– The first South African-built X’trapolis Mega commuter train by Gibela has been handed over to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) on Friday.

The train was dispatched from Gibela’s new train manufacturing complex at , in Ekurhuleni, this week, travelling to Prasa’s Wolmerton depot, north of Pretoria.

This year we experienced ups and downs but we can smile knowing that we have triumphed in certain areas. There is hope.

Gibela will soon be handing over its first completed commuter train to PRASA. A second, state-of-the-art Xtra’polis Mega commuter train is nearing completion, with a minimum of six trains scheduled to be delivered to PRASA by the end of the first quarter of 2019.

– Gibela is ready to hand over the newly built South African commuter train to its customer, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) before the end of this year.

The October Transport Month (OTM) campaign has gone from strength to strength since its inaugural launch in 2005 showcasing government's unprecedented levels of improvement and success in transport infrastructure delivery, namely: road, rail, aviation and maritime.

They are employed at the first of a kind – R1 billion train manufacturing facility in in Ekurhuleni, about 50km east of Johannesburg.

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday officially opened the R1-billion, 78 ha Gibela train manufacturing facility at Park, in Nigel, east of Johannesburg.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said today that South Africa’s state-of-the-art train manufacturing plant was a catalyst for the transformation of passenger rail services and public transport.

South Africa's number one has described Ekurhuleni, where the official launch of a multibillion-rand train manufacturing plant was held, as the engine of economic growth in the country.