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ROLLING STOCK | PERWAY | INFRASTRUCTURE | SIGNALLING | OPERATORS | COMMENT
ISS
UE
4 // 2
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WWW.RAILWAYSAFRICA.COM
Predicably, a Boeing 777 making a bumpy
landing at San Francisco’s international
airport made bigger headlines in South
Africa on Monday 8 July than a derailment in
Canada. The Johannesburg Times managed
an insignifi cant passing mention of the
train on an inside page; the aeroplane
merited a full story, even a picture.
Being strong believers in object lessons,
in learning from mistakes and the ever-
important relevance of history, Railways
Africa didn’t fi nd local newspaper coverage
of the two occurrences encouraging. In
San Francisco, it was (it seems) simply a
matter of pilot error. At Lac Mégantic in
Quebec, a sequence of unfortunate events
- none of which should have taken place
- resulted in what was arguably the most
horrifi c railway disaster this century in the
fi rst-world.
An exaggeration? We think not. For so many
in a Western community to be still listed
“missing” several days after a train mishap
is without precedent. It is unheard of for a
coroner’s offi ce to be asking relatives to
bring in toothbrushes, combs and razors
so DNA samples could be extracted
from strands of hair. Four days after the
accident, 20 bodies had been found but
altogether around 50 people known to
have been in the area had - to all intents
and purposes - “gone up in smoke.” Two
thousand residents who survived the
tragedy - a third of the town’s population -
were evacuated.
You can read more about it in our Mishaps
section on page 30. We emphasise that the
account precedes any offi cial investigative
fi ndings. Our report was put together from
international press stories, chronicling as
much as could be discovered - quite soon
afterwards - of what took place.
As far as history is concerned, it wouldn’t
have happened in the “old days”. The
difference is that today’s laws don’t permit
train staff to remain on duty for the length
of time that used to be accepted, even if
it wasn’t specifi cally condoned. The idea
of freight trains being shut down at remote
spots and left for the night would have
appalled railway management in years
gone by.
But this does happen in South Africa in 2013,
and it all too obviously happens in North
America. Drastic steps are bound to be
recommended by Canada’s Transportation
Safety Board in Ottawa, once it gets its
teeth into the Lac Mégantic investigation.
If I were South Africa’s Railway Safety
Regulator, I should follow the proceedings
very closely. There’s nothing like learning
from somebody else’s mistakes - and those
seen at Lac Mégantic had consequences
about as bad as they get.
RAILWAYS AFRICA / FOREWORD
Foreword
The copyright on all material in this magazine is expressly reserved and vested in Rail Link Communications cc, unless otherwise stated. No material may be reproduced in any form, in part or in whole, without the permission of the publishers. Please note that the opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers of Rail Link Communications cc unless otherwise stated. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, neither the Editor, Publisher or Contributor can be held liable for any inaccuracies or damages that may arise.
3Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
BARBARA SHEATPublisher / Railways Africa
PUBLISHERBarbara Sheat
EDITOR Rollo Dickson
DESIGN & LAYOUTGrazia Muto
WEBSITEShaun Loureiro
ADVERTISINGKim Bevan
SUBSCRIPTIONS Kim Bevan
CONTRIBUTORSAnton van Schalkwyk
Bruno Martin
Chas Rickwood
Geoff Cooke
Jacque Wepener
John Batwell
Pierre de Wet
Stanislav Kolenic
ISSN 1029 - 2756
Rail Link Communications ccPO Box 4794 Randburg 2125
Tel: +27 72 340 5621
E-mail: stationmaster@railwaysafrica.com
Twitter: @railwaysafrica
Website: www.railwaysafrica.com
ROLLING STOCK | PERWAY | INFRASTRUCTURE | SIGNALLING | OPERATORS | COMMENT
ISS
UE
4 // 2
01
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WWW.RAILWAYSAFRICA.COM
ContentsContents
PRASA Prasa Looks to The Female Factor in Fleet Renewal 6
LEVEL CROSSING PROTECTION Modernisation of Level Crossing Control Systems With Modern Train Detection Designed for SIL4 - Level According to Cenelec Standards 10
Features 10
16
4 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
Ageing Rolling Stock, Cape Town at Easter in 1953, High-speed Trains to Durban and Extending Gautrain 16
Pete The Pundit
TRANSNET ENGINEERINGManufacturing For Africa
29
19Reviving Angolan Memories 18
Chinese Loan For Addis-Djibouti Railway 19
Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Seeks Investors 21
Tazara Freight Picks Up 23
Zambian Railway Overhaul to Start 24
Africa Update
Impressive Transnet Results 26
New SA Transport Minister 27
3rd Generation Telemeters 28
Transnet Engineering Manufacturing For Africa 29
SA Rail News
Montagu Pass 38
End of the Line
Proposed Steam Tour in November 36
Sandstone’s Free State Steam Gala 36
Geoff Cooke Visits Zimbabwe and Botswana 37
Railway Heritage
Massive Explosion as Runaway Canadian Fuel Train Derails 30
Questions Remain Over Lac Mégantic 31
Spanish Crash Kills 79 32
Floods Cut Tanzanian Central Line 34
Passenger Train Derails in Saskatchewan, Canada 35
Mishaps & Blunders
26
33
36
5Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
capabilities in their various industries. Keen interest was evidenced
in the roadshows, with more than 3,000 attending sessions.
Consequently, the number of resulting submissions was “huge”.
“What broke my heart was the level of desperation for advancement
displayed during these roadshows,” Pearl says.
The capability profi les as submitted were categorised by Prasa into
tiers in respect of each industry. Tier 1 consisted of those with 0-2
years’ practical industry experience; Tier 2, those with between
two and fi ve years; and Tier 3, those with fi ve years or more. “The
Railways Africa spoke to Prasa Group Executive Business
Development Pearl Munthali about the Women in Rail (WIR)
programme and what it entails. In addition to her role in business
development, she has taken on the responsibility as champion of
women in the rail industry. However, her role as champion goes
beyond the concerns of women only, extending into the area of
universal access for groups such as the disabled.
Asked why she accepted the role of championing the Women In Rail
Programme, Pearl explains this was a personal matter. “I believe it
was important for me to stay the course that would eventually land
me in this role.” Pearl, an ICT professional, was Prasa group chief
information offi cer at the time when the sponsor, the group CEO,
Lucky Montana asked whether she would take it on.
“One thing I have been vocal about is the comparatively small
number of women holding leadership positions in business.” As a
practical expression of this concern, she has started a programme
of mentoring women in Prasa, to sensitise them to how corporate
life in general is navigated.
She does not see the initiative to empower women, Pearl
emphasises, as one that replaces men in business. The fact of the
matter is that women, currently, are an underutilised resource – a
resource that should be harnessed. “We must make it comfortable
for women to participate freely without necessarily feeling they
need outdo their male counterparts,” she says.
Any organisation not making full use of the intelligence of women is
ignoring what 50% of the population has to offer.
FINDING FEMALE RESOURCESSince the beginning of the year, Pearl has been spearheading the
Phase II of Prasa’s WIR programme public information engagement
sessions in various provinces, to inform women about the supplier
and career opportunities at Prasa. As part of WIR, Prasa is looking
into empowering enterprises owned by women, by enlisting their
services in the sectors of rail engineering, property and professional
services. At the end of each session, programmes were listed where
opportunities in Prasa exist.
After these roadshows, Prasa made use of the print media to
invite women-owned entities to send in submissions listing their
However she warns that women
entrepreneurs whom Prasa empowers
should not “kick the ladder away”
once they have reached the top. “We
don’t want companies with a female
head and an all-male shop fl oor but
rather female-owned entities that
are conduits for the empowerment of
other women”, she says.
PRASA’S Group Executive
Business Development,
Pearl Munthali.
6 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
PRASA
PRASA LOOKS TO THE FEMALE FACTOR IN FLEET RENEWALThe next fi ve years will be a revolutionary
period for Prasa, as it embarks on its new rolling
stock programme, which will see the entire
fl eet renewed over the next 20 years. As part of
the initiative, the company has underlined its
determination to see that women benefi t from
the proceeds of the renewal.
division into tiers provided us with a good idea of which skills
development was needed and by whom”, Pearl explains.
“We categorised subsequent initiatives to fi t the needs of each
tier. We have a list of skills we want to impart in many fi elds of
management (contract, project, quality, growth and risk, for
example) and obviously core technical skills where applicable.
Prasa alone though, cannot be the only business engendering
such an initiative; it needs to be replicated throughout the entire
range of government-owned entities.” The responsibility has been
considerable, she says: “For me, it is about the invaluable role being
played in ensuring that the untapped talent of women is harvested.”
GETTING TO THE CORE BUSINESSPhase 1 of the WIR initiative started during the years 2008-2012.
A year ago, Pearl became its champion. Since then she has
developed the initiative, putting her personal stamp on it. “In terms
of economic emancipation for women, the achievements during
the fi rst fi ve years were remarkable. In this time, Prasa awarded
contracts to the value of R637 million to entities owned by women.”
A number of lessons were learned in the course of the fi rst fi ve
years. Despite initial successes, for instance, women-owned
enterprises did not make inroads into nor participate meaningfully
in key areas such as rail engineering, property, construction and
professional services. In the course of the next fi ve years, Pearl
explains, changes envisaged include the underpinning of WIR-type
contracts with skills development. For the businesses involved,
these skills are going to prove a sustaining factor as they will have
wide application within the rail industry globally, as well as in other
areas of business outside the rail sector.
“In applying the WIR initiative, we have identifi ed three core areas
within Prasa,” Pearl goes on. “The fi rst is rail engineering which
includes rolling stock maintenance, component manufacturing and
supply, signalling systems, perways, infrastructure and information
communication technology. The second area is property, which
includes construction and facilities management. Prasa owns
more than 378 stations throughout the country, which need to
be properly maintained. The third element is that of professional
services. These include disciplines such as quantity surveying,
architecture, legal and risk management, among others.”
In increasing the representation of women in the rail industry, Pearl
is fully aware that ready-made business leaders are not going to
be found automatically. “Prasa,” she observes, “will have to help
cultivate the skills needed.”
“When I was younger and studying computer science in a totally
male preserve,” Pearl continues, “it became clear that women
are able to grasp technical subjects just as well as their male
counterparts.”
To be an entrepreneur, a woman does not necessarily have to be
technically qualifi ed. “But she will need to be an inspiring leader,
with the ability to put a competent team together, to drive the value
chain.”
In addressing the shortfall of technical skills within Prasa, the
organisation seeks to train and empower both female professionals
and entrepreneurs. To achieve this, the company is currently
supporting girls at school as well as female university students.
Scholars are supported from grade nine, the young women being
groomed along the way for careers in engineering. “By the time they
enter tertiary educational institutions, we will have readied them for
a dedicated career in rail,” Pearl says.
Expanding on the subject of training, Pearl advocates the integration
of state-owned services whenever possible. For example, Transnet
and Prasa might pool their engineering skills for a stronger cohesive
end result. “We don’t need to create our very own Prasa school of
rail engineering.”
SEEKING SYNERGYIn this context, Pearl says she was pleased with her appointment
as council member at the Central University of Technology. It
provides her with the opportunity to address a major concern of
hers - the mismatch of skills which occurs all too often in industry,
with people ending up either unemployed or in jobs for which they
are not suited.
She recommends that, instead of funding internship programmes,
companies rather donate towards tertiary education, leaving
internship to take the form of work during vacations. This would
have the effect of moving the technical and practical agenda
away from the academic arena. It would offer an alternative to the
practice of funding internships after university, thus limiting the
intake of skills to numbers that industry can accommodate, and
avoiding the risk of adding to unemployment.
Students should realise, Pearl emphasises, that vacation time
is best spent acquiring practical work experience, and not ”in
idleness”.
In effect, Gibela/Alstom is going to function as an extension of
Prasa for the next 20 years. Once the contract is signed, Prasa
7Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
PRASA
are to remain sustainable. The women who will be part of the WIR
initiative – and this is part of Pearl’s personal agenda – need to
be introduced to the wider African market. “To be able to deliver
globally,” she suggests, “ we should start thinking about it now.”
As few other countries in Africa have or can afford rail commuter
passenger services, their focus is on revenue-generating freight.
“South Africa’s fl edgling rail manufacturers should look towards
expanding their scope of production in due course, to include
the supply of components to freight railways elsewhere on the
continent. This broader focus will ensure the existence of markets
for their products, long after the initial Prasa contracts have been
completed,” Pearl concludes.
will be working closely with the consortium in furthering enterprise
development. At the same time, it will work with the opportunities
that Gibela/Alstom presents to it.
“However,” Pearl observes, “labour practices in other countries are
not always applicable in South Africa. One cannot simply ‘paste’
them into the local context without some degree of customising,
if optimum results are to be obtained. Issues such as entitlements
and work ethics invariably differ between countries.
Prasa, Pearl hopes, will contribute understanding of experience
with local entrepreneurs. “You don’t want a situation where
somebody says ‘we tried educating these guys, but I think they are
just incompetent.’ This happens frequently, but people forget to
ask: ‘Did we apply the right method?’”
