Ra sep-2009 mr

CONTRIBUTORSAndrew Lanham

Eugene Armer

Peter Bagshawe

John Batwell

Pierre de Wet

Richard Grönstedt

Ashley Peter

Ralph Timmerman

Jacque Wepener

PUBLIShERBarbara Sheat

EDITOR Rollo Dickson

DESIGN & LAYOUTCraig Dean

ADVERTISINGPhillippa Fox

SUBSCRIPTIONS Kim Bevan

Rail Link Communications ccP.O. Box 4794 Randburg 2125Tel: +27 87 940 9278 E-mail: [email protected]: railwaysafricaWebsite: www.railwaysafrica.com

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Af f i l iated Associat ions & Societ ies

Railways Afr ica

ISSN 1029 - 2756The 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 unless otherwise stated.

We commented last month on South Africa’s newly permitted “performance-based” 27-metre-long road truck/trailer combinations (5m longer than the previous limit), with a gross loaded mass of 67 tons (normal maximum, 56). Agreed, these monsters will only be allowed by special permission of the Department of Transport (DoT), but examples are already running in KwaZulu-Natal, in an area where several railway lines are under threat of closing. Only a week or two ago, one was spotted on the old M13 route near hillcrest, cunningly bypassing the N3 toll plaza at Mariannhill.

Now, less than a month later, new strategy has been announced to limit the conveyance by road of commodities (as yet unspecified), the broad objective being to force the use of rail instead. One says “broad”, because the implications are probably more complex than the authors realise. Predictably loud opposition is already audible, mainly from the road freight industry, which has been allowed - and encouraged - to grow so large that the jobs of hundreds are feared to be at stake.

Contents

CommentThere is a bigger potential problem. Our railway’s capacity to take over substantial volumes of traffic at relatively short notice - short in railway time, that is - is questionable. It is one thing to run down infrastructure and rolling stock but another altogether to get it up and working again. DoT is looking to use existing branchlines - it mentions them specifically - but the condition of some of those is dicey, and the roads, apparently, are in much the same shape. The department is understandably concerned at this, worrying that they may fall apart within five years, due to lack of funds for maintenance.

So which comes first - fixing the railway or banning the behomoths? I tell you what - we left the stable door open far too long ago. It’s going to be one heck of a job getting those iron horses back.

September 2009 RAILWAYS AFRICA 1www.railwaysafrica.com

Brake Solutions 2

Opinion: Pete the Pundit 4

Africa UpDate 10

SA RailNews 18

Namibian Interlude 24

Gautrain UpDate 26

Company News: Actom 32

Mishaps & Blunders 34

Book Review 36

Middle East UpDate 38

Railway Heritage 39

End of the Line 40

Brake Solutions > Page 2

Class 39-200 > Page 22

Mobile Police stations for long-distance trains > Page 18

Actom Failsafe Data Transmission (FSDT) > 2

Ngqura rail operations begin > Page 18

Namibian interlude > Page 24

Knorr-Bremse

Brake Solutions, World-Class TechnologyThe Knorr-Bremse Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of braking systems for rail and other commercial vehicles. It has pioneered the development, production and marketing of modern braking systems for a variety of applications over the last 100 years. The company also produces on-board systems for rail vehicles such as doors, toilets, air-conditioners and passenger information systems.

The SA subsidiary was opened in 1969 as a sales office and expanded in 1973 to include local manufacturing for the domestic market. It has been successful in supplying brake systems for all types of rolling stock, including both vacuum and air systems.

Today the KBSA factory is a well-equipped manufacturing plant based in Kempton Park, Gauteng. The DB60 freight wagon valve is its primary export. As one of only two KB factories around the world to manufacture this AAR approved valve, the KBSA product is now included in rolling stock inventories on six continents

Knorr Bremse (SA) (Pty) Ltd launched its first new high-tech electronic braking solution (type hSM) on the class 14E dual voltage electric locomotives in SA in the late 1980s. Today, the CCB2 electronic brake system and full ECP/WDP (Electronic Control Pneumatic Brake/Wired Distributed Power) train control is the new way forward for heavy-haul trains. Various electric and diesel locomotives have been fitted with the Knorr-Bremse CCBII brake systems, either by upgrading or on new-build locomotives.

