The next three years will see an influx of new long-haul passenger locomotives enter service in South Africa after the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) unveiled Africa’s first 4000-series diesel locomotive at Cape Town Station on Monday.

The new high-powered locomotive – the first of 70 – marked a “turning point” for the State-owned entity as it hoped to reintroduce services along a number of corridors that were mothballed on the back of ageing infrastructure and rolling stock.

The first AFRO 4000 locomotive, manufactured by Spain-based Vossloh, would undergo three months of testing before starting operations in March next year.

Another set of locomotives would make their debut in January, signaling further momentum in PRASA’s strategy of replacing its ageing locomotives fleet, which had been deteriorating owing to underinvestment, old technology, loss of critical skills and deferred maintenance.

As part of PRASA's “journey” towards modernising its fleet and delivering “high-quality, safe and reliable” passenger services, a “significant number” of the new locomotives would arrive within the first half of next year, with 15 to be delivered by March.

Dual-diesel-hybrid versions of the locomotives would be introduced in the latter half of 2015. Of the 70 units, 20 would be the 4000-series diesel locomotives.

By September, PRASA Rail CEO Mosenngwa Mofi believed the passenger rail company would have gained a critical mass, enabling the reintroduction of services along the mothballed routes.

The locomotives would bolster services for long-distance and regional services, including Shosholoza Meyl, Premier Classe and Metrorail.

The group, which currently operated six corridors, planned to reopen another four, with a priority on the Mafikeng to Johannesburg route.

Ten of the new locomotives would be based in the Eastern Cape, while the others would be focused on long-distance mainline passenger services and regional services.

PRASA’s Metrorail services currently carried more than two-million passengers daily, with another one-million transported through its mainline passenger service each year.

Mofi explained that, at its peak, 120 mainline passenger trains a week were operated, but owing to the ageing and legacy fleet, this had been cut to the current 42 a week.

PRASA chairperson Popo Molefe added that the new locomotives were designed to PRASA specifications to suit local conditions and came fitted with the latest technology.

He outlined features of dual-braking, an aerodynamic lightweight body, which boasted speeds of about 120 km/h to 130 km/h and dual-hybrid-diesel operations, enabling uninterrupted travel without the need to swap lead locomotives to suit each terrain on long distances.

The new locomotives boasted driver display units with route and train management systems for the driver to detect and reset any faults and had two driving cabs, enabling the vehicle to be driven in both directions without turning.

The introduction of the new fleet would also cut the maintenance costs by half and reduce diesel consumption.