LOCAL SOLUTIONS“We need to be able to take enterprise development in its fullest
sense,” Pearl advises, “and use it as a ‘pay forward’ tool. Rather
than seeing this as a ‘tick the box’ type of compliance issue, as
many organisations do, rather let it be regarded as the right thing
to do for the growth of our economy.”
In addition to the Gibela/Alstom consortium, Pearl will also be
dealing with every established fi rm to which Prasa has awarded
business. In meetings with them, she will be asking what they have
to put on the table in terms of enterprise development. “Are you
making sure that women have advancement opportunities in your
company?” she will want to know. Although Prasa provides a list of
women who are available, the actual selection process will be left
to the supplier companies themselves.
SOUTH AFRICA THE CONDUITIn expanding local industrialisation, there is excellent opportunity
for indigenising the rail supply chain. “We need to get away from
the idea that foreign products are necessarily better than South
African,” Pearl insists. Where the need arises, local industries can
always “borrow” scarce skills from overseas. She cites South Korea
as an example, in particular its development of a highly successful
automotive manufacturing sector. Following a strategy known as
the Triple Helix Practice Model, the country harnessed academia,
industry and government to put together - fi rstly, the skills and
research needed; secondly the securing of appropriate markets and
the creation of enabling trade policies; and fi nally, the quality and
quantity of the product required.
South Africa of course serves as a gateway to the rest of sub-
Saharan Africa. In this context, Pearl points out, Prasa’s rolling
stock renewal programme should be looked upon as a conduit.
“Enterprises involved in supplying Prasa will gain the opportunity
eventually to supply their goods and services to the rest of Africa.
Admittedly the potential market for South African component
manufacturers is largely limited at present to Transnet and Prasa,
but the future holds promise for exporting rail-related goods to
the rest of the continent. In fact, Pearl asserts, emerging fi rms will
have to expand their horizons beyond South Africa’s borders if they
One of the challenges that both Transnet
and Prasa face is that both are not
seen as desirable contemporary career
destinations. Asked how it will be
possible to raise the public perception of
rail she adds: “The whole notion about
rail re-industrialisation is not only about
industrialising just the technical nuances.
It should actually be a revolution. For
me, that starts with the family because
from a family you get a student, then a
worker and from there, you build a solid
commuter network.
“The interest in trains has to start at an
early age, when lasting impressions are
made,” says Munthali.
8 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
PRASA
You do not have to be the biggest to be THE BEST...
Tel: +27 (041) 581 4400 Fax: +27 (041) 581 4474 E-mail: info@sheltam.com Website: www.sheltam.com127 Villiers Rd Walmer 6070 PO Box 15148 Emerald Hill 6011 Port Elizabeth South Africa
GM
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SLI
NK
systems were equipped with long track circuits, usually using pulse
coding to enhance safety. Thus today most LC protection systems
in these countries operate using two long track circuits – see the
fourth example in Figure 1. A similar situation is found in North
America, where the most common detection method employs three
consecutive track circuits – see the fi fth example in Figure 1.
With the advancement of electronic technology, railway equipment
manufacturers developed train detection devices whose operation
was superior to the earlier systems based on treadles (mechanical
or magnetic) or track circuits. It is not always necessary to replace
the whole of an existing (eg relay-based) system; often only the
actual train detection device needs to be dealt with. For instance,
LC protection systems provided originally for operation with
Train detection devices used for switching level crossing protection systems on and off
Many different train detection devices have been used across the
world for automatically switching level crossing (LC) protection
systems on and off. Devices still in operation today (and still used
in new LC installations in many countries) are depicted in Figure
1. Seven examples shown here can be grouped according to the
following criteria:
• By the object of detection: wheel detectors or treadles (example
1) and vehicle detectors (examples 2 to 7);
• By length of detection area (for vehicle detectors): short area
detectors (usually a few metres to 30m, loops or short joint-
less track circuits, examples 2 and 3) and long area detectors
(from the switch-on point to the road area, usually 500m to
2km, examples 4 to 7);
• By the principle of operation: track circuits (examples 3 to 5),
inductive loops (example 2), mechanical/magnetic/electronic
treadles (example 1) and axle-counters (examples 6 and 7).
In most countries, the type of train detection used at level
crossings is usually due to historic reasons. For example, in
formerly Yugoslav countries, the fi rst signalling projects after
World War II were supplied from Germany by Siemens and SEL. In
the main these used Siemens magnetic wheel detectors/treadles
(MagnetikSchienenkontakt) at level crossings. This resulted in the
situation found today, with most LC protection systems in this
region using single or double treadles, as in the fi rst example on
Figure 1. Later, following the development of electronic devices,
short jointless audio-frequency track circuits (AFTC) were added.
These were able to detect a train that stopped in the detection
area – thereby overcoming a shortcoming in the use of treadles,
which sometimes failed to detect a stopped train depending on
where the actuating wheel came to a standstill.
During the expansion of railway signalling in Russia, as well as former
Russian-dominated and East European countries, LC protection
ABSTRACT
Different solutions and applications related to the modernisation and upgrading of existing level
crossing protection is presented here, in terms of replacing old train detection systems with new (based
on modern, state-of-the-art solutions), designed for SIL4 safety level according to the standards EN 50126,
EN 50128, EN 50129, EN 50121-4, TS 50238. The article deals with the worldwide experience of Altpro
(of Croatia) in modernising various level crossing protection systems, using its multi-section, digital axle-
counter system BO23, train detection system TDR14 and electronic treadle UTR/ITR. The presentation
should be useful to railway infrastructure managers looking to increasing the reliability, availability and
safety of existing level crossing protection systems at relatively low cost.
Figure 1: Various train detection devices used in level crossing
protection systems.
10 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
LEVEL CROSSING PROTECTION
Modernisation of Level Crossing Control Systems With Modern Train Detection Designed for SIL4 - Level According to Cenelec Standards
This is an edited version of a paper given at a recent Slovenian international symposium on electronics in transport
By Zvonimir Viduka and Mia Viduka
mechanical or magnetic treadles can be altered to use electronic
wheel detectors or inductive loops instead – see the second
example in Figure 1.
Protection systems provided originally for operation with short track
circuits can be altered to work with short jointless electronic track
circuits, inductive loops or short axle-counter sections. Systems
provided originally for operation with long track circuits can be
altered to use two long axle-counter sections with overlapping over
the road – see sixth example in Figure 1 - or three consecutive axle-
counter sections – see seventh example in Figure 1.
Replacing mechanical and magnetic treadles with electronic, double-wheel detectors
On Croatian Railways today, the protection at more than 1,000
level crossings still relies on magnetic treadles. On some local
lines, mechanical treadles are still to be found. Having been in
operation almost 40 years, many reed relay contacts are worn
out, while permanent magnets on magnetic treadles have lost the
required characteristics. In 2007, to deal with this situation, the
Altpro company developed an electronic, double-wheel detector
UTR/ITR1 and started to replace magnetic and mechanical
treadles at level crossings. Since the wheel sensor ZK24-2 of the
detection system UTR/ITR contains two completely independent
and galvanically-separated sensing heads, as well as the indoor
relay interface module UTR245/ITR245, one double-wheel
detector UTR/ITR replaces two magnetic or mechanical treadles.
For safety reasons, the switch-on point of the original LC protection
system was usually equipped with two magnetic treadles, one on
each rail. The replacement system consists of one double-wheel
sensor attached to only one rail, which is much easier to maintain,
especially during track reconstruction or grinding. A typical
application of double-wheel detectors UTR/ITR on LC protection
systems that have double control structure (A and B control
system), replacing two magnetic treadles per switch-on/switch-off
point, is shown in Figure 2.
Since mechanical or magnetic treadles provided NO or NC contact
(depending on whether they switched the protection system
on or off), double-wheel sensors are connected to relay interface
modules UTR245/ITR245 with contact outputs5 housed in a cabinet.
Having the relay contacts under protective cover, ie not at the
switch-on point, is a considerable advantage, as it avoids the
possibility of a hazardous failure (eg a contact permanently closed,
independently of a train passing). A double-wheel sensor ZK24-2
Figure 2: Application of double wheel detectors UTR/ITR on LC with double
control structure that previously used two treadles per switch-on/switch-
off point.
www.railwaysafrica.com
installed instead of two magnetic treadles at a level crossing in
Croatia is shown in Figure 3. On the nearer rail in the fi gure, a
magnetic treadle Is still visible – this is in the process of being
removed (ie disconnected from the system).
Several hundreds of magnetic and mechanical treadles have been
replaced to date with double-wheel detectors UTR/ITR on level
crossings in Croatia, Serbia and other neighbouring countries.
In recent years, the Altpro company has developed an upgraded
type of electronic wheel-detector, the device TDR142, which
features a microprocessor-based, indoor evaluation module –
see Figure 4. In addition to new features such as event-logging
(recording trains that pass) other useful functions have been
included in the TDR14. One of these distinguishes between
unidirectional or bidirectional modes of operation. In unidirectional
mode, the double-wheel detector provides fail-safe activation of
both detection channels but in only one train movement direction;
for the opposite direction, both detection channels remain in the
basic state (no reaction). Thus the double-wheel detectorTDR14
may be used to replace the old Silec mechanical, unidirectional
pedal/treadle, which is still in use on many LCs in Europe. The
TDR14 can also be applied as a train detection device for new
microprocessor LC protection systems, since it is designed
and certifi ed for safety integrity level SIL4 (TÜV Rheinland,
Germany). The indoor unit of wheel-detector TDR14 has 2-out-of-3
microprocessor voting structure and can evaluate signals from
up to three double-wheel sensors ZK24-2.
Replacing long track circuits with axle-counters
Most of the LC protection systems in the Slovak Republic are old
relay-based level crossings that use two long track circuits with
insulating joints for train detection. These track circuits are AC 25Hz
with pulse coding (approximately 2Hz), dependent on a motor with
axle-eccentric to synchronise the pulses transmitted and received.
Motors that have rotated continuously for 30 years or more, and
the associated track circuits, have obvious implications for
maintenance cost. The track circuits suffer typically from fl uctuation
in voltage received during changes in track or ballast resistance, eg
during the presence of snow (or salt for the melting of snow on the
roads), rust on local line rails etc. The Slovak Republic Railways
decided to replace such track circuits with axle-counters and Altpro
proposed a solution with two axle-counter sections overlapping
over the road.
Figure 5 shows the project document for the application of Altpro
axle-counters BO23 on three relay-based, Slovak Republic Railways’
LC protection systems, to replace the track circuits previously used.
The red lines below show the length of each axle-counter section.
Each of three LCs is controlled by two axle-counter sections with
overlapping over the road. In each LC cabinet there is one multi-
section, axle-counter indoor unit/evaluator BO23-UNUR3 that
controls four counting points – see Figure 6 - on single track (two
sections), or eight counting points on double track lines (four
sections).The use of two axle-counter sections per track eliminates
both long track circuits (together with insulating joints, which is
better for traction return current) and short audio-frequency
track circuits across the road area – see the fourth example in
Figure 1 - since the axle-counter sections overlap over the road
and will detect a train that might come to a stop in the road area.
Using the axle-counters BO23 instead of track circuits signifi cantly
Figure 3: Double-wheel sensor ZK24-2 being installed at a Croatian
Railways level crossing, to replace two magnetic treadles.
Figure 4: Indoor unit of electronic train detection system TDR14 for the
evaluation of three double-wheel sensors.
Figure 5. Application of axle-counters BO23 with two overlapping sections
instead of track circuits on three LCs in Slovakia.
Figure 6. Indoor unit of the axle-counter BO23 for the control of four
counting points at a single track, relay-based level crossing on railways in
the Slovak Republic.
12 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
LEVEL CROSSING PROTECTION
increased the safety of the old LC protection systems, since the
axle-counter BO23 is SIL4 certifi ed (TÜV Rheinland, Germany)
and the indoor unit BO23-UNUR has 2-out-of-3 microprocessor
voting structure.
Replacing the short jointless track circuits with axle-counters
In recent years, a number of electronic LC protection systems
installed on Croatian Railways and other railways in the region
feature two adjacent, short jointless track circuits (about 2x15m)
for switching the LC on and off – see the third example in Figure 1.
Although such track circuits do not need insulating joints, some
typical problems with the technology were experienced after a
few years in use. Rust on local lines with low traffi c density is a
recurrent problem. Other examples of disturbance in LC operation
were caused by the traction return current of locomotives with
switching converters. Croatian Railways decided to replace such
short jointless track circuits with alternative devices, but using
the same output of two consecutive occupancy signals (designated
“b” and “c” on the third example in Figure 1), so that the software
of the electronic protection system would not need to be changed.
