(Corrects alert to show source is an official, not a minister)
CAPE TOWN Feb 28 (Reuters) – South Africa will
solicit international bids for 128 billion rand ($17 billion)
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.
($1 = 7.5855 South African rand)
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; editing by David Dolan)
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