Media coverage

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) and Gibela Empowerment Consortium unveiled the designs of South Africa's world-class commuter trains on July 2 at the Sandton Convention Centre during the annual Africa Rail Exhibition.

Gibela Transport, a joint venture 61% owned by French company Alstom, has begun manufacturing the 600 state-of-the-art passenger trains, comprising 3 600 coaches, that are set to revitalise South African rail transport while giving a major boost to the industrialisation of the economy.

The first 20 trains in the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) ten-year, R51-billion deal to procure 600 new trains should be shipped from Brazil by the end of 2015, says Gibela CEO Marc Granger.

The Department of Transport (DoT) has allocated R5.5-billion in the current financial year to plan, build and operate integrated public transport networks in 13 cities.

GIBELA, the empowered South African company responsible for supplying 580 commuter train sets to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) over 10 years, says that while the first 20 of 600 "cutting-edge" commuter trains will be made in Brazil, South African workers will be involved in their hands-on construction as part of skills training.

South Africa will benefit from the multi-billion rand project that will see PRASA replace its outdated trains, Gibela Rail Transportation said on Thursday.

South Africa will benefit from the multi–billion rand project that will see PRASA gradually replace its current outdated train fleet, Gibela, the company responsible for doing so, said on Thursday.

Speaking in Johannesburg, he said PRASA should start using these first new trains, which will replace its old Metrorail rolling stock, in 2016.

South Africa will benefit from the multi-billion rand project that will see PRASA gradually replace its current outdated train fleet, Gibela, the company responsible for doing so, said on Thursday.