By: OrePulse

Transnet Engineering and Wabtec signed a long-term Material and Technical Support Agreement worth about 6.6 billion rand, the companies said in statements reported on October 16. The agreement is intended to raise the availability, reliability and maintenance performance of two classes of Transnet's diesel-electric freight locomotives.

Transnet Engineering is a division of Transnet, South Africa's state-owned freight rail, port and pipeline group. Wabtec is a US-based manufacturer of locomotives and rail equipment.

The agreement covers Transnet's Class 43D (C30Aci) and Class 44D (ES40Aci) locomotives. Both types trace back to GE Transportation, a predecessor company to Wabtec, which built them in the United States and in South Africa in partnership with Transnet Engineering. Bessie Mabunda, Transnet Engineering's chief executive officer, said: "The 43D and 44D locomotives serve critical freight corridors that move export commodities, containers and general freight." An image accompanying one report on the agreement showed Class 44D locomotives hauling ore wagons on South Africa's Steelpoort line, one of the routes the fleet serves.

Under the agreement, Wabtec will supply Transnet Engineering with components, technical expertise and predictive maintenance capabilities for the two fleets, including access to Wabtec's Expert-on-Alert digital condition-monitoring platform. The companies said the platform should improve locomotive performance, cut maintenance turnaround times and strengthen management of the fleet over its lifecycle. Predictive maintenance tools of this kind are generally used to flag developing problems in equipment before they cause an in-service failure.

Mabunda said strengthening the locomotives' reliability and availability "will help improve service delivery, support freight recovery and enhance the country's logistics competitiveness." She called the deal "an important step in improving the performance of our locomotive fleet" and said: "This agreement supports Transnet's Reinvent for Growth strategy."

Transnet said the deal followed its standard procurement and governance procedures. It was formally signed by Mabunda and Tefo Mokaila, director of Wabtec South Africa, and Transnet Group Chief Operating Officer Solly Letsoalo attended the signing.

Beyond the supply of parts and monitoring technology, the companies said the partnership includes technical collaboration and knowledge transfer meant to build local engineering skills and broaden rail-sector capacity in South Africa, supporting the industry's growth over the longer term.

Letsoalo said he was encouraged that some components had already "started arriving earlier than expected." He said he would like more of the components built inside South Africa, preferably at a Transnet Engineering plant, adding: "We can move as many as possible of these components to be manufactured locally." He said faster component deliveries and greater local manufacturing capacity remained priorities.