Image: Sizwe Ndungane, The Times
The first of 600 trains bought by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) in a R51bn deal with Gibela Rail Transport Consortium entered a second phase of testing on Monday.
The train ran along tracks between Wolmerton and De Wildt stations in Gauteng to see if it could reach a speed of 132km/h.
Last month Transport Minister Dipuo Peters committed to funding a complete overhaul of the current commuter system after an accident in in Denver, in April last year.
A train collision in where a Metrorail safety officer was killed and about 240 people injured when the Business Express slammed into the back of a Metro Plus train.
The accident prompted the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) to investigate the conditions of the railway.
The RSR's final report revealed that poor communication and a lack of coach maintenance and signalling systems were among the main causes of the accident.
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The testing is to be completed by the end of September this year ahead of the new trains' commercial launch planned for October.
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The Gibela contract and trains are one aspect of Prasa’s R172bn, 10-year fleet renewal programme that will see the rail agency modernise its ageing and unreliable urban service Metrorail, which ferries more than 2.2-million passengers daily.
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It is expected that the testing will have limited interference with normal Metrorail services.
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Operations are expected to be rolled out to other parts of Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Western Cape with Prasa hoping to create at least 33 000 jobs over the next 10 years through this project.
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