South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday unveiled the continent's largest train manufacturing plant, a joint¹ venture between the national rail firm and French transport group Alstom.

 

南非总统西里尔·拉马弗萨周四给非洲最大的火车制造工厂揭牌，该厂是由南非国家铁路公司与法国阿尔斯通合资建立的。

 

The factory is a part of a 51-billion-rand ($3.5 billion, 3.1 billion-euro) deal between Alstom and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to produce a fleet of 580 six-car suburban² trains.

 

The first train from the Gibela plant in Dunnottar, east of Johannesburg, is scheduled to roll off the test track by the end of this year.  

 

South Africa's economy has in recent years suffered low growth rates and this year slipped into a recession, and Ramaphosa hailed the new investment in trains.

 

"This investment here signifies a new era in the modernisation of modern rail network," he said as he formally inaugurated the plant. 

 

"Our railways must become the arteries³ of a growing economy that brings meaningful improvement in people's lives."

 

The president said the plant was a "major boost to our manufacturing capacity as a country."

 

"Manufacturing... is the real engine of economic growth."

 

When fully⁴ operational, the plant is expected to employ 1,500 people.

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