The ongoing construction of Gibela plant in Dunnottar, South Africa is almost complete; this is according to the Rail Transport Consortium CEO Thierry Darthout. The plant is projected to be complete in March next year.
Darthout, former Gibela operations VP who took over the reigns from Marc Granger confirmed the reports and said that they are currently in the process of commissioning the industrial equipment at the plant
“We are in the process of commissioning the industrial equipment at the plant, the first locally built train should be delivered to the client in December 2018,” says Darthout.
Alstom Southern Africa is the majority shareholder in Gibela with 61% shares, while BEE partners New Africa Rail and Ubumbano Rail hold 9% and 30% respectively.
The Gibela consortium
The Gibela consortium has to deliver 600 new X’Ttrapolis Mega commuter trains (3 600 cars) to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) after a US $4.4m agreement was signed in 2014.
Darthout pointed out that they have a challenge of providing the 600 new trains and Gibela will have to build one train car a day in 2019, at the peak of production. However, Gibela has already identified and developed 100 local component suppliers for the project.
Some of these 100 companies that have been selected will supply directly to Gibela, while the others will supply to Alstom Ubunye, which will, in turn, provide a number of components to Gibela. These components include bogies, traction systems, converters, control systems and looming.
About Alstom Ubunye
Alstom Ubunye which is the former Nigel-based Commuter Transport & Locomotive Engineering acquired 51% of the rolling stock refurbishment business in 2016.
This is a good initiative that will lead to the creation of a number of jobs. The plant will reach 630 people by March next year, peaking at 1 000 people, excluding employment at component manufacturers.
