Knorr-Bremse South Africa, through its IFE subsidiary, has become a key player in the local manufacture of doors for global metro train projects, thanks to its work on South Africa’s PRASA X’Trapolis trains—known locally as the “People’s Train.” This experience has enabled Knorr-Bremse South Africa (KBSA) to leverage its capabilities in two significant international projects: supplying raw doors for the Delhi Metro Line 17 and 22, and three-car trainsets for Pune Metro Line 3, in partnership with Alstom.
“The technology and expertise we’ve developed over recent years have established Knorr-Bremse South Africa as a centre of excellence within the Knorr-Bremse Group for the manufacturing of doors for passenger rail rolling stock. This recognition has enabled us to contribute to major international rail projects,” says Andrae Nieuwoudt, General Manager at Knorr-Bremse South Africa.
KBSA has demonstrated its capability as a reliable OEM supplier from South Africa, supporting Alstom’s trainset projects with precision-engineered doors. “The manufacturing process developed by KBSA uses an innovative vacuum-forming technique, rather than the traditional press-forming method,” explains Nieuwoudt. This is followed by a curing process. For the Delhi and Pune metro projects, KB India has supplied the skins and bracketry for the doors.
This unique manufacturing process is what sets KBSA apart. ‘It’s not only our ability to quickly produce a quality product,’ explains Nieuwoudt, ‘but also the fact that, as an established operation, we can efficiently supply smaller quantities. For global projects, this means there’s no need to set up an entirely new production line.”
The project also highlights a successful collaboration between KBSA in South Africa and KB India. KBSA manufactures the “raw doors” in South Africa, without final fittings like windows, rubbers, rollers, or slides, which are then added by KB India to meet localisation requirements in India.
“We only produce the ‘raw door’ in South Africa,” Nieuwoudt clarifies. Final assembly and fitting, tailored for the Indian market, are completed by KB India.
“This is just one of many collaborative projects between Knorr-Bremse and Alstom, reaffirming our standing as a dependable and trusted partner in the rail sector. It also further highlights the capability that we have built in South Africa,” concludes Nieuwoudt.
