The board at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa no doubt faces an uphill battle in attempting to extricate the organisation from a R5-billion contract with Swifambo Rail Leasing, which procured locomotives from Vossloh, of Spain, that seemingly don’t even meet the basic technical requirements of the domestic network. However, the clean-up is not only overdue, but also significant – as is the legal strategy of seeking to move the matter from closed arbitration to open court.