South Africa: Texmaco Rail is planning to localise production of freight wagons and locomotives in South Africa, according to Saroj Kumar Poddar, chairman of parent group Adventz. He told that the decision follows contracts secured this spring for 2,235 freight wagons and 30 diesel locomotives. The rolling stock, worth $430 mln, is destined for local freight operators Tsiko Africa Logistics and Barberry Holdings.
“These contracts mark an important milestone for us. Given the scale of the order, we’ve decided to build a plant in South Africa,” Poddar said. “In the first phase we’ll invest around INR 2-3 bln ($20.9-31.4 mln) in the project, and we’ll increase that investment in later phases.” The plant is due to open in 2027, and Texmaco expects to have produced half the rolling stock under the contracts there by the end of 2028.
Texmaco Rail already runs eight plants in India. Over the last financial year (April 2025 to March 2026) it built almost 8,400 freight wagons, down 21.1% on FY2024-25. The company has also teamed up with Czech wagonbuilder Nymwag: their joint plant in Kolkata, with capacity for 2,500 wagons a year, was reported to have opened late last year.
Texmaco Rail has no publicly confirmed locomotive-building experience so far. It plans to develop that capability in India too, through a joint venture with state-owned RVNL.
France’s Alstom already builds locomotives in South Africa, having bought the Boksburg plant from Russia’s TMH in 2022. The site now produces carbodies for Traxx-platform locomotives. Malaysia’s SMH Rail has announced plans for its own locomotive assembly operation in the country. On the freight wagon side, private manufacturer Galison remains active, supplying rolling stock to customers across the African continent.
Corruption scandals have complicated investment in South Africa’s rolling stock market in recent years. In 2019, anti-corruption investigations forced the suspension of contracts worth a total of $5 bln for the supply of 1,064 freight locomotives to national operator Transnet. The contracts had been signed with GE Transportation (acquired by Wabtec in 2019), Bombardier Transportation (acquired by Alstom in 2021), and CNR and CSR (which merged to form CRRC in 2015). They were later cancelled outright, and the companies’ South African bank accounts were frozen.