Engineering and production facilities for adapting both AAR and UIC products to suit local conditions are also available locally.

Knorr Bremse will be introducing the manufacture and supply of the VV64/100-3 air compressor, purposely designed for production of compressed air on vehicles such as electric locomotives and motor coaches. This Knorr-Bremse compressor has been used successfully on Metrorail motor coaches for the last three decades. The decision was based on the reliability of the VV64 - the compressor that the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) uses as its benchmark when testing other compressors for use on metro coaches.

The components for the VV64 will be produced at and supplied from the Knorr-Bremse manufacturing facility in Spartan, Kempton Park, ensuring that this product is 100% proudly South African.

Other rail brake solutions available on the SA market include the modern EP Compact® brake control system for electric multiple units (emus) and oil-free compressors (as used on Gautrain), for both locomotives and emus. Oil-free compressors based on the latest technology in compressed air are extremely efficient and maintenance-friendly.

When Knorr Bremse (SA) (Pty) Ltd became IRIS certified it was the first South African company to achieve this quality system standard. The IRIS (International Rail Industry Standard) was specifically established to address the requirements and disciplines pertinent to the rail industry. IRIS is an initiative led by UNIFE (Association of the European Rail Industry) and is actively supported by companies such as Knorr-Bremse, Bombardier, Swissrail, holland Rail Industry and Swedtrain - to name but a few.

The primary reason for initiating the establishment of the IRIS standard was that ISO 9001 certification was too easily obtained, coupled with the need to ensure higher safety standards for the rail industry.

The following are benefits that customers can expect from a company that has successfully implemented the IRIS quality system:

A greatly improved focus in ensuring that products are fully compliant with the RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) requirements:

Establishment of project management within the •Quality Management System,Greater focus on process and product non-•conformities,Greater focus on commissioning aspects and •customer service andGreater focus on production and service provision.•

RAILWAYS AFRICA September 20092 www.railwaysafrica.com

Knorr-Bremse

KBSA have field service teams available 24/7 at various locations to provide backup service.

These teams also carry out system upgrades to freight wagons, as well as Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) electric and diesel-electric locomotives of various classes.

Knorr Bremse has secured contracts from Transnet for the supply of LPS 54 Exhausters and Slack Adjusters for use on passenger vehicles.

Knorr-Bremse in-house service repair centreKBSA have an in-house CCBII service centre for all electronic equipment: EPCU, EBV, electronic vigilance computers and other electronic equipment.

Compressors and exhausters are repaired in the KBSA mechanical service centre for all mechanically operated equipment: LPS 54, VV64, VV450, various air equipment frames, and tread brake units.

product highlights:electronic vigilance computerThe purpose of the electronic vigilance computer is to monitor the alertness of a driver while in control of a moving locomotive or train, and to bring it to a standstill if he or she fails to respond to certain vigilance alarms prompting driver action.

The alertness test is based on a random timer that runs out and then requires the driver to take appropriate action to “prove” his or her alertness.

Knorr-Bremse has successfully integrated the electronic vigilance computer on older TFR locomotives such as classes 6E1 and 8E, as well as on all new electronic locomotives. For example, TFR’s new class 15E and 19E locomotives have been so equipped.

involvement in the iron ore rdp upgrade programmeKnorr-Bremse (SA) (Pty) Ltd is honoured to be playing an important role in helping Transnet set new records. KBSA has been and is responsible for upgrading all 31 of the class 9E electric locomotives and 30 of the class 34 diesel locomotives - 24 of which have been completed - to an electro-pneumatic brake system. This project included the integration of vacuum brakes into the electro-pneumatic brake system on the diesel locomotives.

KBSA is also responsible for the installation and commissioning of the radio-distributed power (RDP) system supplied by GE Transportation. KBSA is currently acting as support for GE Transportation and assists with field support for the RDP wherever necessary.

