South Africa signs roughly $400 million deal with US rail giant Wabtec to improve trains carrying minerals and exports

South Africa’s state-owned logistics group Transnet has signed a roughly $400 million agreement with US rail equipment company Wabtec to improve the reliability of locomotives serving the country’s freight corridors.

• Transnet Engineering signed a locomotive-support agreement with Wabtec on 15 October.
• The ten-year contract is worth approximately $400 million.
• It covers components, technical support and maintenance technology for two locomotive classes.
• The aim is to improve the reliability of trains transporting export commodities, containers and general freight.

The ten-year arrangement covers Transnet’s Class 43D and 44D fleets, which haul export commodities, containers and general freight.

It focuses on maintaining existing locomotives, supplying components and improving technical support rather than buying a new fleet.

The agreement was signed in Koedoespoort on 15 October, bringing a long-term maintenance partnership into Transnet’s wider effort to restore freight performance.

According to a South African Government News Agency report published on 16 October⁠, the agreement aims to improve locomotive availability, reliability and maintenance across important freight routes.

Keeping export trains moving

Wabtec will supply components, technical expertise and predictive maintenance capabilities, including its Expert-on-Alert monitoring platform.

The technology is intended to help identify developing problems and support maintenance decisions, reducing the time locomotives spend unavailable for service.

The agreement also includes technical cooperation, knowledge transfer and localisation initiatives intended to strengthen South African rail engineering skills.

Transnet Engineering chief executive Bessie Mabunda said the partnership would support freight recovery and improve the country’s logistics competitiveness. Those are intended benefits; the companies have not yet demonstrated the agreement’s effect on freight volumes.

A recovery already under way

The contract comes as Transnet attempts to build on improving rail performance.

The group reported freight volumes of 167.9 million tonnes for the financial year ended March 2026, compared with 160.1 million tonnes a year earlier. Its annual results, released in September, also showed its first annual profit in four years, supported by an asset sale.

For exporters, locomotive availability is a practical constraint. Equipment that cannot operate reliably limits the number of trains available to carry goods, even where customers and cargo are ready.

The new agreement addresses that part of the logistics chain. Its commercial value will depend on whether better access to components and technical support produces more dependable services.

Separate from private rail investment

Wabtec is also involved in a separate South African rail expansion programme.

Earlier, private operator Traxtion committed more than $200 million to expand freight capacity, including the acquisition of 46 former KiwiRail locomotives for upgrading with Wabtec.

That programme concerns a private operator’s fleet expansion. The newly signed agreement supports locomotives already operated by Transnet.

Together, the transactions illustrate two different parts of South Africa’s rail recovery: expanding participation by private operators and improving the performance of the state-owned fleet.