South Africa’s State Owned Rail Company on Tuesday what it said was the ‘first locomotive to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Africa’ by African’s . South Africa’s embattled President Jacob Zuma was on hand to officially launch the Trans African Locomotive in Pretoria.
This is the first ever train that has been designed, engineered and manufactured locally by Transnet. The locomotive is specifically customised to African conditions and is suitable for use on branch lines and in shunting yards. Locomotive was developed by Transnet’s manufacturing division Transnet Engineering and assembled at its plant in Koedoespoort.

Transnet designed the 1 067 mm gauge diesel locomotive original underframe, superstructure, bogies, body and locomotive control system to withstand the African environment and is needs specific to the continent. The locomotives axleload is suitable for lightly laid tracks and the cab is designed for bidirectional operation. It has an MTU 16V 4000 R43R engine with an output of 2 000 kW. Options envisaged include cab customisation, engine upgrades and a passenger version.

Through the Trans Africa Locomotive, Transnet has heeded the resolution taken at the 2015 Heads of State and Government Summit of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, for South Africa to champion the manufacturing and supply of rail stock in Africa. The company said the locomotive, which will be assembled at the company’s production facility in Koedoespoort, East of Pretoria, marked a crucial step in its strategy of becoming a leading manufacturer and supplier of rolling stock on the continent.

Other intended benefits of the Trans Africa Locomotive for South Africa and the continent include:

• Regional integration
• Localisation
• Industrialisation
• Skills development
• Road-to-rail migration

The prospective socio-economic spin-offs of the project are crucial in enabling government to address the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality in the country, in line with the National Development Plan and Vision 2030. President Zuma said that state owned entities such as Transnet had often helped keep the country’s economy afloat during tough times.

“Over the past 10 years, South Africa has grappled with the effects of a global economic downturn. We looked to some of our giant state-owned companies to keep the wheels turning during this difficult period," he said.
“Companies such as Transnet and Eskom, with combined assets of more than R800bn, not only employ masses of our people but also, crucially, drive infrastructure development.”

Zuma said the entities were at the forefront of technical innovation and the development of valuable African markets. “What Transnet is showing us today is that it has the skills and foresight to extend itself beyond its traditional strengths to include new value-added services in the logistics supply chain,” Zuma said.

He added the engineers responsible for the project had many years of experience in modifying locomotives to meet unique African conditions.
Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama said that “We are very happy that this is a proudly African locomotive. Made in Africa for African conditions,” .
The locomotive’s prototype was completed last year and had cost Transnet R350bn to create, chief advance manufacturing officer Thamsanqa Jiyane said.

Transnet hoped to sell it to clients across the continent. He would not divulge further details but said three Memorandums of Understandings had already been signed. This project was one of the company’s moves towards trying to diversify its sources of revenue, Transnet said.
The locomotive was designed for the African landscape, and is suitable for use on branch lines and in the yard for shunting.
“It can be used on old rail tracks originally designed to carry light axle loads. The original underframe, superstructure, bogies, body, and locomotive control system were designed to withstand the African climate,” Transnet said.

Africa Team