A total of 132 Transnet employees have received formal training at China South Rail Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive’s (CSR ZELC’s) facility in the Hunan province of south-eastern China, in preparation for the domestic assembly of 85 electric locomotives to be carried out at Transnet Engineering’s (TE’s) Koedoespoort facility, near of Pretoria.

The local assembly forms part of a larger order, signed in October 2012, for 95 Class 20E locomotives, which has an estimated price tag of R2.7-billion.

The fist ten locomotives, the design for which was only officially finalised in July following the development of an initial prototype, were being manufactured in China, with the first two having arrived in South Africa for testing in the middle of November.

The initial units were unveiled at a ceremony at the Pyramid South depot, north of Pretoria, on Monday, where they were undergoing further testing. All ten could well have landed in South Africa before the end of the year, which is well ahead of the initial schedule.

TE CEO Richard Vallihu reported that besides the training of the 132 personnel another 300 had been employed, while the group had invested about R100-million to improve Koedoespoort’s facilities in preparation for the assembly. The bulk of the work would be performed on the same line on which TE assembled the 143 Class 43-000 General Electric type C30ACi diesel-electric locomotives.

Vallihu did not provide a final local-content figure, saying only that work had been done to raise localisation levels beyond the initial brief, including through ensuring that the entire body was produced domestically.

Localisation had emerged as a key procurement criterion for the State-owned utility, which was in the process of adjudicating tenders for a further 1 064 locomotives, 599 dual-voltage electric locomotives and 465 diesel locomotives. The contracts, which could involve an investment of R35-billion, should be awarded by the end of January.

Group CEO Brian Molefe indicated that localisation had been fully integrated into the R307.5-billion Market Demand Strategy (MDS), with the ultimate intention of building TE into an original-equipment manufacturer for locomotives and port equipment.

For South Africa to grow at levels of better than 5% would require “us beginning to make things with our hands” and to sell those manufactured products into the fast-growing African market. “The MDS is our small contribution towards that vision,” Molefe added.

The first domestically assembled Class 20E unit was scheduled for delivery by the end of January and all 95 locomotives would be deployed into Transnet Freight Rail (TFR’s) general freight business operations before the end of March 2015.

TFR CEO Siyabonga Gama lauded the speed at which CSR ZELC had moved to design, develop and manufacture the prototype and the final vehicle, describing the process, which took less than 12 months, as “remarkable” when benchmarked against the global norm of between 18 and 24 months.

The group’s engineers had also been impressed by the performance of the dual-voltage locomotive, which were able to operate on 3 kV direct current networks, as well as 25 kV alternating current traction supply systems.

Gama said the early delivery of the initial locomotives was supportive of its fleet modernisation drive, which was designed to raise TFR’s volumes from 207-million tons a year to 300-million tons by 2020 and transfer rail-friendly cargo off the roads and back on to rail.

Gama indicated that many of the Class 20E locomotives would be deployed on the manganese line, where TFR was aiming to raise capacity from 7-million to 16-million tons over the coming six years.

Speaking through a translator, CSR ZELC president Zhou Qinghe said the group, which is also mostly State owned, was pleased to see the importance being attached by South Africa to investing in rail infrastructure.

He added that he saw the 95 Class 20E contract as but the start for the company, which was keen to deepen its relationship with Transnet and South Africa.