The Bombardier Africa Alliance (BAA) consortium is currently in the design phase of the Durban portion of State-owned rail operator Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (Prasa’s) national resignalling project.

The project involves the resignalling of 260 km of double track and 42 major train stations on the Durban commuter rail network. The project is valued at R1.15-billion, excluding value-added tax and will move to implementation once Prasa has signed off on the final design.

The project, which was signed in April 2013, is scheduled for completion in 2017, with the commissioning of the first line scheduled for May next year.

Rail technology manufacturer Bombardier Transportation rail control solutions (RCS) divi- sion head of engineering and product development Clarence Paramasivam notes that 65% of the contract value has been handed over to the six South African companies that form part of the BAA consortium, which Bombardier heads.

These companies include mining, development and engineering group Basil Read; railway signalling company ERB Technologies; Stimela Infrastructure Manage-ment Services (Sims); rail consultancy R&H Rail; diversified rail engineering company Bakara Engineering; and electrical construction company Tractionel Enterprise.

“Basil Read will be handling the civil works, ERB Technologies the local installation of the signalling equipment and Sims the track work. R&H Rail will be doing much of the design commissioning, Tractionel Enterprise will manage the electrical component and Bakara will handle the telecommunications portion,” Paramasivam explains.

Bombardier Transportation RCS division president Peter Cedervall highlights that the company is dedicated to local skills development, as evidenced by its work in countries such as Thailand and Russia, which have developed their rail capacity significantly following projects with Bombardier.

Bombardier has also achieved success in skills development with its South African partners. “In 2000, Bombardier stepped out of the South African market for a few months. ERB Technologies then took over our factory and we have allowed them to manufacture our track circuits. We also trained ERB Technologies in signalling installation and cabinet manufacturing during the Gautrain project,” Paramasivam adds.

Bombardier Transportation RCS division VP Thomas Bimer notes that, through Bombardier’s skills transfer initiatives, ERB Technologies successfully secured the ongoing maintenance contract on the Gautrain from the operator, Bombela Concession Company.

Bombardier Transportation RCS division industrial and sub- Saharan Africa sales and business development head Lucien Peters adds that Bakara Engineering has also benefited from its partnership with Bombardier. “We have provided Bakara with significant telecommunication skills, which were previously not available to the company. Bakara has since employed several telecommunication engineers and has developed into a more telecommunications focused company.”