Altpro devised a replacement solution4 using axle counters – see
Figure 7. Short track circuits being replaced are designated in red
on Figure 7 (“EOC-detectors” – two consecutive track circuits with
a common transmitter in the middle and two receivers 15m on
either side). Axle-counter BO23 equipment with two counting
points (one section) for replacement of both track circuits on
each switch on/off point is designated in green. Additional relay
interface that it was necessary to develop for connecting to the
existing protection system is designated in blue on Figure 7. Since
two consecutive track circuits are replaced with only one axle-
counter section, Altpro developed a relay interface with B and C
output relays. Using optocoupler directional axle-counter outputs,
the passage of a train activates the appropriate relay (B or C) when
the fi rst axle passes the fi rst or second detection point in the
section.
In this way, the two occupancy signals “b” and “c” are achieved in
correct sequence during a train’s passage – see Figure 8 – similar
to a train passing over two consecutive track circuits. The benefi t
of this simple relay interface development was that only one axle-
Figure 7. Replacement of short jointless track circuits with axle-counter
BO23 and additional relay interface on Croatian Railways’ electronic LC
protection systems.
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mechanical or magnetic treadles. Many systems that have been
in operation for 20 to 30 years in Europe (mostly relay-based, but
some microprocessor) are capable of 20 or more years’ service,
due to equipment being enclosed or under cover. However, much
train detection equipment in the open, eg mechanical or magnetic
treadles – and track circuits – is nearing the end of its life-cycle.
Replacement with electronic wheel-detectors or axle-counters can
extend the usefulness of such equipment by another 20 years,
improving the reliability and safety of the crossings.
REFERENCES
1. Train detection system UTR/ITR operating instructions. Altpro,
Zagreb 2011.
2. Train detection system TDR14 operating instructios. Altpro, Zagreb 2011.
3. Axle-counter BO23 operating instructions. Altpro, Zagreb 2011.
4. Specifi c application of axle-counters BO23 as a replacement for
EOC-detectors. Altpro, Zagreb 2011.
5. HORVAT H. New solution for on/off switching of level crossing systems,
Signal und Draht, 6/2007.
counter section with two counting points (instead of two sections
with three counting points) can be used to replace two consecutive
track circuits at LC switch on/off points.
The introduction of new components meant that the LC protection
system utilising axle-counter BO23 and relay interface needed to
be assessed for safety. Axle-counter BO23 already had the SIL4
certifi cate and in respect of the relay interface, the necessary safety
analyses and safety case had been made. Overall safety assessment
of the system was then performed by TÜV Süd, Germany, and
Croatian Railways subsequently commissioned several dozen LCs
at which track circuits were replaced by the axle-counter BO23 and
relay interface - see Figure 9. A signifi cant reduction in operational
disturbances was reported at these crossings, as well as improved
reliability and safety.
Conclusion
Over a number of years, electronic wheel detectors and axle-
counters have proved themselves a much better, more reliable
and safer solution for the detection of trains and activation of level
crossing protection than earlier devices such as track circuits and
Figure 8. Overview of relay interface output during the passage of a train
over an axle-counter section.
Figure 9. Indoor unit of the axle-counter BO23 on top of an electronic LC
protection system cabinet on Croatian Railways; this crossing previously
used short track circuits.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Otok Consulting Enterprise cc, Johannesburg, South Africa
Email: stanko@telkomsa.net
14 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
LEVEL CROSSING PROTECTION
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SIXTY YEARS AGO: CAPE TRAINS AT EASTER IN 1953A sixty-year-old working timetable supplement issued to South
African railways staff at Easter 1953 makes instructive reading. It
sets out in meticulous detail instructions for special procedures
on 3 April (Good Friday), van Riebeeck Day (4 April) and Easter
Monday (6 April). Among these, ticket examiners and guards were
required to carry out a passenger census on each of these days at
nominated stations on every section of line, such as Franschhoek
(census at Groot Drakenstein), Caledon (Sir Lowry’s Pass) and
main-line steam shuttles from Bellville to Kraaifontein (at Stikland).
[The newly-strung wiring was in place, but electric working still
ended at Bellville.] On all three days, fairly intensive services were
run, notably to the False Bay seaside resorts. By contrast, hourly
trains on public holidays are the rule today.
A useful inclusion comprised a listing of suburban electric trainsets.
Most of these comprised four coaches (a 1M1 motor coach, two
trailers and a driving trailer) but some with six coaches and some
with eight included two motor coaches. The set designations ran
from A to T, plus X and Z (ie 22 sets) on the Simon’s Town suburban
line and from BA to BV (also 22 sets), serving both the Bellville and
Cape Flats lines. All these were still operating on 1,500V DC.
Among points of interest - Detailed operating schedules for the
three holidays listed arrival and departure times at every
intermediate station in quarters of a minute. The Afrikaans
equivalent of Salt River was still given as Zoutrivier.
The opening of the new electric section from Bellville to Worcester
on 8 April 1953 was little more than political window-dressing.
Two class 4Es (nobody was taking chances) hauled a special
AGEING ROLLING STOCKWe commented previously on the South African fondness for
blaming a variety of ills on the age of suburban passenger rolling
stock – variously claimed to be 30, even 40 years old. It turns
out this is nothing out of the ordinary. Properly looked after, fi fty
years it seems is nothing to write home about. Trains magazine in
the USA recently featured the withdrawal of Silverliner multiple
unit electrics from intensive commuter service in Pennsylvania.
The Mark I models were built in 1963, in other words, exactly
50 years ago. The Mark II sets dated from 1967 – a little younger,
but still with more than 45 years under the belt.
According to the pessimists and doomsayers – call them what
you will – African railways aren’t conspicuously good in the
maintenance department. What then about Namibia, where ex-
South African class 33 (General Electric U20C) diesels nearly
forty years old remain the system’s mainstay, outperforming much
younger Chinese-built motive power.
Silverliner Mark II – withdrawn after 46 years’ intensive commuter service
in Pennsylvania.
The 1M1 timber-bodied multiple unit sets were still standard in 1953 in
Cape Town. Running on 1,500V DC, they dated from 1928. SAR photo.
Ex-South African class 33 (General Electric U20C) diesels remain
TransNamib system’s mainstay. Photo: John Batwell.
16 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD
PETE THE PUNDIT ruminates over
Ageing Rolling Stock, Cape Town at Easter in 1953, High-speed Trains to Durban and Extending Gautrain
SOUTH AFRICA LOOKING AT HIGH-SPEED TRAINSAccording to South African Department of Transport (DoT) deputy
director-general for integrated transport planning Mawethu
Vilana, quoted in Business Day, consultants are to be briefed
before the end of 2013 to undertake a feasibility study into
running long-distance high-speed passenger trains. The Durban
to Johannesburg route is specifi cally mentioned. Cape Town to
Johannesburg (with intermediate stops) is “also mooted”, as well
as Polokwane to Gauteng. It is accepted, Vilana says, that a wider
gauge will be needed than the current 1,067mm.
The implications go much further than gauge. Topography between
the Drakensberg and Durban, for instance, will require much of the
line to be in tunnel. Gautrain, with only 15km in tunnel, was to cost
R7 billion but is ending up at over four times more. Go fi gure.
GAUTRAIN FINANCESRecent press reports on Gautrain fi nances have tended to be
confusing. Widespread criticism of the very substantial subsidy
being contributed by Gauteng residents has been answered with
assurances that similar arrangements are to be seen in many
cities overseas and that the concept formed an integral part of
the original agreement between the provincial authorities and
the concessionaires. In any event, with train patronage steadily
growing, the amount of the subsidy asked is already dropping –
from between R80 million and R85 million in 2012 to between
R70 million and R75 million in 2013. (Those are not annual
millions, mark you, but monthly), During May there was even talk
of a need for the subsidy disappearing altogether in the foreseeable
future, and how profi ts from running the train are to be shared.
Long before that happy day arrives, seemingly there are other
problems to be solved, not all of which were anticipated.
Ironically, with barely a third of the 140,000 daily passengers
that were expected by some when the line opened (a fi gure that
would have made any subsidy at all unnecessary), there are
reports of overcrowding, and diffi culties with meeting passenger
capacity demand on peak-hour trains. These headaches have not
thwarted enthusiasm for expansion of the system, though the
provincial people concede that the cost factor is likely to infl uence
government thinking. Apparently four separate feasibility studies
are currently on the go, all with Gautrain route extensions in mind.
Before we rush in to accept and implement recommendations,
those eager to spend our money should be reminded that past
estimates for building Gautrain lines were about as far removed
from the fi nal cost as chalk is from apples – or should that be
pears and cheese?
passenger train to Worcester via Kraaifontein, returning through
Stellenbosch. There were many festivities along the way and
countless speeches. Statistics quoted included the total cost of
£1,759,484 for wiring 123 miles (197km) route distance, including
the Stellenbosch loop.
However, this was to be almost the last main-line electric train
seen north of Bellville for some time. The 4E units had teething
problems and even three years later, many trains were still in
the hands of steam engines. The local suburbans, however, soon
switched to electric traction, notably to Kraaifontein and Kuils River,
which had been served by steam shuttles from Bellville. Another
ten years were to pass however before electric trains reached
Somerset West and the Strand.
The “fast passenger train” which took 290 minutes from Cape
Town to Touws River, would need - according to one of the
8 April speechmakers (once the wires reached that town) only
256 minutes. However, reading from the 1957 timetable, train 203,
the “fast” train to Johannesburg, was allowed 5 hours 42 minutes
to Touws River, which is 342 minutes. Even 1 Down, the Blue Train,
needed 5 hours in that year, ie 300 minutes. Arithmetic was never
the politicians’ strongest point. Even by the nineteen-nineties,
following completion of the Hex River tunnels, the Trans-Karoo
(successor to 203 Down) was scheduled at 4 hours 35 minutes -
only a fraction under what was promised in 1953, long before the
tunnels cut 50 minutes off the journey.
On 30 March 1953 incidentally there was a class 3E electric
locomotive at Salt River. Evidently brought down as a backup in
case a 4E failed on electrifi cation inauguration day, she was never
used - as far as is known - at the Cape.
FOOTPLATEMEN IN SKIRTSShorts in Stockholm’s hot summer weather are much more
practicable than trousers. At least, that’s how the men driving
trains on the Roslagsbanan line felt. Arriva Trains, the operating
company, thought differently. Shorts were out of line with the
offi cial uniform, it seems, and wearing them on the footplate was
forbidden. The men accepted the ruling – and went to work in kilt-
like skirts instead. The response of passengers has been “positive”,
the men say and curiously Arriva accepted this dress, indicating
that to object would amount to discrimination.
FOOTNOTE: The story made headlines around the world, Arriva relented and the
drivers are back in shorts.
Class 4E electric locomotive and 1M1 motor coach at Salt River in 1953.
The 4E had to run on half-voltage to Bellville as the change-over to 3,000V
was not effected till late in 1954. SAR photo.
“ Factoring in cable theft, pantograph hook-ups and Eskom, it works out quicker this way ”
17Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD
Fourth class coach.
ANGOLA
REVIVING ANGOLAN MEMORIESAnton van Schalkwyk photographed rolling stock
characteristic of the old Caminhos de ferro de Benguela
(CFB) at Lobito in July 2012.
Photo display in a sleeper compartment. The fi ne viaduct (about 30km
from the coast) is labelled: Ponte Comandante Alvaro Machado.
Interior: clerestory-roof dining-car.
About fi ve decades ago - by way of comparison. Photo: CFB.
First class coupe.
Balcony-ended sleeper, typical product of Birmingham’s Metropolitan
Cammell-Carriage & Wagon company in the thirties. The much younger
adjoining vehicle is ex-South African Railways (built by Union Carriage &
Wagon, Nigel).
18 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
AFRICA UPDATEAFRICA UPDATE
AFRICA UPDATE
PRIVATE PARTICIPATION IN ANGOLAN RAILWAYSSpeaking to the press at the end of the second ordinary session
of the commission for the real economy of the Angolan cabinet
council in Luanda, minister of transport Augusto da Silva Tomás
said government intends to leave the commercial provision of rail
facilities to private entities. For this reason, he explained, there
is a need to regulate the “general basis of concessions” and the
provision of goods, passenger and baggage services, as well as
the fi xing of tariffs. Da Silva Tomás added that the reform of the
railway sector currently under way in the country is centred on
the management of infrastructure in the three systems, Caminhos
de ferro de Luanda (CFL: Luanda-Malanje), Caminhos de ferro de
Benguela (CFB: Lobito-Luau) and Caminhos de ferro de Moçamedes
(CFM: Namibe-Menongue).
BENGUELA NEARS COMPLETION Rebuilding of Angola’s 1,350km CFB line from the Atlantic to the DRC
border is approaching completion. It has been a huge undertaking
and considerable credit is due to the Chinese construction teams.
The project isn’t quite on schedule however. The following appeared
on www.railwaysafrica.com in March 2006:
“BENGUELA 24-HR PROGRAMME
The Chinese company that has undertaken complete rehabilitation
of the Benguela railway from the Atlantic coast to the district of
Luau (about 1,300km) by the end of 2007 is to work 24 hours a day,
the Angola Press Agency reports. A ship loaded with equipment
arrived in Lobito port at the end of February.”
