Gibela’s construction nears 65% completion

South African train-builder Gibela – in Dunnottar – is on track to complete its first South African-made X’trapolis Mega commuter train by the end of 2018.

Completion is scheduled for January 2018, at which point the factory site will also become Gibela’s corporate head office.

At the peak of the project, 62 trains are expected to be built every year with a total of 580 trains to be built in the next ten years.

With its partnership with Alstom and uBumbano Rail and New Africa Rail, Gibela is in its fourth year of delivery on a R51-billion contract with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to build 600 state-of-the-art Xtrapolis Mega commuter trains over 10 years for Metro Rail.

“Every milestone has been overcome and we delivered on time,” says Vuyiswa Tlomatsane, Gibela’s construction director.

The company is also contracted to supply technical support and spares to Prasa for the new trains over a period of 19 years.

In just three years, Gibela has overseen the manufacture of the first twenty trains at an Alstom factory in Brazil, using South African materials. Involving the country is part of its international know-how and skills transfer initiative.

While two of the 20 trains are test trains, the balance of 18 are already in commercial service in Gauteng.

They have clocked up close to 300 000 kilometres to date and are earning acclaim from the province’s rail commuter public.

Gibela and its suppliers around the world – and those here in South Africa – are gearing up to perform a multitude of production processes.

At full production, this will see the assembly of two cars a day or one-and-a half trains a week, which is a rate that has never been reached before.