Cape Town - South Africa will solicit international bids for
R128bn worth of train coaches and locomotives as early as next month, a senior
transport official said on Tuesday.
Mawethu Vilana, the deputy director general for integrated
transport planning at the department of transport, told Reuters the government
would solicit bids for 7 200 train coaches and locomotives, with first delivery
expected by 2015.
“We are looking at putting this thing to tender around
March/April of this year,” Mawethu Vilana told Reuters on the sidelines of a
media briefing.
The acquisition of coaches will be divided into two 10-year
batches, with 3 600 vehicles in each batch, as South Africa moves to modernise
an ageing railway infrastructure.
Given the size of the order, Vilana said there would likely
be more than one original manufacturer tapped to provide the coaches.
“For obvious reasons it may not be possible to have one
original equipment manufacturer. You may have to look at a combination of one,
two or three manufacturers,” he said.