With the 51% acquisition of local rail company Commuter Transport and Locomotive Engineering (CTLE) now complete, French multinational Alstom is moving to develop a platform that will fully localise its rail presence in South Africa.

The group, which rebranded the Nigel-based train modernisation specialist as Alstom Ubunye, planned to embark on somewhat of a revitalisation programme, with a new strategy, to bring the South African company back to its former glory – with a fully local crew.

Speaking to Engineering News Online after the official handover on Wednesday, Alstom South Africa MD and now Ubunye’s new CEO Yvan Eriau, said that the acquisition presented an opportunity to combine international technology, engineering and innovation with local capacity and knowledge and to develop the East Rand region as the “railway hub” of Southern Africa.

“We are in it for the long haul,” he said, adding that the company’s vision was to be completely local and work would be done to anchor the capabilities that would set the new subsidiary up as a platform for manufacturing and exports into the railway sector across Southern Africa.

Eriau said that Ubunye would unveil the critical components of performance, quality, production and competitiveness that were already within the DNA of the historical company.

The new partnership would enable stronger financial and competitive capabilities to develop the business in both domestic and export markets.

Armed with more than 400 employees and an 80 000 m² manufacturing facility, Ubunye would now undertake a nine- to 12-month integration process to reinforce its structure and broaden its portfolio.

While the deal, the value of which remained undisclosed, expanded Alstom’s presence in South Africa to “better address” the Southern African region’s transport needs, the transaction would develop local competences, with Ubunye benefiting from Alstom’s technology and expertise.

A programme would be launched to train and develop local competences, with the support of Alstom’s experts, and to unlock a complete portfolio that would extend into infrastructure, signalling, trains and components, as well as services.

“We know we can rely on a highly skilled workforce here in CTLE to seize the new opportunities to come. We are very pleased to conclude this new deal with our South African partners to create a stronger industrial and commercial base able to offer a full range of rail products and solutions in Southern Africa,” said Eriau.

CTLE was previously known as Union Carriage and Wagon (UCW), which had participated in building the rolling stock for the Gautrain project, before a consortium, including Commuter Transport Engineering (CTE) and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), bought the company from Murray & Roberts in 2013.

UCW was established in 1964 to provide rail locomotives locally and export orders for several Asian and Southern African countries.

CTE and the IDC remained shareholders of the restructured group.