In commemoration of South Africa’s Transport Month, the country’s Transport Minister, Blade Nzimande has announced that it will launch a train manufacturing factory. The factory will be located at the Dunnottar Park in Nigel, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng province.
Transport Month is an annual celebration by South Africa’s Department of Transport to demonstrate “service delivery and showcasing transport infrastructure and services.” These transport services include rail, road, maritime, aviation and public transport.
The train manufacturing factory is a 75-hectare site and contains a park for suppliers and a training school as well as cost about $75 million. This year’s Transport Month is themed ‘Together, we move South Africa Forward.’
The train factory took 2 years to complete, starting in January 2016, while manufacturing activities began in 2017.
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“This massive investment will include the local manufacturing of parts, maintenance, training facilities, the creation of jobs, skills development, the achievement of a 65% local content, and it will promote black economic empowerment and support communities” Department of Transport’s statement revealed.
“The plant will deliver two new trains by December 2018, an approximation of nine trains by March 2019 and an estimated total of 56 trains over the next two years thereafter if bulk service challenges are overcome.”
The new manufacturing factory will help produce replacement spare parts for those lost due to vandalism, and reduce the strain on South Africa’s public rail system. The Department of Transport also said the manufacturing factory will reduce the challenges of overcrowding at train stations and “provide an affordable, efficient and reliable rail service.”
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