South African President Jacob Zuma attended the Ribbon-cutting ceremony of the 95th Electric Locomotive in Koedoespoort plant of Transnet Engineering Pretoria.

The locomotive was assembled by the plant with the support of technology from China’s CRS Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive. The power of the locomotive is 3000 kilowatt and its max speed is 100 kilometers per hour. To date, 95 locomotives contracted in 2012 between CRS Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive and Transnet have all now been delivered.

It took only 8 months from design of the locomotive to delivery. In 2014, CRS Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive won a contract for another 100 electric locomotives. Gama, the CEO of Transnet said that the new locomotive is very satisfactory. Transnet now have 2100 electric locomotives and 1400 diesel locomotives, but half of these have seen long service and need to be replaced. Zuma commended Transnet for the transition to a low carbon freight system through introducing these energy-efficient locomotives. He added that this would help reduce emissions and save electricity.

Transnet has sent a 120-strong study team to China to learn design, assembly and quality control, and is now forming its own manufacturing team. The factory has the capacity to assemble 100 electric locomotives. The number will increase to 150 in 2018.

This article was edited and translated from 《中国技术打造南非电力机车“升级版”》, source: People's Daily, Author:Ni Tao