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)
EGYPTEGYPTIANS URGED NOT TO BLOCK RAIL LINESLarge-scale protests by opposition movements demanding
President Mohamed Morsi step down have been a major concern
to Egyptian railway offi cials recently. In a number of instances,
demonstrators have blocked rail lines in Egypt, causing large-
scale service disruption. The government has appealed to citizens
not to block rail lines as this creates nationwide transport delays
affecting “large swaths” of society, including doctors, nurses,
the elderly and students, both at school and university. Egyptian
Railways Authority head Hussein Zakaria says the disruptions
not only give rise to widespread confusion, but cause the railway
“huge losses”.
ETHIOPIACHINESE LOAN FOR ADDIS-DJIBOUTI RAILWAYOn 22 May, Ethiopian Railways Corporation CEO Dr Getachew
Betru, Djibouti minister of economy and fi nance llyas Moussa
Dawazeh and EXIM Bank vice-president Zhu Xinqiang signed a loan
agreement of nearly $US3 billion towards reconstruction of the
Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway. Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam
Desalegn and other senior offi cials were present at the signing
ceremony. The loan will also cover the cost of the 107km of railway
from the Ethiopian border with Djibouti at Dewiele Frontière (near
Ali Sabieh) to the harbour at Dorrale.
Chinese companies CREC and CCECC are engaged on reconstructing
the line, originally metre-gauge, to 1,435mm. It is to be double track
from Sebeta to Adama, and electrifi ed. Project manager Netsanet
Hussein of the $US1.8 billion, 108km section from Sebeta to Miesso
has told the transport affairs standing committee of the House of
People’s Representatives that this project is 18% complete. Of the
90 bridges needed, the construction of 20 has been started.
FOOTNOTE: The Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency, based in Addis Ababa,
in a report dated 21 May 2013 gave the length of the railway from Addis Ababa to
Djibouti as 656km. In another report a day later, it revised the fi gure to 756km.
Thomas Cook’s Overseas Timetable gives the distance as 784km; Neil Robinson
in his World Rail Atlas, part 7 – North, East and Central Africa (World Rail Atlas
Ltd, 2009) says 782km.
FINANCING ETHIOPIA’S GRAND RAILWAYDocuments seen by the press say current railway construction in
Ethiopia involves daily spending of $US5 million in fl at terrain and
$13 million where the topography is diffi cult. $400 million has been
spent to date on the new light rail system in Addis Ababa, which is
reportedly 30% complete. Apparently the government of India has
agreed to provide $300 million towards construction of the new
Asayita-Tajura line. The Brazilian Development Bank is advancing
$1 billion to build a new line of about 439km running south-west
from Addis Ababa, to Jimma. Being built by Andrade Gutierrez
Participacoes SA of Brazil, this is to be extended later into South
Sudan. The government is looking to Russia for help in paying for
other sections of the proposed 4,744km network.
TURKEY TO ASSIST ETHIOPIA Early in June 2013, Ethiopian railway offi cials spent four days in
Turkey where they inspected railway developments including the
high-speed lines and the Marmaray project beneath the Bosphorus.
Ethiopia initially approached the Turkish Cooperation and
Development Agency (TİKA) and as a result. Torkiye Cumhuriyeti
Devlet Demiryollari (TCDD – the Turkish State Railway) sent experts
to Ethiopia in April. Following the preparation of a report, TCDD
agreed to assist Ethiopia in restructuring its railways, to train staff
Geoff Cooke, Geoff’s Trains Limited, photographed these three ex-
Queensland locos at Victoria Falls on 23 May 2013, en route from RRL-
Grindrod in Pretoria on lease to Société Nationale des Chemins de fer
Congolais (SNCC – the state railway in the DRC). SNCC 1704-5 (ex QR
1748) is nearest the camera.
SOMALIA
DJIBOUTI
Addis Ababa
Nazaret
Metahara
Dire Dawa
ETHIOPIA
0 50 100 150 Km
AFRICA UPDATE
19Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
and engage in technology transfer. According to the agreement
reached, TCDD will prepare operational regulations, help in
restructuring the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) and give
technical support in rail construction.
KENYAKENYA’S COLONIALIST-ERA RAILWAY “INEFFECTIVE”- According to Kenya’s permanent mission to the United Nations
commercial counsellor Elijah Manyara, the railway in the country
is not fully utilised by importers and exporters due to its poor
condition. The system was constructed during the colonial period,
he explained and is no longer effective. He was speaking during
the 28 May offi cial opening in Nakuru of a workshop on the needs
assessment in trade facilitation. Reviving the railway sector would
improve economic standards in the country and speed up trade,
which depends largely on infrastructure, he pointed out.
LIBYALIBYAN RAIL CONSTRUCTION MAY RESUMEOn 23 February 2011, Rossiiskie Zheleznie Dorogi (RZhD – the
Russian State Railway) announced that it and its affi liates had
204 specialised people working on the new €2.2 billion, 550km
railway between Sirte and Benghazi in Libya. In view of protests
and demonstrations taking place in the country, a statement was
released saying the employees were safe but that the situation
was being closely monitored.
On 4 March it was reported that the “front line of the civil war”
had reached the Russian construction base at Ra’s Lanuf, halfway
between Benghazi and Sirte. All work on the line had ceased and
all Russian and Chinese workers had been withdrawn from Libya.
Two years later, it was reported at the end of June 2013 that the
Libya Rail Implementation Authority had met with both RZhD and
the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) to discuss the
possibility of reviving work on the railway. CRCC held contracts to
build certain sections in the previous scheme, specifi cally from
Tripoli to the Tunisian border at Ras Jdair and Tripoli to Khoms,
Sirte and Al-Hisha-Sebha, in addition to an 800km line between
Misrata and Wadi Shatti near Sebha.
MOZAMBIQUERENAMO THREAT OF A SENA LINE BLOCKADEMain Mozambique opposition party Renamo called a press
conference on 19 June where it announced its intention to disrupt
rail traffi c on the Sena Line between Beira and Moatize. The
objective is to impede the government transporting arms and
military equipment to the Gorongosa region where the party’s
leader Afonso Dhlakama is based. Renamo information head
Jerónimo Malagueta drew attention to the recent arrival of imported
military equipment in the port of Maputo, including “about 25
new military trucks carrying large weaponry and 25 other Land
Rover type vehicles with a military character”. He assured press
representatives that Renamo does not want war.
SA-BUILT ROLLING STOCK FOR MOZAMBIQUE
Three (from a batch of ten) ex-TFR class 33 (GE U20C) diesel-
electrics outshopped recently following extensive overhaul by
Transnet Engineering. The locos, seen at Durban’s Maydon Wharf
on 1 June awaiting shipment to Mozambique are labelled on the
sides Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte, CDN - the operator
of the CFM line to Malawi from the port of Nacala. The multi-million
Rand order also included 21 refurbished passenger coaches.
NAMIBIATRANS-KALAHARI RAILWAYPress reports on a strategic consultative meeting with stakeholders
in the logistics and transport sector held on 23 May suggest that
the construction of a new railway from Botswana to Walvis Bay
has been agreed by Namibia “in principle”. In his keynote address,
minister of trade and industry Calle Schlettwein explained that
his ministry has embarked on a consultative process though it is
not intended to duplicate the National Logistics Master Plan being
developed by Namibia’s National Planning Commission. He was
quoted saying: “Our intention is complementary [to the Plan] and
mainly focuses on optimising the critical link between logistics and
our desire to develop and boost local manufacturing and supply-
side capacity, trade and investment.” At the meeting, discussions
centred around the current structure, performance and capacity
of the logistics and transport sector, challenges and constraints
faced, and opportunities that exist for expansion. Specifi cally, the
meeting looked at the possibilities and implications of transforming
Walvis Bay (and thereby Namibia) into a regional and global
logistics hub.
Attendees at the meeting included the Walvis Bay Corridor Group,
the Namibia Logistics Association and the Walvis Bay Port Users
Association, together with a number of companies involved in
transport and related activities. Namibia Logistics Association
chairman Willie du Toit emphasised the challenges created by “the
rapid deterioration of the country’s rail and road infrastructure”.
Both require “massive volumes to make the infrastructure
investment a viable economic option.”
With reference to the envisaged new Trans-Kalahari railway,
which has been under discussion for many years, it was accepted
Al Kuma
Sabha
Sirte
TUNISIA
GREECE
Photo: Charles Baker.
20 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
AFRICA UPDATE
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that “massive” traffi c volumes would be needed to justify the
investment. Botswana’s Morupule coal deposit is said to be one of
the biggest in the world, with capacity to export about 100 million
tonnes per annum. No concrete fi gures were presented but “one
of the prerequisites” is said to be the development of a new port
north of Walvis Bay, hopefully by 2016. The Namibia Ports Authority
(NPA) would need to invest some N$20 billion in a facility able to
handle bulk volumes such as coal exports from Botswana.
NIGERIANIGERIAN RAILWAY CORPORATION (NRC) SEEKS INVESTORSSpeaking in Lagos, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) managing
director Adeseyi Sijuade said the government realises that
participation by the private sector is indispensable if a world-class
railway is to be created. In view of this, the federal government,
through the ministry of transport, recently prepared a draft bill to
amend the 1957 Railway Act which did not provide for or permit
private sector participation. The bill has been approved by the
National Council on Privatisation and is to be submitted to the
National Assembly for approval soon.
While waiting for this process to be completed, the NRC has begun
paving the way for privatisation, Sijuade says. In terms of the picture
envisaged, private entities may be granted access “to run some
of the vital aspects of the railway operation”. NRC will however
retain regulatory control. The PPP initiative, he explains, will include
outsourcing, supply chain and concessioning. Some services have
been outsourced already, such as on-board catering and cleaning
of passenger coaches, and the cleaning of the larger stations.
According to Sijuade, a procurement process has begun for
selecting potential logistics service providers in a number of
areas. These include the design, building, operation and transfer of
warehousing to provide suitable, safe and secure storage space for
goods; the fi nance, supply and operation of modern facilities and
the provision of services for loading and offl oading of goods. The
supply of rolling stock is also involved and General Electric of the
USA plans to set up a locomotive assembly plant in Nigeria.
OGUN STATE LIGHT RAILThe government of Ogun State in Nigeria has approved the
expenditure of N1 billion on the construction of a light rail system.
According to commissioner for special duties Chief Olu Odeyemi,
preliminary work on the project has commenced and further
feasibility studies are to be carried out.
RAILWAY PERFORMANCENigerian transport minister Senator Idris Umar disclosed recently
in Abuja that the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) conveys
approximately 6,188 passengers every week on the three-times-
weekly trains between Lagos and Ibadan-Ilorin. There has been an
increase in the conveyance of raw materials, petroleum products
and containers, Umar said, from the ports to various parts of the
country. Altogether 1, 500 tons of cement is conveyed for the
Lafarge company every week from the Ewekoro cement factory to
Ibadan, Oshogbo, Ilorin, Minna and Kano. It would need 50 trailers
to move this amount by road. The fl our mill of Nigeria is moving
wheat by rail from the Apapa port to Kaduna and Kano.
STANDARD GAUGE BY 2017Reporting on progress with rebuilding to standard gauge, Nigeria
Railway Corporation (NRC) chairman Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje
told the Daily Trust newspaper: “The vision is that we should travel
from Lagos to Kano in two hours”. A contract for building the initial
portion of this 1,126km line on 1,435mm gauge – 193km from
Lagos to Ibadan - was awarded recently.
21Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
AFRICA UPDATE
Rehabilitation Project (Netrp), a $US64.7 million investment in the
country’s transport routes to improve access to goods, markets
and administrative and social services. Babanusa lies 983km
south-west of Khartoum. Together with a number of key road
reconstructions, the transport improvements have provided all-
weather access to goods and services for more than 220,000
people. “People are no longer confi ned,” explains World Bank
senior transport engineer Tesfamichael Mitiku. “They are free to go
to market during the rainy season.” In addition, the restored routes
have increased agricultural opportunities in the communities
around the new roads and railway, Mitiku points out.
The Babanusa-Wåu line reopened two years ago for the fi rst time
in 25 years, connecting Sudan to South Sudan. About nine months
ago, transport into South Sudan was suspended pending a facilities
agreement between the two countries. Still, the railway is the only
dependable transport to the South Sudan border. “This railway is
their life, their lifeline,” Mitiku says.
The National Emergency Transport Rehabilitation Project is one of
15 funded by the Multi-Donor Trust Fund-National (Mdtf-n).Through
the Mdtf-n, nine countries and the World Bank contributed $64.7
million to the development and rehabilitation of three roads and
railway, bringing access to states throughout the country.
TANZANIASUMMIT & REGIONAL MEETINGS
An East African Railways Summit was planned to run in Tanzania’s
Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika for three days from 29 June 2013.
