The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has announced the awarding of the five-year General-Overhaul contract that will now allow for the heavy maintenance and repairs of train-sets which will help clear the backlog.
“Under the General Overhaul programme, about 380 to 400 coaches will undergo heavy maintenance and rehabilitation work every year for the next five years,” the Prasa statement said recently.
The contract was awarded to five contractors nationally. Prasa, which operates the Metrorail service, says the contracts were awarded to Armeture Technology, CTE Investment, Karabo Nhlamolo Projects Cooperative, TMH Africa and YNF Engineering.
“Many of our train sets are out of commission due to the lifespan of our coaches and the vandalism of our coaches, making our trains hazardous and unsafe for our commuters. Therefore, this is a positive development for Prasa and commuters because we can now start maintenance and refurbishment work and increase the availability of trains as we recover our lines,” said the Prasa statement.
The lifespan of a coach is about 40 years. However, the majority of Prasa’s fleet is generally over 50 years old. In the asset lifecycle of trains, individual coaches need to undergo general maintenance every 9 to 10 years.
The General Overhaul programme not only supports the Corporate Strategy to provide a safe, reliable, and comfortable service to commuters but also supports Prasa’s Modernisation Programme.
“As we transition to the new electrical trains manufactured at the Gibela manufacturing plant, the current fleet needs to be maintained until new electrical motor units are finally acquired and fully incorporated into service by estimated 2033. The current fleet is expected to still be operational and systematically phased out by then. The economic benefit of this R7.5 billion contract cannot be understated as this has breathed new life into an industry that was almost left decimated,” said the Prasa statement.
“This contract has the potential to revive and ignite our economy as over 2 000 direct jobs are expected to be created. This is a true testament that we at Prasa, move beyond our primary mandate of transportation. This milestone has given our ageing fleet a new lease of life and set to increase productivity, boost confidence and staff morale within our organisation. This also gives Prasa an opportunity to innovate as we expedite the deployment of the new electrical trains,” the agency said.
Prasa said it planned to spend about R8 billion over the next five years on the general overhaul of 400 of its locomotives, with R7.5 billion targeted at wrecks and accident-damaged locomotives and R500 million for light maintenance of the rolling stock.
It has also budgeted about R9 billion over the next five years to roll out updated signalling and communications systems, which have not only been affected by the vandalism but are also on manual mode, which Mphelo said was not foolproof from causing accidents.
Prasa has 18 functional lines out of 40. Only seven are functional in Gauteng, three in KwaZulu-Natal, two in the Eastern Cape and six in the Western Cape.
The latest statistics showed that Metrorail paying customers had decreased from 646 million in 2008/9 to 147 million in 2019/20, Main Line Passenger Service (MLPS) passengers had declined from 3 million in the same period to 278 400, while bus company Autopax passengers had declined 2.4 million to 1.6 million.