To deal with locomotive upgrades, KBSA has been in Saldanha - where it has established a site office - for the past two years. This office will contribute field support for the new class 15E locomotives, being delivered in the course of 2009.

involvement in the 19e and 15e locomotive new-Build programmeKnorr-Bremse (SA) (Pty) Ltd is proud to be the sole supplier for all air supply and brake equipment, including tread brake units, fitted to the new class 19E and 15E electric locomotive building programme.

The class 19E locomotives (dual voltage 3kV DC and 25kV AC) are for use on the heavy-haul line transporting coal from mines in the Witbank area to the port in Richards Bay. These locomotives are being fitted with the latest in computer-controlled brakes. The trains boast both electronically controlled pneumatic brakes for the wagons and wire-distributed power for distributed locomotive control.

The class 15E locomotives (50kV AC) are to complement the existing class 9E locomotive fleet on South Africa’s second heavy-haul line, transporting iron ore from Sishen in the Northern Cape Province to the port in Saldanha. These locomotives also include the latest in computer controlled brakes and include radio-distributed power.

For these locomotives, KBSA has developed two functional stand-alone modules. One is for air supply, the other for air brake equipment. This means that an all-inclusive module has been developed for locomotive air supply, including compressed air and conditioning of air; and that a second all-inclusive module is fitted for air brake equipment, including the brake system with all electronics, wheel-slide and auxiliary equipment.

The Knorr-Bremse Group was chosen to provide the door and brake control systems for the Gautrain project rolling stock – the Electrostar series. Designed in England and adapted to suit local conditions, the Electrostar boasts the latest technologies in brake control from Knorr-Bremse UK

(Westinghouse) and door systems from IFE in Austria. Knorr-Bremse SA will be responsible for providing on-going support to Bombela and Bombardier for these products during the warranty period and for the duration of their service.


opinion

PETE THE PUNDIT lamentsLINESIDE MISERY IN EAST AFRICA, marvels at THE WONDERS OF SWISS METRE GAUGE and hears of SOME SHAKY REPORTING IN THE US OF ALINESIDE MISERY IN EAST AFRICA“Africa’s freedom railway” by Professor Jamie Monson - reviewed elsewhere in this issue - is noteworthy not for rail-related content in the usual sense but for drawing attention to some widely unappreciated side effects of building rail systems. her interest is predominantly that of people who live along the Tazara route in Tanzania, whose fortunes – and misfortunes – are intertwined with those of the railway. These rural villages prospered more, she suggests, than those living beside more conventional “colonial-era” railways, whose principal objective was to “connect settler communities” (and – of course – to tap and export minerals).

Wherever railways are constructed, however, and for whatever purpose or political connotation, those living beside them will always benefit. Compare the countryside paralleling Kenya’s line from Mombasa to Nairobi - and beyond - with the railless areas to the north. Passenger trains, by no means confined to the British expatriate elite, were widely used and exploited by the locals, whose horizons and opportunities were enormously expanded. And just as the Tanzanians suffered when economic realities obliged the Tazara line to hike fares and close down stations, the similar faltering of lines in Kenya and Uganda – after the colonialists left, one has to point out - impacted severely on the locals. Without a Professor Monson to champion their cause however, one hears only of the detriment to the Ugandan import trade, and the failure of trains to clear backlogs in Mombasa harbour.

railway that does not run efficiently loses traffic, its bread and butter. This means it earns less income and has difficulty meeting bills. Worse: inability to pay staff wages – and pensioners - is all too common today in far too many countries.

Worse still: less traffic implies less work to be done– a reality that few government-owned entities care to face head-on, with personnel complements trimmed down all too slowly. Nevertheless, in the Vanguard (published in Lagos) on 29 August 2003, harry Nwana quoted Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) managing director Alhaji Abdulrahman Abubakar saying that the 50,000 formerly on the payroll had shrunk

to about 14,000. “Even this number cannot be paid their salaries most of the time. Unpaid pensioners are about 20,000 strong who, only when the Federal Government makes due subventions, can receive their pension. And it does so at intervals of six to nine months. Exactly a year ago, the NRC was owing pensioners over N3 billion little prospect of redemption. It is a lot more than that by now as staff continue to retire.”

