Gibela has successfully obtained the Provisional Acceptance Certificate from Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) for the first X’Trapolis Mega train. This paves the way for PRASA to commence a test service, with no passengers, as required by the South African Rail Safety Regulator. In line with this test service, the train is scheduled to run between Pienaarspoort and Rissik Street in Hatfield from 1 December 2016 to 16 January 2017. The test will be completed with passengers on-board from 17 January 2017 to 28 February 2017. The commercial service will start shortly after, offering passengers the opportunity to experience PRASA’s new world-class service.
The Gibela manufacturing plant, where 580 trains (3,480 coaches) will be produced, is currently under construction. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. The facility is located at Dunnottar, Ekurhuleni, 50 km east of Johannesburg. The 20 first trains are being produced at Alstom’s factory of Lapa in Brazil and, as of today, 14 of them have been delivered.
For each train that has already been built in Brazil, 22% of procurement spent is on components sourced from South African suppliers. At full production locally, Gibela anticipates that a panel comprising 200 local suppliers will be manufacturing equipment and components for the 580 locally produced trains from 2018 onwards.
Within Gibela JV, Alstom holds 61%, Ubumbano Rail – 30%, New Africa Rail (NAR) – 9%, the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) partners selected by PRASA.
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