According to Tanzania Mwandi Company Limited managing director
Teonas Aswile, organiser of the event, it is to be followed by a
series of regional meetings in various towns. The theme of these
is to be the improving of rail transport which Aswile explains will
uplift the economy of the region. He told journalists at a press
conference: “We believe that the railway sector needs major
renovations to capture the continuous economic growth in the
region. Rail networks are currently disconnected and many of them
need huge investments for neglected infrastructure development,”
He expected the summit “to host different big investors, experts,
businesspersons and other railway stakeholders from around the
world with healthful topics in railways.”
Speakers invited included Professor Clive Chirwa, described as
Zambia Railways Limited ex-managing director. Others were listed
Asked why the route had been reconstructed recently on 1,067mm
gauge, NRC director (administration) Aminu Gusau explained that
building to standard gauge – which is expensive - would have taken
10 years and NRC couldn’t afford to wait that long.
The Itapke-Ajaokuta standard gauge rehabilitation is ongoing,
Baraje said, and construction of the N243 billion new Abuja to
Kaduna standard gauge line is in progress. He hopes that standard
gauge will start operating by 2017.
NIGERIAN TRAIN HANGERS-ON: ZERO TOLERANCEChief superintendent of police Bayo Sulaiman, who chairs the
taskforce on special offences and the environment, says the Lagos
state government has declared zero tolerance for hanging on the
outside of trains. According to a recent independent survey, most of
the culprits are “peasants, who go as far as Lagos Island on a daily
basis, to engage in petty trading and do menial jobs”. The state
government, which is determined to stop this practice, has drawn
up plans in conjunction with the management of the Nigeria Railway
Corporation (NRC). Commissioner for transport Kayode Opeifa,
following a meeting in Alausa with NRC management headed by
managing director Adeseyi Sijuwade, said the partnership intends
the special taskforce to tackle all issues posing security challenges
along rail lines. These he said include passengers hanging on the
outside of trains, street trading and encroachment on the line.
Commenting to the press, Iddo passenger Munirat Adeosun was
quoted saying, “If the government stops us from climbing n the
train, I expect the same government to provide alternatives or
make more trains available at fare affordable to the masses. It isn’t
comfortable for anyone to hang onto a train, neither is it safe.” Ikeja
passenger Olaiya Olorunesan said that “If the government does
not want people to hang, the solution is that of making more
trains available.”
NEW NRC CHAIRMANAlhaji Abubakar Baraje has been appointed chairman of the board
of the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC). The Vanguard quoted him
saying that, after completing current rail rehabilitation in the west
of Nigeria, the next area that will receive attention is that in the
eastern part of the country. He added that 19 sections of line have
been identifi ed for conversion to standard gauge.
SOUTH SUDANSOUTH SUDAN’S BABANUSA-WÅU RAIWAYThe repair and reopening of South Sudan’s Babanusa-Wåu rail
line (414km) formed part of the National Emergency Transport
Isaka
Tabora
Chipata
Chingola
Lumbo
DODOMA
Copperbelt
Lake Tanganyika
Lake
Mal
awi
Cabora BassaZambezi RiverKafue River
Lake Victoria
Mwanza
22 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
AFRICA UPDATE
TUNISIATAPARURA DEVELOPMENTAmong several measures being taken to speed up Tunisia’s Taparura
development project, it is intended to move the Sfax railway
station whose presence impedes access, caretaker prime minister
Ali Larayedh told representatives of the state government at the
47th International Fair. Completion of Taparura’s fi rst phase has
seen the development of some 420 hectares of land, he said.
Referring to Société Industrielle d’Acide Phosphorique et d’Engrais
(Siape), the minister said this is one of the main causes of pollution
of Sfax’s coastal areas, promising it will be relocated by late 2014
or in 2015.
During his visit to the fair, Ali Larayedh was accompanied by
minister in charge of economic affairs Ridha Saïdi, minister of
trade and handicrafts Abdelwahab Mâatar, minister of equipment
Mohamed Salmène and secretary of state in charge of energy and
mines Nidhal Ouerfelli.
UGANDAPAKWACH LINE TO REOPEN Rift Valley Railways (RVR) CEO Darlan De David told the paper
New Vision that Uganda’s 500km Tororo-Gulu-Pakwach line, out of
operation for many years, was to be re-opened before the end of July
2013. Ugandan engineering company Kato Contractors undertook
repair of the line under contract to RVR “in a phased approach” at
a cost of approximately $US2 million. In 2004, some time before
the RVR concession was signed, press reports said the Ugandan
government would repair the closed railway and hand it over to the
concessionaire to operate, but this did not happen.
as Tazara former managing director Henry Chipewo and Tazara’s
former deputy managing director Dr Damas Ndumbaro. They were
to be joined by other “key experts from different parts of the world”.
TAZARATAZARA FREIGHT PICKS UPDuring April and May, says Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority
(Tazara) public relations chief Conrad Simuchile, the line moved
more than 15,700 tonnes of copper to the port of Dar es Salaam
in Tanzania. The Zambian consignors were Konkola Copper Mines
(KCM) and Impala Warehousing and Logistics.
According to Simuchile, Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) operated
seven trains loaded with a cumulative total of 7,440 tonnes of
copper from Impala’s warehouse in Ndola and eight trains carrying
8,293 tonnes of copper from the Kitwe and Chingola plants of
KCM. These were handed over to Tazara for onward conveyance to
Dar es Salaam.
Tazara acting managing director Ronald Phiri says collaboration
between Tazara and ZRL is working well. His records show that a
total of 39,068 tonnes of freight was moved by Tazara between
April and May 2013, of which 40% (15,733 tonnes) was copper and
the rest other commodities such as maize, fertiliser, fuel, cement
and “mixed goods.” These positive results were achieved despite
disruption lasting nearly two weeks following an accident in April.
However, according to Phiri, Tazara’s situation is “precarious”, due
largely to shortage of locomotives and wagons and the inability to
generate suffi cient revenue to fund operations.
The single use crucibleRail Welding
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Website: www.thermitrex.co.za
PO Box 6070,
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AFRICA UPDATE
RAILFREIGHT TO RISE 50% - UGANDA MASTER PLAN In terms of the recently launched Ugandan transport master plan,
it is hoped to effect a 50% increase in the freight carried by rail
within ten years. State minister for works John Byabagambi explains
that it is “a realistic 15-year (2008-2023) sector investment plan,
covering all transport modes including roads, railways, air, inland
water transport and urban transport in Kampala, as well as other
modes including pipelines and non-motorised movement.” The
need to connect the rail network to developing Ugandan oilfi elds
also needs to be considered, Byabagambi said. The rail component
in the plan includes a new Kampala-Malaba standard gauge line,
the re-opening of the long closed Kampala- Kasese and Tororo-
Pakwach sections, and a new extension from Gulu to Nimule, to
serve South Sudan.
The plan includes the rehabilitation of the two Ugandan rail wagon
ferries on Lake Victoria. Work on one of these – the MV Kaawa - has
already been completed. It is proposed that the MV Kabalega be
replaced, and that ports and landing sites on the lake be improved.
RVR SUED BY WORKERSThe Uganda Railway Workers’ Union is reportedly representing a
group of 492 suing Rift Valley Railways (RVR) for 2 million shillings.
Attorneys Barya, Byamugisha and Company allege on their behalf
that RVR reneged on an undertaking to honour the interim partial
Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) dated 3 April 2013, and
the agreement for redundancy pay for RVR Uganda staff dated
27 November 2012. A number of alleged shortcomings are listed in
the court papers, the more signifi cant relating to workers
being made redundant. It is maintained that these contravened
agreements reached. In particular, in a notice of redundancy dated
15 November 2012, RVR said it intended to automate various
manual systems and that 200 employees were to be laid off.
ZAMBIAZAMBIAN RAILWAY OVERHAUL TO START According to parliamentary transport, communication, works and
supply permanent secretary Dr Muyenga Atanga, who is acting
chief executive of Zambian Railways Limited (ZRL), the $US120
million forthcoming from Eurobond is to be utilised as soon as a
contract is awarded for the rehabilitation programme which was
scheduled to commence in July. He is quoted saying that ZRL has
moved “close to 5,000 tonnes” of copper from Konkola Copper
Mines to Kapiri Mposhi for onward conveyance by the Tazara line
to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. ZRL, he said, has the capacity to
move 1.13 million tonnes of import and export cargo by the end of
2013. This fi gure is the current target.
ZIMBABWENEW INVESTOR GIVES HOPE TO NRZ Zimbabwean minister of transport, communications and
infrastructure development Nicholas Goche says a new investor
has been found to aid the National Railways of Zimbabwe which is in
dire fi nancial straits and has been unable to pay full wages owing to
its staff for 12 months. Goche says he is “not at liberty” to disclose
the prospective benefactor but the Zimbabwe Financial Gazette
speculates it is someone in the Far East. It points out that Japanese
Ambassador to Zimbabwe Yonezo Fukuda indicated recently that
companies in his country were “ready to recapitalise NRZ”.
Serious problems facing the railway, the paper says, include a
marked decline in business since 2000. “Several manufacturing
companies, the backbone of the NRZ’s business, have closed, and
shipment of coal from Hwange Colliery Company Limited, which
sustained NRZ, has declined signifi cantly. Some reports say the
NRZ is operating at 20% capacity.”
EMPLOYEES’ PLIGHT Press reports continue to highlight the plight of employees at the
National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), who say they were last paid
eight months ago. The newspaper NewsDay quotes one worker
saying she used to earn $190 monthly (when actually paid), but
has been told she is to get only $150 from now on. Many living at
a derelict railway club have been told to move out as their
presence is illegal, but they say they have nowhere else to go and
no money due to not being paid. Asked about this, NRZ public
relations manager Fanuel Masikati was quoted explaining: “The
people did not follow due process of the law.”
REMEMBER WHEN? ZIMBABWE FIVE-YEAR FLASHBACKThe following appeared on www.railwaysafrica.com in March 2006:
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS
The only coins in Zimbabwe (where infl ation is running at 500%
plus) are relics discarded in the dust – all worthless. The current
Z$100 dollar note is little better. Until recently, the Z$20,000 dollar
bill was the highest denomination, but now a Z$50,000 version is
in circulation. It doesn’t go far – you won’t see much change from
buying a single ticket on a Harare commuter train, and one needs a
wheelbarrow rather than a purse for carrying pocket money.
N500 100 150
KM
RWANDATANZANIA
SOUTH SUDAN
UGANDA
DRCPakwach
LakeAlbert
Kasese
LakeEdward
KENYA
Malaba
TororoKampala
LakeVictoria
GuluLira
Mbale
Soroti
National Railways of Zimbabwe freight hauled by a class DE6 diesel-
electric unit dating back to the sixties (left) and a pair of former South
African U15C type locos (right). Photo: G E Cooke.
24 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
AFRICA UPDATE
W W W. R A I LWAYS A N D H A R B O U R S . CO M
RAILWAYS | HARBOURS | MINING | INTERMODAL | COMMUTER
Don’t miss the biggest Rail and Harbours Event on the African Continent from
11 to 13 March 2014 at the Tshwane Events Centre in Pretoria, South Africa –
the ideal opportunity to network and connect with industry peers, see the latest
technology first-hand, engage with suppliers and glean the latest trends from
financing to infrastructure development.
To book your space or for more information contact Barbara SheatTel: +27 72 340 5621 Email: barbara@railwaysandharbours.com
GM
946_
Pres
slin
k
Containers southbound on the main-line near Kingswood, 307km south-west of Johannesburg. Photo:
Jacque Wepener .TFR “car train” from Port Elizabeth near Whites
in the OFS, 6 June 2013. Photo: Jacque Wepener.
26 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
RAIL NEWSSOUTH AFRICAN
SA RAIL NEWS
MORE TRANSNET HIGHLIGHTSIn the course of CE Brian Molefe’s
announcing Transnet’s results for the
last fi nancial year, he made a number of
interesting points:
• Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) regenerated
151,139MWh of electricity –
“enough to power a township the
size of Alexandra for a year”. This
achievement, which reduced the
group’s consumption of electricity
by 3.3%, is attributed largely to the
newest locomotives in use, notably
those on the iron ore and coal lines.
• Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) market
share gains from road to rail during the
year reduced carbon emissions in the
country’s transport sector by 206,540
tC02e.
• Opportunities identifi ed for further
effi ciency, Molefe said, include the
introduction of 200-wagon trains
running direct from the mines to
Richards Bay. The use of dual-voltage
locomotives means that the previous
need to change engines at Ermelo can
be obviated. “Current tests suggest
that cycle times can be reduced from
the present 65 hours to about 41
hours, thereby adding about 5mt to
total coal volumes transported.”
higher prices for fuel, electricity
and materials, notably steel. “An
aggressive cost management drive
yielded a R2.2 billion saving for the
year despite rising operating costs.”
• In terms of the group’s infrastructure
rejuvenation programme, a record
R27.5 billion was spent - a 23.4%
increase over the previous year’s
R22.3 billion. “This takes the total
investment over the last seven years
to an unrivalled R136.5 billion.”
• Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR)
containers and automotive segment
recorded a 21.6% growth to 10.7
million tonnes (mt). Iron ore and
manganese rail volumes rose 7.3%
to 64.3mt , refl ecting rising demand
for manganese and “improved
effi ciencies” in the iron ore channel,
especially locomotive utilisation which
improved by 12.8%.
• The volume of coal moved increased
by only 1.9%. This is attributed to
prevailing market conditions, despite
a 22% increase in demand from
Eskom and higher levels of operational
effi ciency.
• Revenue up 9.4% to R50.2 billion
• Rail volumes grew to 207.7 million
tonnes
• Gearing at 44.6% and cash interest
cover ratio: 3.7 times. “This was in line
with expectations.”
• Capital investment increased 23.4% to
R27.5 billion.
• Seven-year infrastructure investment
programme raised to R307.5 billion.
This refl ects the group’s “counter-
cyclical” investment strategy of
creating capacity ahead of demand.
• Created and sustained 28,493 jobs
• Transnet’s key measure of profi tability,
earnings before interest, taxation,
depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda)
surged by 11.5% to R21.1 billion. “The
growth in profi tability is well in excess
of economic growth (gross domestic
product) and above the offi cial rate
of infl ation.”
• Expenses increased by 7.9% to
R29.1 billion, largely driven by higher
personnel costs due to growing staff
numbers and training spend as well
as an average 8.4% wage settlement
for employees. Other factors included
increased energy costs due to
IMPRESSIVE TRANSNET RESULTSTransnet CE Brian Molefe recently announced impressive results for the fi nancial year ended 31 March 2013.
effi cient handling of trains, and new electrical equipment
installed to reduce electricity consumption.
• Coal line expansion to 81mt a capacity
Engineering designs for the expansion to 81mta capacity are
being undertaken. The project is expected to be completed by
the last quarter of 2018.
• Acquisition of wagons in 2013
Transnet Engineering completed building 2,235 of the 2,346
wagons approved for the year. These included automotive
wagons, fl atbeds for rail containers and CR type wagons for
transporting mineral and mining products.
A number of other large projects, not directly rail-related,
were announced. Molefe explains: “The company’s investment
programme is backed by a comprehensive funding programme
on the strength of its own fi nancial position without government
guarantees. During the year Transnet raised R14.6 billion from
LOCOMOTIVE SUPPLY Transnet CE Brian Molefe, while announcing fi nancial results at
the end of June, confi rmed the signing of a contract with
manufacturer China South Railways for the supply of 95 electric
locomotives, following a competitive tender process. The company
is currently adjudicating bids for the acquisition of 465 diesel-
electric and 599 electric locomotives for use in Transnet Freight
Rail’s (TFR) general freight business.
TFR “INFRASTRUCTURE REJUVENATION” PROJECTSTransnet CE Brian Molefe listed a number of “infrastructure
rejuvenation” projects when he was announcing fi nancial results
at the end of June:
• Iron ore line expansion to 60mta capacity
The old sampling building at the Port of Saldanha has been
demolished, the rail triangle completed to enable the more
SA RAIL NEWS
27Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
NEW SA TRANSPORT MINISTERElizabeth Dipuo Peters (53) has been appointed South African minister of transport, replacing
Dikobe Ben Martins who held the position for two years from 11 May 2009. Peters had been
minister of energy during the same period. She holds a BA in social work from the University
of the North, also certifi cates from UCT, the University of the Western Cape (1996) and - in
international policy management - from Havana, Cuba. Prior to 2009 she was premier of the
Northern Cape Province (from April 2004). Peters has held a succession of senior positions in
the African National Congress, the ANC Women’s League and its Youth League.
[Not much continuity in the transport ministry this century: Dikobe Ben Martins replaced S’bu
Ndebele. He had taken over in 2008 from Jeff Radebe, who was in the hot seat the longest - for four
years. Note: Transnet does not fall under the minister of transport. It reports to minister of public
enterprises Malusi Gigaba. - Editor.] Ph
oto
: M
ore
leta
park
Med
ia.
debt capital markets. This year’s programme included the issuance
of a 10-year R8.2 billion bond in the United States as part of the
company’s Global Medium-Term Note programme. The issuance
made history as it became the largest by a South African corporate
and its 4% coupon rate was also the lowest.”
Molefe continued: “The rate and subscription to our bonds is
testimony to management’s success in strengthening the company’s
fi nances, and the attractiveness of its portfolio of projects as an
investment destination, especially among foreign investors. The
rest of the funding requirement was raised from various sources
including development fi nance institutions, domestic bonds,
export credit agencies and commercial paper. This is in line with
the company’s commitment to diversify its sources of funding.
For the 2013/2014 fi nancial year, the company intends to raise
R15.6 billion. As a result of the year’s activity, the gearing ratio
edged higher to 44.6% as expected and remains well within the
company’s ceiling of 50%, refl ecting ongoing capacity to raise
funding for its infrastructure investment programme.
“On the jobs front, Transnet created 28,493 direct and indirect
jobs. This includes 3,804 or a 7.5% increase in its permanent Near Daalder, 261km south-west of Johannesburg on the main-line: a load
of blue “Skiptainers” on fl atcars. Photo: Jacque Wepener.
3RD GENERATION TELEMETERSA telemeter mounted at the rear of an air-braked train monitors pressure in the braking system, providing critically important information to the
driver. The device also serves to confi rm that a train has remained intact and that no vehicles have become detached along the way.
The introduction of third-generation telemeter equipment at Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will, it is hoped, reduce problems experienced with
the older models by as much as 50%. New telemeters were offi cially handed over by TFR’s Iron Ore and Manganese Business Unit at Kimberley
on 23 May, followed by Port Elizabeth early in June. The new generation telemeter is supplied complete with desktop-based speed monitoring,
an automatic brake application facility, global positioning (GPS) and simcard.
The Blue Train south-west of Klerksdorp: note the telemeter next to the rear
coupler. Photo: Jacque Wepener.
Southbound freight near Grasslands, 319km south-west of Johannesburg:
telemeter visible next to the rear coupler. Photo: Jacque Wepener.
Shosholoza Meyl’s Cape Town-
Johannesburg express near Bloemhof
(331km south-west of Johannesburg)
on 13 June 2013, running about six
hours late. Photo: Jacque Wepener.
employee numbers which now stand at 54,726. Encouragingly, our
various training programmes included 2,042 apprentices and 433
engineering bursars in our talent pool.”
28 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
SA RAIL NEWS
Transnet Engineering (TE), the group’s
engineering, rolling stock manufacturing
and maintenance division, focused in the
past on servicing Transnet Freight Rail’s own
fl eet of locomotives and wagons, as well
as the remanufacturing of coaches for the
Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa
(Prasa). Today, with capabilities that include
the building of complete locomotives, the
facility aims to establish itself as a centre
of engineering excellence on the continent.
This strategy of expanding into the rest
of Africa was exemplifi ed in the recent
supply of 1,067mm gauge locomotives and
passenger coaches worth several million
dollars for use on the northern line of
Caminhos de Ferro do Moçambique (CFM
– the state railway) which extends 615km
westwards from the Indian Ocean port
of Nacala to the border with Malawi, and
also by Malawi Railways. A branch some
162km in length runs northwards from
Cuamba (539km from Nacala) to Lichinga.
The rolling stock from TE is to be operated
by Corredor de Desenvolvimento Do Norte
(CDN), the concessionaire running the
Nacala line, and also by Central East
African Railways (CEAR), which runs the
Malawi rail system. On the Mozambiquan
section, passenger service is presently
concentrated between Nampula (192km
from Nacala) and Cuamba.
The 10 locomotives delivered in terms of the
recent order were ex-South African class
33 (General Electric type U20C), following
extensive refurbishing at TE’s Koedoespoort
heavy engineering and manufacturing plant
near Pretoria. In all, 21 passenger coaches
were supplied, following remanufacture
at TE’s Salt River works in Cape Town.
Prior to despatch, the vehicles were put
through Transnet’s comprehensive testing
and commissioning programme to ensure
that all equipment and systems complied
with the customers’ specifi cations. Both
locomotives and coaches were shipped to
Nacala by sea from the port of Durban.
In the recent past, TE has manufactured
rolling stock for some of the continent’s
leading rail operators. For instance, 560
specialised wagons were supplied to
Botswana Rail and 95 wagons to Rio Tinto
for use in its coal mining operations in
Mozambique, as well as wagons to South
African mining fi rm Exxaro, working in
the Republic of Congo-Brazzaville. All this
equipment runs on 1,067mm gauge, on
which TE specialises.
“We have set aside in excess of R1 billion over
seven years for research and development,”
Transnet group chief executive Brian
Molefe explains: “A signifi cant part of this is
focused on what our peers on the continent
need. We’re already reaping the benefi ts of
this focus through an ever-expanding range
of rolling stock products and crucially, a
comprehensive list of satisfi ed customers.
“The mix of the contract awards is also
encouraging with some following open
tender processes in which we compete
with some of the world’s leading builders of
rolling stock – including original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs) – and there has
been a substantial number of referrals and
invitations. All this evidences our growing
reputation as a manufacturer.”
In line with Transnet’s commitment to
the development of local suppliers and to
various government-led initiatives - such
as the competitive supplier development
programme (CSDP), Transnet Engineering
outsourced a meaningful portion of the
work to emerging businesses. These
included Rolling Stock Rail Services (RSRS),
which was awarded a contract for painting
and the conversion of seats, and Proseat,
which supplied seats. Both enterprises are
based at East London in the Eastern Cape.
TRANSNET ENGINEERING MANUFACTURING FOR AFRICA
Left to right: Messrs Nelson Machava, Amado Mabasso, Brian Molefe and Vanderlei Marques.
Photos: Transnet.
29Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
SA RAIL NEWS
MASSIVE EXPLOSION AS RUNAWAY CANADIAN FUEL TRAIN DERAILSOn 6 July, an unattended train of 72 tankcars conveying 8 million
litres of crude oil ran away at the town of Nantes in Quebec,
gathering speed downgrade for some 11km before derailing at
a level crossing over the main road in downtown Lac Mégantic,
about 250km to the east of Montreal. The speed limit at this point
was 16km/h; the train is thought to have been travelling very
much faster. Five tankcars reportedly exploded one by one from
about 01:15. The massive resultant confl agration destroyed
some 30 buildings. More than 150 fi refi ghters were brought in,
some from across the US border. By 11 July, 20 bodies had been
recovered, with 30 people still missing.
At some point the locomotives became detached from the train.
A BBC report said they were stationary some 800 metres from
the crossing. Another report said employees of a nearby concern
uncoupled the locos and nine tankcars still on the track, and moved
them away out of range.
Identifi cation of human remains is not going to be easy. The
coroner’s offi ce appealed to relatives to provide combs,
toothbrushes and razors from which DNA samples might be
derived. Forensic anthropologist and well-known author Kathy
Reichs told the Montreal Gazette the work might take years, given
the intensity of the fi re. (Reichs was deployed to Ground Zero in
New York with a mortuary disaster response team, following the
9/11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Centre.)
Altogether about 2,000 people were evacuated from Lac Mégantic
on 6 July – a third of the town’s population. Some 1,200 were
allowed to return home four days later but many lacked electricity
and a number found their homes burgled.
Two days after the incident, fi re outbreaks persisted in sewers and
stormwater drains. The shores of Lake Mégantic were contaminated.
Booms were installed on the Chaudière River to restrain the oil
pouring out of damaged tankcars, each containing 113,000 litres
of crude oil. Crews worked to contain an estimated 100,000 litres
that spilled into various waterways.
Pollution was reported from the town of Saint-Georges, about
80km downstream, prompting fears that oil might reach the St
Lawrence River.
The train was apparently parked for the night at Nantes, 11km west
of Lac Mégantic. The driver shut down four of the locomotives
but left the fi fth running to maintain air in the brakeline. Sometime
after this the local fi re department attended and extinguished a
fi re on one of the locomotives. It appears that the fi fth locomotive
was shut down at this time.
President and CEO of Rail World Inc Ed Burkhardt, whose
company owns the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, told press
representatives: “If the operating locomotive is shut down, there’s
[Lac M
égan
tic: Can
ad
ian
po
lice p
ho
tos.]
MISHAPS & BLUNDERS
30 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
Mishaps & BlundersMishaps & BlundersOne objective of our regular feature reporting and commenting on rail mishaps is to provide information and object lessons from Africa and abroad, in the hope that – in some cases at least - this might help avoid recurrences.
had the runaway train been parked in a siding, any unauthorised
movement would have been aborted by the derailing device.
QUESTIONS REMAIN OVER LAC MÉGANTICAccording to Canadian National Railway (CN) CEO Claude Mongeau,
regulations should not be changed until investigations into the Lac
Mégantic incident are completed. The reasons for what happened,
he says, go far beyond the number of handbrakes that were set in
the runaway train. The sequence of events was unusual and nobody
knows at this point exactly what happened, he told pressmen. The
cause of a fi re in a locomotive before the train ran away needs to
be established, and one wants to know why the airbrakes ceased
to be effective so quickly – they should have held for several hours.
