The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) on Monday moved to assure South Africans that, despite contrary claims emerging in Sunday newspaper Rapport, its new – and growing – fleet of Afro locomotives were running on the nation’s expansive railway lines without fault.

Showcasing videos and unpacking the engineering and design specifications of the new Spain-sourced trains at a media briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Pretoria, PRASA CEO Lucky Montana aimed to put to bed any doubt over the safety or standards of the Afro 4000 diesel locomotive range that he deemed one of the best in the world.

The first of these Railway Safety Regulator of South Africa-approved trains, which had been undergoing extensive testing since the first of 70 ordered locomotives – 20 diesel and 50 hybrid – reached South Africa’s shores in January, would enter revenue-generating long-haul passenger services with Shosholoza Meyl by the end of August.

Thirteen of these Afro 4000 diesel locomotives, valued at around R600-million, were now in various stages of testing – with no technical flaws or safety issues reported – with Spanish manufacturer Vossloh España set to deliver another seven locomotives within a month.

Following the weekend news report that the R3.5-billion contract would deliver trains that were unsuitable for the country’s rail network and that were likely to cause damage to the overhead electrical cables, Shadow Minister of Transport Manny de Freitas and the Economic Freedom Fighters slammed PRASA, government and the Department of Transport for seemingly reckless spending.

The report claimed that the new trains were too tall for existing diesel locomotive tracks – at a roof height of 4 264 mm – which allegedly required a maximum height of 3 965 mm for local use.

However, PRASA rail operations division CEO Mossengwa Mofi explained that the imported trains had a roof height of 4 100 mm – well within the 150 mm headroom required with a clearance of 400 mm and in line with the 4 500 mm specifications outlined by the 2012 Transnet Freight Rail Electrical Safety Instruction specifications and the 2000 Rolling Stock Electrical Safety Instructions.

“The instruction specifies that the normal height between rail and electrical wire for 3 kV and 25 kV networks is 5 m and the minimum is 4.5 m. The safety instruction allows for a tolerance of 150 mm between the roof of the locomotive and the electrical contact wire. The Afro 4000 locomotive’s height is 4.1 m as opposed to [the] 4.26 m reported,” he said.

Montana noted that the locomotive was specifically designed to the requirements of South Africa and was well within the safety standards required for operation, slamming the accusations that PRASA had accomplished “South Africa’s largest and most expensive recent tender blunder.”

“The [Rapport] article is grossly inaccurate, it is false and we reject it,” Mofi added.

PRASA head engineer Dr Daniel Mtimkulu pointed out that the various tests, including travelling 3 000 km fault free, have been – and still were – successful at sites across the country, including in the Eastern Cape, Bloemfontein, Mafikeng, Kimberley and between Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Further, the locomotives would be tested on other long distance and regional service routes, starting with a route from Pretoria to Polokwane, in Limpopo, next week.