Dunnottar train manufacturing complex project, South Africa

4th August 2017

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

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Name of the Project
Dunnottar train manufacturing complex project.

Location
Gauteng, South Africa.

Client
Gibela Rail Transport Consortium, comprising Alstom (61%), Ubumbano Rail (30%) and New Africa Rail (9%).

Project Description
The project involves the construction of a 60 000 m2 factory at the Dunnottar industrial complex to manufacture trains for South African State-owned Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). This forms part of a R51-billion contract to supply 600 new trains over ten years and provide technical support, as well as spare parts over an 18-year period, to the rail agency.

The train manufacturing complex has a geographical footprint of 78 ha, comprising:

• the total built area of the factory of 51 ha, of which only 33 ha will be developed. The remaining land comprises an environmentally sensitive wetland, the preservation of which has necessitated the construction of a dam as part of the design and layout of the plant.
• 27 ha that has been reserved for the uBumbano Rail Park, which will house equipment suppliers and components required for the new trains.

The factory will produce 580 coaches.

The plant will also be equipped with several kilometres of rail network, including a 1.25 km dynamic test track for the testing of completed trains.

The first trains were manufactured in Brazil, with last train arriving in South Africa in June 2017. The remaining 580 units will be assembled at Dunnottar. At its peak, the manufacturing facility will produce 62 trains a year, in line with Alstom’s X’Trapolis Mega commuter train design.

To ensure that the contract’s 65% local-content stipulation is met, the complex will also accommodate local components suppliers.

Jobs to be Created
About 47 small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) have received work to the value of R219-million in the construction programme, with 32 of these local SMMEs.
Locals from the surrounding areas have also secured 716 construction jobs to date, out of a total of 822 jobs.

Value
R1-billion.

Duration
The plant is expected to be completed in early 2018.

Latest Developments
The Gibela consortium will deliver the first locally built X'Ttrapolis Mega commuter train to PRASA by the end of 2018.

Train production will start while the plant is still under construction. The plant is about 50% complete.

The first 20 trains were built by Gibela’s majority shareholder, Alstom Transport, at the Lapa manufacturing plant, in Brazil. The last of the trains arrived in South Africa in July.

Construction has not started on the 27 ha supplier park, envisaged to be built next to the train plant. “The supplier park is not part of our commitment to PRASA,” Gibela CEO Marc Granger has said. “It is an idea we put on the table . . . to complete what should be a railway industrial complex in Dunnottar.”

The idea will, most likely, need to be undertaken by PRASA or another State body. PRASA has agreed that Ubumbano will develop the supplier park, once financing has been secured.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Aecom (engineering, procurement and construction management contractor); Trencon Construction (site clearance, bulk earthworks and civil infrastructure) and Trencon Construction and Black Jills Engineering (main site buildings, including the training centre), Saflog Consulting Services (rail infrastructure).

On Budget and on Time?
Plant completion, as well as the handover of the first train, has been delayed.

An initial timeline required Gibela to deliver the first South African-made train by June 2017.

However, Gibela received the plant site later than expected from PRASA and the Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality. Community protests, demanding increased local involvement in the project, as well as inclement weather during the past summer, resulted in an additional 1.5-month delay.

Further, improved road infrastructure, potable water and sewer connections to the site are yet to be established. In addition, bulk power supply is scheduled to be only connected in February 2018. Gibela will subsequently have to rely on temporary power solutions when manufacturing begins.

Gibela must also train a number of new employees to work in a high-pressure manufacturing environment, as 62 trains a year is quite a demanding schedule.

About 206 employees have received training at Alstom facilities worldwide.

“We have challenges, certainly, but we will deliver,” Granger has said. “Full production will be reached 24 months after we start to produce the first South African-made train.”


Contact Details for Project Information
Gibela communications director Pamella Radebe, email pamella.radebe@gibela-rail.com.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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