Brakes put on Gautrain plan
R2BN INVESTMENT: ROLLING STOCK
Development Bank of Southern Africa is still one of the potential funders of this investment programme.
The planned R2 billion investment to ease Gautrain capacity constraints, which includes the acquisition of second-hand rolling stock from the UK, has been delayed because of restrictions on the movement of people and goods during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Gautrain Management Agency (GMA) CEO William Dachs confirmed the procurement process for the additional rolling stock has not yet been concluded. “We anticipate that the procurement of rolling stock will be complete in October 2020, but note the risk that Covid-19 may impact on this target date,” he said.
Dachs said the GMA was looking for between 25 and 28 coaches and, depending on the number of coaches per train, this was between five and seven train sets. He said the cost of acquiring the additional rolling stock would be determined by the procurement process, but stressed the R2 billion cost estimate was for the total project, including the refurbishment of the trains and investments in the infrastructure on the system to cater for these trains. “It is not the cost estimates for the trains themselves.”
Former GMA CEO Jack van der Merwe said at the Southern African Transport Conference in July last year that the new coaches would most probably arrive in South Africa within the next 18 months. Thus the target date for the coaches’ arrival was December 2020.
However, Dachs said the December 2020 timeline may slip by a few months given restrictions on the movement of people and goods during the global pandemic. He added that the Development Bank of Southern Africa was still one of the potential funders of this investment programme.
M&R weighs in
The Bombela Concession Company (BCC) – the special purpose vehicle established for the design, partial financing, delivery, operation and maintenance of the Gautrain – holds the 15-year concession for operating and maintaining the Gautrain. JSE-listed engineering and construction group Murray & Roberts (M&R) owns a 50% shareholding in the BCC.
M&R CEO Henry Laas said earlier this year the group’s investment in the BBC continues to do well and the group would like to extend the concession. Laas added that the concession company was leading the procurement process for the additional train sets, and that Van der Merwe and Dachs plus some concession company people visited a few potential suppliers late last year.
He said some modification would be required to the trains to make them compatible with South Africa’s system and conditions. “Then we need to renew and extend the concession,” he said.
Laas said some people were unhappy about the government guarantee to the concession company and competition concerns had also been raised. However, he said nowhere in the world would you find a rapid rail system like the Gautrain that is financially self-sustainable, adding that all were government subsidised.
Laas added that the concession company raised all the funds for the Gautrain and the banks were only prepared to extend the borrowings to the BCC if there was certainty they would get their money back.