Heavy engineering manufacturer DCD has launched a new train bogie with 85% local content‚ which it says substantially beats the tender requirements of the Passenger Rail Association of SA (Prasa) for companies to become preferred suppliers. The group‚ formerly called DCD Dorbyl‚ says this gives it significant competitive advantage in being a recipient of some of Prasa’s R123bn spending programme over the next 20 years. Bogies are chassis that carry wheels on large transport and industrial equipment such as train coaches‚ heavy tracked vehicles‚ and aircraft takeoff and landing gear. Prasa has allocated R5‚1bn a year over the next decade to train sets‚ of which bogies are a component‚ subject to 40% local content within three years from tender and 65% within seven years. “Our new bogie demonstrates that we have the existing capability to manufacture train-set components with more than 40% local content immediately‚” Rob King‚ DCD MD‚ said on Monday. “We are hoping for Prasa’s final tender to reflect higher local content thresholds more in line with the industry’s current ability‚” he said. “The industry is already achieving more than 50% local content in manufacturing for existing Transnet tenders.” The group also said it was able to not only manufacture its own technologically advanced bogie using extremely high levels of local content‚ but could also manufacture any bogie designed by a third party and boost its local content to meet Prasa’s requirements. It said it was already in talks with a number of other industrial groups that would participate in the Prasa tender process. Prasa’s spending programme is part of a massive overhaul of SA’s passenger rail system‚ and is over and above R300bn budgeted by Transnet for expanding and maintaining freight rail and ports projects over the next seven years. 
DCD said its new suburban coach bogie was designed over four years‚ specifically for South African rail conditions‚ and would safely maximise speed and quality of ride in passenger train coaches‚ while containing noise levels in densely populated areas.
It said the bogie offered improved wear‚ higher reliability and lower lifecycle costs‚ and had been tested in conjunction with Transnet Freight Rail in March this year. “The independent testing showed that the new bogie substantially outperforms the Commonwealth bogie in use today‚ and compares favourably with the Gautrain – despite markedly worse track conditions‚” Mr King said. DCD group executive director for rolling stock and defence‚ Carl Rehder‚ said on Monday the research and development process referenced the latest international bogie design and technology‚ while drawing on DCD’s own extensive engineering experience. DCD provides heavy engineering products and services globally through four clusters – rail‚ mining and energy‚ and defence and marine. It also helps the government develop appropriate local content parameters for manufacturing across a range of industries. Source: moneyweb.co.za