Nwana wrote that six years ago. Exactly four years later, on 29 August 2007, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) appealed to Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to direct the immediate payment of the entitlements of railway pensioners: “Let me also

crave Your Excellency’s indulgence to appeal for your compassionate consideration of the plight of the pensioners of the Nigeria Railway Corporation. “The situation of railway pensioners is desperate and pathetic, resulting in frequent deaths among them and their dependents.”

Similar appeals have been made to a succession of Nigerian presidents over the years. Meanwhile, there has been no Professor Monson to chronicle the plight of peasant communities living along the country’s 3,783km of largely dilapidated track, which has seen very few trains in recent times.

STANDARD GAUGE: THE AFRICAN OBSESSIONCurrent plans to convert thousands of kilometres of African lines to standard gauge are based on a conviction that metre-gauge inhibits capacity and speed. If one is in the happy position of being able to afford a completely new railway, and completely new locomotives and rolling stock to run on it, well and good – but it doesn’t sound like a scenario widely found in Africa. It is rather like an urban shack-dweller observing that black plastic inhibits his lifestyle; in its place, he intends to put up a mansion.

This “manual track recording device” appeared (by courtesy of Plasser) in the August 1982 issue of this magazine, then known simply as “Railways”. It was in its 25th year of publication, the editor – A E (“Dusty”) Durrant.

In a foreword to the 25th anniversary issue, general manager of South Africa’s railways Dr Kobus Loubser had written appreciatively of “South Africa’s only independent railway journal”. Since its first appearance in 1957, it had grown to be recognised for its “authoritative” content.

Chinese-built Tunduma station on the Zambian-Tanzanian border. Photo: Richard Grönstedt.

In the old days, the lines of East Africa – Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika – were highly regarded internationally, not least for the biggest Garratt steam locomotives in Africa. Whatever the colonialists’ motives for providing railways, they looked after their infrastructure. Post-colonial railways throughout the continent – in these countries as well as Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and elsewhere – are conspicuous for lamentable shortcomings in maintenance. Everywhere track and rolling stock have been wretchedly neglected. Unfortunately, a

EMD 1,310hp Nigerian class 1100 diesel, built 1958.


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The Scaw Metals Group (Scaw) is an international group, manufacturing a diverse range of steel products. Its principaloperations are located in South Africa, South America, Canada and Australia. Smaller operations are in Namibia,Zimbabwe and Zambia. Scaw’s specialist castings for the railroad industry include bogies used in freight cars,locomotives and passenger cars. Other products manufactured include:

Freight car castings:• Side Frames • Bolsters• Yokes • Cast steel monobloc wheels• Draw-gear components• Centre plates

Cast steel frames for locomotives:• Steerable locomotive frames• Mounting for electrical parking brakes and brakehangers• Traction motor end shields and suspension tubes in cast

steel, manufactured to customer requirements

Passenger car castings:• High speed, high stability radial axle bogies for motored

and unmotored passenger vehicles• Self steering bogies• Fully machined frames ready for assembly into bogies,

including the fitting of bushings and wear plates• Integrally cast brake hanger brackets and mounting

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Scaw has produced castings for the railroad industry since 1921and is a technological leader in this field and has participated in thedevelopment of unique designs such as the cast adaptor sub-frameassembly used in the “Scheffel” radial axle truck.

Scaw manufactures castings under licence to various licensors, butis an open foundry with the capability to undertake work accordingto individual customer requirements. The company has producedthousands of sets of steel castings for freight cars for both the localand export markets. These include side frames and bolsters thathave been approved by the Association of American Railroads foruse on North American railroads.

