The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) plans to unveil a replica of its newly purchased trains at the Pretoria station for public viewing from the end of July.
The showpiece, which arrived at the station on Thursday, was meant to showcase the new trains it aimed to roll out over the next 20 years as part of the organisation’s modernisation programme.
The example of a single coach revealed the train’s features, including closed-circuit television cameras, onboard communications between the driver and the commuters, emergency communications for disabled passengers and air conditioning, among other features.
The new trains, which were expected to start running at the first deployment corridor between Pienaarspoort and Pretoria, would gradually – over the next 10 to 15 years – phase out the current trains.
“The modernisation programme will see an increase in the number of station and line closures due to construction works as PRASA prepares and upgrades its infrastructure to accommodate the new trains,” the parastatal said in an update to the public.