President Ramaphosa to launch new train factory in Dunnottar, East Rand

The plant is scheduled to deliver two new trains by December 2018, a further nine trains by March 2019 and an estimated total of 56 trains over the next two years.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will today, Thursday 25 October 2018, officially launch a new, multi-billion rand train-manufacturing factory at Dunnottar Park in Nigel, Gauteng.

The 72-hectare site at Dunnottar Park in the City of Ekurhuleni houses the factory, a supplier park and the Rail Training School. This industrial complex, constructed at a cost of approximately R1 billion, will manufacture, assemble, test, commission and deliver 580 new commuter trains.

The plant is scheduled to deliver two new trains by December 2018, a further nine trains by March 2019 and an estimated total of 56 trains over the next two years.

Construction of the factory commenced in January 2016 with manufacturing activities starting in 2017. The facility's employment equity status is that 49 percent of staff are female while 51 percent are male - with 90 percent of staff being black.

Today's launch is also part of government's 20-year Modernisation Programme aimed at revitalising the rail industry through local manufacturing of parts, maintenance, training facilities, creation of jobs, the achievement of 65 percent local content, and training and skills development for Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa (PRASA) employees and young people interested in the rail industry.