International railway systems and equipment major Alstom on Tuesday completed the manufacture of the first 20 trains as part of its €4-billion contract with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA).
The contract, signed in 2013, commits Altsom to supply 600 X’Ttrapolis Mega trains over ten years, with only the first 20 arranged to be manufactured at the Lapa plant, in São Paulo, Brazil.
Sixteen trains are already in commercial operation in South Africa.
“To deliver the 580 remaining trains, Gibela – the consortium led by Alstom, with participation of local companies Ubumbano Rail and New Africa Rail – is currently building a 600 000 m2 plant in Dunnottar, near Johannesburg,” Alstom said in a statement.
The new manufacturing plant will produce 62 trains a year.
Alstom Brazil will continue transferring technology to Gibela’s technical staff until mid-2018.