The Traxx Africa locomotives operated by the South African company Transnet successfully completed 10 million kilometres in service since operations began in December 2017.
The Transnet locomotives delivered by Bombardier Transportation have each made around 1,600 round trips of 2,200 km from Hotazel to Port Elizabeth operating with multiple locomotives during each trip. The locomotives moved over ten million tonnes of freight since starting service. The locomotives have been operating at an availability rate of 98 per cent compared to 95 per cent contractual requirement and one failure per million km compared to the target of 15 based on the contract requirements.
The locomotives are being used to transport freight on South Africa’s long routes between its mines and ports. Bombardier has maximised local manufacturing and has assembled the new freight locomotives from the very first unit in South Africa. With more than 60 per cent of the total contract value on local content achieved and around 300 direct and 1,800 indirect local jobs created, we are a well-established local manufacturer and employer that is fully integrated into South Africa’s facility.
“This achievement is thanks to the close partnerships between Bombardier, Transnet Freight Rail, Transnet Engineering and more than 200 local suppliers who are supporting us in the delivery of these modern electric locomotives. We are proud to see our locomotives forming the backbone of the regional freight movement in South Africa and Bombardier is fully committed to this country through our local manufacturing capability, strong local supply chain and job creation that comes with each TRAXX Africa locomotive manufactured here,” said Makgola Makololo, Managing Director South Africa at Bombardier Transportation.
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) awarded Bombardier the contract to supply 240 electric locomotives in March 2014. Since then, Bombardier has been delivering the Traxx Africa locomotives to Transnet as part of South Africa’s rail modernisation plan. In addition, the localised manufacturing is contributing towards skills development in the country and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) programmes. Bombardier is a B-BBEE level 2 certified company, also exceeding the requirement to maintain B-BBEE level 4 under the contract contributing significantly towards local development programmes for the South African government.
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