Alstom: A contract worth 51bln Rand1 in South Africa
October 14 2013 - 12:13PM
Business Wire
PRASA and Gibela (led by Alstom) sign
historic agreement for the supply of modern commuter trains in
SA
Regulatory News:
PRASA (Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa) signed today a
contract with Gibela2 - a joint venture led by Alstom (Paris:ALO)
to supply 600 passenger trains (3 600 coaches) to be delivered
between 2015 and 2025. The contract is worth R51 billion and
includes the construction of a local manufacturing facility. In
addition to this contract, Gibela will provide technical support
and supply of spare parts over an 18-year period. This project is
one of the biggest in rail transport worldwide and is the largest
contract ever signed in Alstom’s history. The contract was signed
by PRASA Group CEO, Lucky Montana, Alstom Chairman and CEO Patrick
Kron, and Henri Poupart-Lafarge, President of Alstom Transport.
The contract is part of PRASA’s aim to revitalise the rail
industry, create jobs and provide efficient, reliable and safe
public transport. This ambitious programme was launched by the
South African government in 2010 to respond to the growing number
of commuters in the country. The programme will replace the ageing
suburban trains in service in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and
Durban, with 1 200 electric trains over a period of 20 years.
PRASA and Gibela will now proceed with the process of reaching
financial close at the end of December 2013.
Speaking on the occasion of the signature, Lucky Montana said,
“The PRASA fleet renewal programme is the catalyst for the
transformation of Metrorail3 services and public transport in South
Africa as a whole. It is the beginning of the roll-out of
government’s comprehensive rail programme. While the urgent
challenge to improve passenger services remains primary, the
rolling stock programme has been designed to achieve government’s
objectives of developing skills, creating jobs and delivering
quality services to citizens.”
“Alstom is proud to have been selected by PRASA for a project of
this magnitude. We are fully committed to mobilising the best of
our technology and expertise through our South African joint
venture Gibela and we believe our trains will set a high standard
in serving the interests of commuters,” Henri Poupart-Lafarge
said.
PRASA will be supplied with X’Trapolis Mega, the new X’Trapolis
train developed by Alstom to fit the 1.067 metre gauge in South
Africa. The train can travel at speeds of up to 120 km/h with the
ability to be upgraded to 160 km/h. Each single-deck train is
composed of six cars and is able to carry more than 1300
passengers. Thanks to the modularity of X’Trapolis, PRASA will be
able to adjust the configuration of the train depending on the
number of commuters (from 4 to 6 cars with the option of having the
set coupled). The train is equipped with air conditioning,
ergonomic seats, real-time on-board information, Wi-Fi internet
access and a combination of direct and indirect lighting to
increase the feeling of space. Additionally, it includes an
enhanced door system to provide better accessibility for passengers
with reduced mobility and full-length connecting gangways for
improved fluidity. With a 95% recyclability rate, the X’Trapolis
sets a high standard in environmental sustainability. Additionally,
the stainless steel car body-shell reduces the weight of the train
and its electrical braking capacity enables a significant reduction
in energy consumption.
PRASA, through the rolling stock programme, is in the process to
procure approximately 7224 new rolling stock with a projected
investment of 123 Billion Rand over a period of 20 years. The
procurement of the rolling stock is being done in two phases, with
the first phase of the programme being launched today. Gibela is
contracted for the first 10 years.
Gibela will build a manufacturing site in Ekurhuleni, east of
Johannesburg, to produce the trains in South Africa. The
manufacturing facility will also house an engineering center and a
training facility. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2014
and the factory is due to come on-stream in 2015. The project will
create over 1500 direct jobs in the local factory and 33,000
indirect jobs over the first 10 years, achieving a local-content
level of over 65%. The first 20 trains will be manufactured in
Lapa, Brazil. Alstom’s French sites Ornans, Tarbes, Villeurbanne
and Saint-Ouen will be involved in the project over the long
term.
About PRASA
PRASA was formally established in December 2008, when the
President signed the Legal Succession Act into law. This completed
the consolidation of the various entities (Metrorail, Autopax,
Shosholoza Meyl and Intersite) into PRASA from what were the South
African Rail Commuter Corporation and Transnet. PRASA has
17 000 employees, 76% of which are employed by Metrorail.
Website: www.prasa.com
About Alstom
Alstom is a global leader in the world of power generation,
power transmission and rail infrastructure and sets the benchmark
for innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Alstom
builds the fastest train and the highest capacity automated metro
in the world, provides turnkey integrated power plant solutions and
associated services for a wide variety of energy sources, including
hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and it offers a wide range of
solutions for power transmission, with a focus on smart grids. The
Group employs 93,000 people in around 100 countries. It had sales
of over €20 billion and booked close to €24 billion in orders in
2012/13.
Website: www.alstom.com
1 As of October 11, 2013, 51bln Rand is around €4 billion.
2 61% Alstom; 9% for New Africa Rail and 30% for Ubumbano Rail
which is the hosting entity in the National Empowerment Fund (NEF)
for the BBBEE (Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment) partners,
the Gibela and PRASA Employees Trust and the Educational Trust.
3 Metrorail is a division of PRASA which operates all the
passenger trains in South Africa.
PRASA press contact:Moffet Mofokeng,
+27718608500momofokeng@prasa.comorAlstom press
contacts:Virginie Hourdin / Isabelle Tourancheau, +33 1 41 49
21 36 / 39 95virginie.hourdin-bremond@chq.alstom.comisabelle.tourancheau@chq.alstom.comor(Alstom
Transport HQ)Linda Huguet, + 33 1 57 06 10
42linda.huguet@transport.alstom.comor(Alstom South Africa)Kobie
Hyman, +27 115188217kobie.hyman@power.alstom.comorAlstom
investor relationsDelphine Brault, Anouch Mkhitarian, +33 1 41
49 26 42/25
13delphine.brault@chq.alstom.comanouch.mkhitarian@chq.alstom.com
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