MONTREAL, MAINE & ATLANTIC RAILWAYThe Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA), whose 72-tankwagon
runaway at Lac-Mégantic in eastern Canada caused havoc on 6
July, has been in the news before. Only two weeks previously, the
fuel tank on an MMA locomotive was perforated on a set of points
about 5km east of Lac-Mégantic. According to a press report,
13,000 litres of diesel oil were spilled.
Over the previous decade, according to the same source quoting
the United States’ Federal Railroad Administration, MMA recorded
36.1 accidents per million miles travelled, in comparison to a
national average in the USA of 14.6 accidents.
NORTH AMERICAN TANKCARS & THE BIG SPILLThe United States’ National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
notes that, In 2009, 69% of tankcars in the country were type
DOT-111A. In Canada, where the same vehicle is designated CTC-
111A), it represents close to 80% of the fl eet. The NTSB records
nothing left to keep the brakes charged up, and the brake pressure
will drop fi nally to the point where they can’t be held in place
any longer.”
By 10 July the railway had suspended the loco driver without
pay, apparently convinced he had failed to apply handbrakes on
suffi cient vehicles as required by regulation. It is understood the
train was parked on the main-line, which was said to be unusual.
Had it been left on the adjacent siding, the existence of a protective
derailing device would have prevented the subsequent runaway.
The train’s 8-million-litre cargo of crude oil was being transported
from North Dakota’s Bakken oil region to a large refi nery in the
eastern Canadian state of New Brunswick. The consist arrived in
Montreal on the Canadian Pacifi c Railway and was handed over
there to the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic, whose 800km of railway
runs eastwards through Lac Mégantic and the adjacent US state
of Maine.
The Canadian Railway Association estimated recently that as many as
140,000 wagonloads of crude oil will be shipped on Canada’s tracks
this year – compared to 500 in 2009. The Quebec disaster is reportedly
the fourth freight train accident in Canada under investigation involving
crude oil shipments since the beginning of 2013.
CANADA CHANGES THE RULESIn the aftermath of the horrendous Lac Mégantic runaway,
Transport Canada has issued an emergency directive banning the
transport of dangerous goods in trains worked by a single-person
crew. Also, such trains may not be parked unattended on a main-
line. Though the reasons for the accident in eastern Quebec have
not been offi cially established yet, it has been pointed out that,
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31Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
MISHAPS & BLUNDERS
that the DOT-111A “has a high incidence of tank failures during
accidents”. Since 2011, the Canadian government has required
tankcars to be built with a thicker shell, though older models are
still allowed to operate.
The 72 tankcars involved in the disastrous runaway at Lac-Mégantic
in eastern Canada on 6 July were all of type DOT-111A. According
to the Montreal Gazette, a million litres of crude oil remained in
the vehicles after the accident and many were understood to
be leaking.
While the police probe of the area and the search for bodies
continued, oil continued seeping into the ground. In the hours
following the derailment, a total of 6.5 million litres of crude either
burned in burst wagons or spilled. Oil also fl ooded the basements
of more than 50 downtown buildings. Burning oil ran into the
town sewers, causing multiple underground explosions, cracking
pipes and sending iron manhole covers up as high as 10 metres.
Droplets of oil fell onto cars parked 8km from the accident site. The
Quebec environment ministry told the Montreal Gazette that
400,000 litres of oil had been pumped out of the sewers by 12
July, together with some 4 million litres of “oil-tainted river and lake
water, as well as sewage”. The decontaminating of thousands of
tonnes of oily earth is a massive task still to come.
FATAL DERAILMENT NEAR PARIS
On 12 July, a passenger express from Paris to Limoges, about
400km, was some 20 minutes into the three-hour journey when
the third and fourth coaches left the rails while passing through
the station at Bretigny-sur-Orge, dragging a number of other
vehicles off the line and across a platform, bringing down the roof.
Six people died in the crash and many – some on the platform -
were badly hurt. According to Société Nationale des Chemins
de fer Français (SNCF - the French national railway), there were
about 385 passengers on board when it derailed at 17:15 on the
Friday evening. Eight helicopters, 20 medical teams and about
300 fi refi ghters were sent to the scene, according to the French
interior ministry.
All trains from the busy Gare d’Austerlitz in Paris were cancelled.
Signifi cant disruption ensued, as large numbers of holidaymakers
were heading out of Paris, with France preparing to celebrate
Bastille Day, an important national holiday, on the Sunday.
The initial fi ndings by SNCF suggest that a broken fi shplate,
which fell between the rails at a set of points, may have been the
cause. The focus now is to determine how the fi shplate became
detached. Meanwhile the entire railway network is being examined
for evidence of any similar failing. Inspections are concentrated
on some 5,000 diamond crossings including those with single or
double slips. The train driver has been commended for his fast
refl ex in alerting a second oncoming express to the accident, so
averting it’s running into the debris.
SPANISH CRASH KILLS 79
On 24 July, an eight-coach Spanish express from Madrid to Ferrol on
the Galician coast with 218 passengers aboard derailed on a curve
at Santiago de Compostela and smashed into a lineside concrete
wall. Fatalities at the scene totalled 78, the fi gure becoming 79
when one of more than 130 injured died in hospital.
The train, an Alvia series 130 electro-diesel set, with power cars
front and rear, was reportedly moving at 190km/h when it left the
track on a curve restricted to 80. The Talgo coaches, the abutting
ends of which share a single pair of wheels, were badly thrown
around. In some of them, fi re broke out, and one coach was thrown
clean over the wall, landing on the roadway above.
DOT-111A tankcar. Photo: Harvey Henkelmann.
32 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
MISHAPS & BLUNDERS
President of Red Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Espaholes (Renfe
– the national railway of Spain), Julio Gómez-Pomar was quoted
emphasising that as the set was not a “high-speed” train and
since the crash occurred on conventional, not “high-speed” track,
the incident did not rate as “a Spanish high-speed rail accident”.
(Spanish high-speed trains are known as AVE).
The relevance of his remarks apparently relate to Renfe being part
of a consortium bidding to build a €13 billion high-speed railway
between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in Brazil. According to the
paper El País, the terms of the tender exclude any companies that
“took part in the operation of any high-speed train system where an
accident had occurred” in the preceding fi ve years.
One of the most important Christian pilgrimage sites in Europe, the
El Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James) pilgrimage route has
been followed by Christians since the Middle Ages. The remains of
St James, one of Jesus’ 12 disciples and the patron saint of Galicia,
are said to rest in the city. The derailment happened on the eve of
Santiago de Compostela’s main annual festival where thousands
of Christian pilgrims were expected to fl ock to the city in honour
of St James.
The crash was the worst in Spain since a 1944 three-train accident
in a tunnel, when it is believed more than 200 died.
TRUCK ON CROSSING DERAILS KANO-LAGOS EXPRESSNigeria’s Kano-Lagos passenger train derailed in Kaku on the
outskirts of Kaduna during the fi rst week of July. A number of
passengers were injured and taken to hospital. According to the
Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), the locomotive ran off the
track when it hit a sewage truck crossing the line. Press reports
said the driver and owner of the truck were arrested. Minister
of Transport Senator Idris Umar personally visited the scene of
the incident, accompanied by NRC managing director Adeseyi
Sijuwade. The government would pay for medical attention to those
injured, Umar said.
BRAKPAN COLLISON: FOUR HURTTwo Transnet Freight Rail goods trains collided at Brakpan on
Gauteng’s East Rand on 21 May. Two diesel locomotives – 36 095
and 36 096 – were damaged. Four crew members were reported
by paramedics as seriously injured, one woman “critically”.
Press reports said the cause of the accident was not apparent
but Eyewitness News on radio suggested one train did not hear
the other coming. Metrorail services between Johannesburg and
Springs were dislocated.
TFR MISHAPS, THE YEAR TO 11 JULY 2013By comparison with the series of appalling rail accidents overseas
in only one month – July – Transnet Freight Rail has not done too
badly in the year to date:
- Train collisions 2 (2012: 3)
- Open line derailments 30 (2012: 24)
- Shunting derailments 80 (2012: 88)
- Signals passed at danger 21 (2012: 26)
- Level crossing accidents 21 (2012: 22)
Alvia series 130 Renfe set, which is able to run on both European standard
1,435mm gauge as well as the Spanish 1,668mm. Note the signifi cant
difference in height between the loco and the Talgo coaches. Photo:
Wikipedia (S Martinez Aznar).
FOLLOW US ON@RailwaysAfrica
33Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
MISHAPS & BLUNDERS
FLOODS CUT TANZANIAN CENTRAL LINEHeavy rains during the second weekend in March caused fl ooding
that washed out a portion of Tanzania’s Central Line at Godegode
in the Mpwapwa District. According to the Tanzania Daily News,
published in Dar es Salaam, more than 1,200 passengers travelling
to the port from Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika were stranded at
Dodoma. They were told that Godegode station was under water
and that the journey could not resume until the fl oods subsided and
necessary repairs were carried out.
Passengers told the paper that “numerous breakdowns” had
caused delays during the fi rst part of the trip, which took three
days from Kigoma to Dodoma (791km). One night was spent in the
Isinga area near Tabora junction “due to engine problems.” There
were complaints of children being taken ill, and apparently the
only compensation passengers received was a token “subsistence
allowance” of 2,500 shillings which they said was insuffi cient to
buy a “decent meal”. Dodoma stationmaster Celsus Roman was
quoted saying that technicians were working “round the clock”
repairing the line.
ANGOLA: CFB RESUMES KUITO- LUENA RAIL SERVICEIn mid-March, heavy rains caused washouts in the newly repaired
section of Caminhos de ferro de Benguela (CFB) between Kuito in
central Bie province and Luena in eastern Moxico province. In one
place it was reported that a “ravine” had opened up, severing the
line. Train service came to a halt for a full week but on 20 March,
normal twice-weekly operation resumed, Luena stationmaster
Xavier Domingos told the Angolan news agency.
HIJACKED & SHOT AT MARLBORO STATIONOn Wednesday 20 March, two men ordered Kevin Pietersen, who
was waiting for his wife Corinne at Marlboro station, to get out of
his car. He did so, but was shot through one arm, shattering his
elbow, with the bullet entering his abdomen. He was taken by taxi
to hospital where his condition was reported as “stable”. The
hijackers took the car, his cellphone, wallet and a fi rearm.
Mrs Pietersen was quoted in press reports saying Gautrain security
personnel had witnessed the hijacking but took no action. This
was confi rmed by Gautrain spokesman Errol Braithwaite who
explained that security personnel have no authority to carry out
policing duties outside railway property.
NTSB HEARING ON PAULSBORO DERAILMENTOn 30 November 2012, a southbound freight train with 84 wagons
ran onto the Jefferson Street swing bridge in Paulsboro, New Jersey,
allegedly passing a red signal. This aspect was displayed apparently
because the section of the bridge which moves to allow the passage
of river traffi c was not locked in position. As a result it appears the
rails were misaligned, derailing seven wagons which fell into the
water of Mantua Creek. One of these was carrying ethanol, three
others vinyl chloride - a chemical used in making PVC plastics and
vinyl fl ooring. About 90,000 litres of toxic gas were spilled from
one of these and discharged into the air. As a precaution, a number
of local residents were evacuated from their homes for almost
three weeks. On 2 July, the National Transportation Safety Board
began a public hearing into the incident in Washington DC, where
many Paulsboro residents testifi ed that they feared a recurrence
and wanted to know what steps were being taken to prevent this.
CABLE THEFT STILL RIFECable theft remains a huge problem in
South Africa, the main victims being
Telkom, Eskom and the railways. Whole
areas get cut off when key phone lines
are stolen, while suburban commuter
services – even long-distance freight
and passenger trains - are routinely
disrupted. Transnet Freight Rail’s
(TFR) Belcon complex at Bellville,
20km from the Cape Town city
centre, has had considerable trouble
with cable theft in 2013. On 4 July,
two youths wearing refl ector safety
jackets, who could easily have been
mistaken for TFR staff, were found
hiding among stacked containers in the depot. Near them were
piles of electric wire and bags containing more cable. The police
were called and both were arrested. Altogether 30 cables were
recovered with an estimated value of R84,000.00.
INCIDENT INVOLVING A TRAM OPERATING WITH DOORS OPEN The Britain’s Rail Accidents Investigation Branch (RAIB) is
investigating an incident in which a tram departed from two
consecutive tram stops in Croydon (south London) with all four
doors on one side open. Nobody was injured in the incident, but
passengers were standing in the vicinity of the open doors and
there was the potential for a serious accident.
During the fi rst part of its journey between West Croydon and
Beckenham Junction the tram was delayed on a number of
occasions due to a succession of fault indications in the cab
alerting the driver to a possible problem with a parking brake on
one of the tram’s bogies. On each occasion the driver spoke to the
controller and, after receiving instructions on how to deal with the
fault, was able to continue the journey.
