Alstom has announced that its South African JV partner Gibela has seen its first 13 X’Trapolis Mega trains successfully enter commercial service on South Africa’s commuter rail tracks. The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, unveiled the first new trains at Pretoria station.
“This is a historic moment for Gibela, its shareholders and the country at large as South African commuters finally have access to a service that marks entry into a new age of rail” says Gibela CEO, Marc Granger.
These trains are part of the 600 new fleet being built by Gibela for the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA). The first 20 trains have been manufactured at Alstom’s Lapa factory in Brazil. They will bring modern, reliable and efficient suburban railway transport to the country’s population. The X’Trapolis Mega is a brand new train in Alstom’s X’Trapolis suburban range. The trains will initially run in the Koedoespoort – Rissik Corridor in Pretoria during peak and off-peak hours – a total of 146 trips a day.
The construction of Gibela’s manufacturing facility in Dunnottar is well underway and due to be completed by the end of 2017. The on-site Training Centre has already been completed and admitted its first intake of students in April 2017. At peak production, Gibela will produce 62 trains a year (each trainset comprises six cars).
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