. Here passengers will transfer onto the new trains, terminating at Rissik station. 

Phase 3 will launch PRASA’s new commercial service, which will run only new train sets between Pienaarspoort station and Pretoria station from February 28. 

As part of the programme roll-out, PRASA will continue with construction work between Loftus and Mears stations, as it upgrades the rest of the corridor between Pienaarspoort station and Pretoria station.   

PRASA has said that it will continue to modernise the rail infrastructure in tandem with the deployment of the new trains, which “may sometimes cause a halt in operations until the modernisation works are complete”.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
The local suppliers to Gibela include: Siyahamba Engineering (cabin doors, and interiors, including partition walls); Booyco Engineering (saloon heaters, driver footrests); ILVA  General Engineering (air tank reservoirs); KAMA Industries (horns); Profibre (passenger seats and longitudinal benches); KARE Industrial (battery boxes); First National Battery (batteries); Denel (baseboard ducts); Global Composite (luggage racks, equipped ceiling, cab and saloon air ducts); Delberg Engineering & Quality Systems (handbars and backrests); Radél (passenger and cab lighting, door-light and voltage indicators); Gibb (insulation); Crest Information Systems (door external fairing, extract air duct in cubicles); Laser Junction (brackets, cab foot steps); Laser Junction/General Profiling Matla Steel (coupler push backs); Laser Junction/SPE (tool boxes); Jandinox (equipment support); Buzas (obstacle deflectors); Columbus Stainless/Macsteel (stainless steel); ArcelorMittal South Africa/Macsteel (carbon steel); LED Lighting SA (external front/cab lighting); Aberdare Cables (cables and wires) and Forminox (piping).

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
PRASA, Nana Zenani, tel +27 83 297 5905 or email nzenani@prasa.com.
Gibela communications director Pamella Radebe email pamella.radebe@gibela-rail.com.