At some point during this early part of the journey it is believed
that a switch was operated in the driving cab which had the effect
of by-passing some safety systems on the tram, including the door
interlocking arrangements that would normally prevent the tram
from moving with one or more doors open.
At Lebanon Road tram stop, there was further dialogue between
the tram driver and the controller. The tram then departed with
all four doors on the left-hand side open and reached a maximum
speed of 27km/h while travelling towards Sandilands tram stop.
At some point between the two stops, three of the four doors
closed automatically, as they are designed to do after remaining
open for two minutes.
Marlboro Gautrain station. Photo: Gautrain.
Stolen cables recovered
at Belcon.
34 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
MISHAPS & BLUNDERS
At Sandilands, with the driver
and controller unaware of the
problem with the doors, they
focused on dealing with the
parking brake fault. The tram
departed from Sandilands
with all of the left-hand doors
open again. By this stage, the
controller was monitoring the
tram’s departure on CCTV
and noticed that the doors were open. He immediately contacted
the driver and instructed him to stop. The driver then closed the
doors and the tram was taken out of service at the next stop.
PASSENGER TRAIN DERAILS IN SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA
At about 18:00 on 28 April, a passenger train bound for Churchill,
Manitoba, left the rails at Togo, Saskatchewan, 383km east of the
state capital Saskatoon. It was established that ground beneath
the track had been washed out. According to the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, a “small fi re” ensued but was quickly
extinguished. Via Rail spokesman Jacques Gagnon was quoted
saying there were only seven passengers on board and fi ve
crew members, some of whom reported “a few scratches.” The
passengers were taken by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to a
nearby lodge in Duck Mountain Provincial Park.
PAKISTAN TRAIN HITS MOTOR RICKSHAW: 14 DEADOn 6 July, a train ran into a motor
rickshaw at an unguarded crossing
in the town of Khanpur, about
40km north-west of Lahore,
Pakistan. Twelve of the 16 people
in the rickshaw were killed on
the spot, including two children
under 12. Four were hospitalised with
critical injuries, but two of these died.
The train was on its way to Lahore
from Karachi.
UNUSUAL AMTRAK DERAILMENTIn a strange incident on 27 March, shortly after a 06:20 station
stop at Port Huron. The second of two diesel locomotives heading
an Amtrak passenger train to Chicago left the track near the east
end of the 24th Street viaduct. The lead locomotive and the rest of
the train remained on the line. According to local press reports, it
took almost fi ve hours to separate the derailed unit from the train,
which then continued its journey. Fortunately there were only 14
passengers on board. Several days elapsed before crews managed
to move the derailed loco. No information on the likely cause of the
accident, which was under investigation by Amtrak and Canadian
National, was made public.
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Saskatchewan derailment. Photo: Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
A Croydon tram. Photo: RAIB.
Pakistan rickshaw hit by
train: 14 dead.
www.railwaysafrica.com
Sandstone’s Free State Steam Gala An estimated 1,000 rail and classic vehicle afi cionados, enthusiast
and author Paul Ash reports, attended the Stars of Sandstone
festival during the fi rst full week of May. Besides rail operations,
there were working displays from Sandstone’s vast collection of
restored farm machinery, traction engines and military vehicles.
The centenary of the 610mm gauge 4-6-2T class NG4 locomotive
was suitably acknowledged. (NG16, the restored last survivor, is at
Sandstone.)
Reefsteamers, GermistonSaturday 13 July saw the club’s sunrise photo-shoot – an event
popular with the enthusiast fraternity. A fortnight later, the depot
was open to the public.
Shield Chemicals recently sponsored an SMS-based competition
to assist Reefsteamers in raising funds for repairs to 87 year-old
4-8-2 class 15CA no 2056, which hasn’t run for four years due
to boiler fl ues in need of replacing. The winner of the draw on 1
September won a prize of R10,000. Multiple SMSs were accepted
in the competition.
Paton’s Express Adventures, KwaZulu NatalGeoff’s Trains from the United Kingdom, in conjunction with
Tanago of Germany, was due to operate between Creighton and
Pietermaritzburg behind steam traction during a visit to KwaZulu
Natal during May. In early March, Julian Pereira of Paton’s Express
had requested a quotation from Transnet for the use of the line,
though this had been offi cially closed to traffi c in July 2012. The
R111,893.60 quoted was paid on 29 April but the tourists – who
came from Germany, Britain, Canada, Australia and Japan - were
already in the country when the operators learned that the
necessary safety inspection had not taken place. The press quoted
Transnet spokesman Mike Asefovitz explaining there were known
sleeper problems and pointing out: “There is no way we can allow
people to operate a tourist train on an unsafe section … imagine
the public outcry if, God forbid, something happened on the trip.”
Hastily made alternative arrangements saw the tourists travelling
behind GMAM Garratt no 4074 on a short section of the line
between Creighton and Riverside, and making use of Umgeni Steam
Railway’s class 19D no 2685, specially laid on for photographic
Proposed Steam Tour in NovemberThe provisional programme for a South African steam-hauled
tour train during November 2013 has been announced: On 16
November, participants are to be welcomed at Johannesburg’s O R
Tambo International Airport. There will be a short ride on Gautrain
to Rhodesfi eld. Here travellers will board the steam train for the
fi rst leg of the excursion to Reefsteamers’ home base in Germiston.
Trips on the following lines are planned:
• Germiston to Koster and return
• Germiston to Pretoria and return
• Pretoria to Cullinan and return
• Pretoria via Germiston to change locomotives, then direct
to Bethlehem in the Free State
• Bethlehem to Ficksburg with different steam traction, then
return to Germiston.
Highlights of the tour will include:
• Photo run-pasts at selected strategic locations
• Visits to some of the remaining working steam depots
in South Africa
• Travel to Sandstone Estates, home to the world’s largest
610mm gauge collection, with its own extensive railway
• A visit to the Pilanesberg National Park and the opportunity
to see lions and other wild life
• Tasteful South African and African cuisine, and a selection
of South African wines.
Further details and announcements will appear on:
www.sarsteamtours.com
Funds generated from this and other proposed tours will be
channelled towards South African rail restoration and preservation
projects.
Rovos Rail, PretoriaAs reported in the Issue 2-2013 column, this Capital Park-based
tour operator put its 4-6-0 Dübs-built class 6 locomotive no 439
back into running order earlier in the year for a photo shoot on
the Cullinan branch line. The cosmetically altered locomotive is
pictured in Cullinan station.
Two former South African Railways’ narrow gauge Garratts in steam at
Stars of Sandstone in May. Photo: G E Cooke.
In disguise for fi lming – Rovos Rail’s 4-6-0 class 6 locomotive no 439 in
Cullinan. Photo: A McCarthy.
RAILWAY HERITAGE
36 Railways Africa Issue 4 // 2013 www.railwaysafrica.com
Preservation is A Preservation is A Vital Part of The Picture Vital Part of The Picture
By John BatwellBy John Batwell
Geoff Cooke Visits Zimbabwe and BotswanaOnce again this year, Geoff Cooke took patrons to Zimbabwe and
Botswana. In Zimbabwe, the NRZ provided two Garratts, class 15
no 395 and class 16A no 613, for photographic opportunities
between Thomson Junction and Victoria Falls. In Botswana the
visitors called at Bamangwato Concessions Mine in Selebi-Phikwe
where class 19 and 19D locomotives serve the industrial system.
opportunities. It was reported that the visitors paid about £2,500
each to come to South Africa, including their fl ights.
While in KwaZulu-Natal, Geoff Cooke was presented (at a function
at Ixopo station) with a lifetime achievement award by the Heritage
Railway Association of Southern Africa “for his contribution and
commitment to showcasing the heritage legacy of Southern
Africa to international visitors through his photographic and
enthusiast tours”.
Umgeni Steam Railway, KwaZulu NatalUmgeni Steam Railway (USR) has made good progress with
rebuilding 4-8-2 Dübs class A tank loco no 88 Umbilo at Inchanga.
USR member Andries Keyser formed a small team of younger
members who had expressed an interest in taking on the Dübs
restoration as a project. USR’s well-patronised steam-hauled
excursions continue regularly at selected weekends between
Kloof and Inchanga through the scenic “Valley of a thousand hills”.
A special on Sunday 2 June 2013 gave passengers on the 08:30
departure from Kloof an unusual view of the Comrades Marathon
(part of the route parallels that of the race).
Class GMAM Garratt no 4074 working on the Riverside-Creighton line in
May. Photo: G E Cooke.
Umgeni Steam Railway put on class 19D no 2685 for Geoff’s Tours at short
notice. Photo: G Fryer.
Steam in action in Botswana – class 19D no 807 at work on Bamangwato
Concessions, Selebi-Pikwe, during May. Photo: G E Cooke.
Double-heading by Friends of The Rail – class 24 and class
19D - in mid-June. Photo: A McCarthy.
Friends of The Rail, PretoriaOn 18 and 19 May, 2-8-4 class 24 no 3664, with two sitters, a caboose, a DZ wagon and a milk van bringing up the rear, were used in the production of a new Afrikaans fi lm Faan se Trein. On 17 June, the loco operated the annual weekend steam photo-shoot for enthusiasts, double-heading back from Cullinan to Hermanstad with the loco working the club’s Fathers’ Day run – class 19D no 2650.
RAILWAY HERITAGE
37Issue 4 // 2013 Railways Africa www.railwaysafrica.com
Yesterday I stood on top of the Montagu Pass
This was and still is, for most of us who have been there, something
special. I think it’s one of those places that has something in it for
everyone. It’s wild and it’s beautiful and it’s situated in one of the
world’s great fl oral kingdoms.
For railway enthusiasts it holds haunting memories of great battles.
Great battles between Nature and machine, Man and the mountains.
Yesterday it was quiet. No longer the barking call of a Garratt as
it fought the inclines. No, not even the burble of a diesel. Just the
soughing of wind through the fynbos.
As I stood below the towering Cradock Peak, wreathed in swirling
mist, I thought back to long ago. Fifty-three years ago. To a night
in George, below the mountain. We were near the railway. I didn’t
know the line back then, not as well as today. Then it was a
strange line, in a strange town, with strange locomotives. I heard
them shuffl ing out of town, whistling for the level crossing on the
Knysna road. Then I listened to their exhaust roaring, the muddled
beat of the Garratt, as if tripping over its own feet. One could hear
the hurried, muffl ed beats for a long time on a quiet night. They’d
fade for a while as the train tracked up to the horseshoe bend
which seemed so impossibly severe that it invited a derailment,
and then, as she climbed steeply above the line of trees, it would
come back again, reverberating off the mountain, slower now and
more laboured but still - paradoxically, being a GEA - hurried as
the gradient took its toll. If it was daytime, there’d be a towering
column of black-brown smoke to be seen and sometimes, even a
feather of white steam. But on that fi rst night of discovery, all I could
do was listen.
Standing there yesterday, I thought back to subsequent experiences
on this pass and realised that the Garratts emulated the wild animals
of the mountain. The cough of the leopard, the bark of baboon,
the whistling of the wind in the wings of eagles and buzzards,
hawks and falcons. They even copied the articulated, scuttling
movements of agamas and lizards and the hiss of adders. In the
following 50 odd years, I had travelled up and down this living
mountain only twice. Behind steam and diesel traction. The noise
and bustle and life of steam far surpassing the diesel experience.
I pictured the parade of trains that I had witnessed at Topping
over the years, from the PE mails with their lovely half-diners and
regular, if slow reliability, to struggling goods trains, to fl amboyant
specials, to steam festival variants of all shapes and sizes. Even
they, in their relatively artifi cial guises, seemed never-ending and
the public came in droves to ride, to watch and to photograph. As if
what they had taken for granted for a lifetime, had suddenly become
unique. But perhaps they realised that all things have an end and that
this story also had to be fi nite. And of course, it was.
As I stood there yesterday, thinking on these things, my friend who
was with me took out his bagpipes. The skirl of the pipes drifted past
the nodding heads of the leucospermums, proteas and ericas we
were standing in. The haunting sound dipped over fi elds of purple,
fl owering heather, over strands of restias heaving like a sea of
dark green, up towards the rocky peak of Cradock and its swirling
mists and down cascading brooks to the valley below. When he
had fi nished playing, a small group of exhausted, mud-spattered
cyclists below us broke into spontaneous applause.
That was perhaps a fi tting salute, not only to the mountain, but also
to the years of battle and drama on the railway below.
– Pierre de Wet
MONTAGU PASS
Incredibly, the class GEA Garratt - for many years post-World War II the
mainstay of the Montagu Pass - was hand-fi red. Photo: Pierre de Wet.
Ph
oto
: Man
ie B
eau
rain
.
38 www.railwaysafrica.comRailways Africa Issue 4 // 2013
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Major component overhaul and machine refurbishment
Operating and maintenance agreements
Contracting
Plasser South Africa (Pty) Ltd | PO Box103, Maraisburg, 1700 | Tel: 011-761-2400 | info@plasser.co.za
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