State-owned rail company Transnet this month unveiled the first locomotive to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Africa, the Trans-Africa locomotive.
The company said the locomotive, which will be assembled at the company’s production facility in Koedoespoort, east of Pretoria, marked a crucial step in its strategy of becoming a leading manufacturer and supplier of rolling stock on the continent.
The locomotive is suitable for use on branch lines and in the yard for shunting, while also being able to travel on old rail tracks originally designed to carry light axle loads.
“The locomotive is evidence of the strides we are making in transforming Transnet Engineering into an original-equipment manufacturer for locomotives, a move designed to restore our position as a catalyst for African innovation, industrialisation and, critically, intra-African trade,” Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama said.
In addition, the diesel-powered Trans-Africa locomotive is appropriate for ageing railway lines that operate on the Cape Gauge system, offering a cost-effective solution for the majority of the continent’s railway lines that are currently unused.