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opinion

According to ancient wisdom, sensible people make the most of what they have before rushing out to buy anew. In this context, instructive examples of what can be achieved on metre gauge railways are to be found in Switzerland. And it isn’t as though the going is easy: there isn’t more difficult geography to be negotiated anywhere. Swiss tunnels and bridges are unsurpassed. Some of their rolling stock – like that in much of Africa – is around 40 years old, but instead of washing their hands of it and starting afresh on a different gauge, the thrifty Swiss are upgrading the existing metre-gauge track and buying new trains. On 17 September, for example, prominent operator Zentralbahn awarded Stadler a SFr141m contract to supply 10 inter-regional electric multiple-units as part of an ambitious double-tracking and modernisation programme.

[ Swiss Francs and US Dollars are approximately equal in value. - editor ]

INACCURATE US RAIL RECORDSIf you thought rail safety and associated records were a problem only in Africa, take comfort. According to the Los Angeles Times: “The official record of accidents and deaths on the Metrolink commuter rail system is incomplete, marred by inconsistencies and largely hidden from view. The record makes train operations in the Los Angeles region appear to be much less dangerous than they are.”

The paper has compiled an interactive database and map by drawing on information from several sources, “many never before available to the public”. As far as was possible, inaccurate or conflicting information was corrected and obvious omissions filled in. “The database suggests that the Federal Railroad Administration’s system for tracking hazards is more suited to monitoring cross-country freight haulers than high-speed [passenger] trains operating in crowded urban corridors.

“Only about four of every 10 fatal accidents in Metrolink’s records have been reported to the federal agency, which posts the information on its public website. At least 117 Metrolink system pedestrian deaths and six vehicle deaths do not appear in the federal record.

“The federal agency requires train operators to file reports under broad circumstances: an accident at a grade [level] crossing, an accident causing damage to railroad equipment or an accident resulting in loss of life - except when the death is ruled a suicide.” According to the paper, “Metrolink’s reporting practice has been inconsistent. The agency reported some deaths that were ruled suicide but often failed to report deaths considered to be accidental.”

“The agency’s records are also inadequate for one of the most basic forms of analysis: pattern mapping. A spokesman for the agency said there is no plan to remedy the data, which he conceded could be as much as 20% wrong.

“Metrolink staff in Los Angeles have done a better job of mapping crossings and rail lines. In many cases, however, they identified crossings incorrectly or in the wrong places.

Railways Africa / / /www.railwaysafrica.com

Impeccably maintained metre-gauge trackwork (electrified) in a Rhatische Bahn (Switzerland) freight yard. Photo: editor’s collection.

Four seven-car and six three-car trains will be used on Brünig Line services between Lucerne and Interlaken Ost (74km). More than 20 trains serve this busy route daily, in addition to a number of short workings. The seven-car sets will comprise two three-car units back-to-back, with cabs at the outer ends only and a centre car containing a bistro offering hot and cold food.

Testing of the first set is scheduled for January 2012, with deliveries running from September 2012 to July 2013. They will be in full service from December 2013, allowing the replacement of stock dating back 40 years.

Metre-gauge electric passenger trains crossing on Switzerland’s Rhatische Bahn. Photo: editor’s collection.

Metrolink double-deck suburban trains in Los Angeles are hauled by diesel locos on outward trips, then pushed back to town with a driving trailer leading.


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LEVEL CROSSINGS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN“Electronic files of Southern California’s rail system can be downloaded from the Federal Railroad Administration’s website,” the Los Angeles Times says, “but are riddled with errors, placing hundreds of rail crossings at points far from any railroad tracks. Many are shown in the Pacific Ocean.”

The accident history of the Metrolink system is complicated by the fractured nature of the system itself. Metrolink owns and maintains most of the right of way, but some portions of the track are owned by other operators. These include another public agency, the North County Transit District in San Diego, and two private freight operators.

As the ownership of these lines changed, milepost designations along the track were reordered, so that records from earlier years do not match with mileposts in use today.

Amtrak passenger trains use the same tracks Metrolink commuter trains use. So do freight trains operated by Union Pacific Railroad and Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Older records also name Southern Pacific, which was purchased by Union Pacific.

“Electronic records that Metrolink provided to The Times do not indicate which train operator was involved in an accident.”

“Thus accidents in this database provide a profile of the system as a whole, but not specifically Metrolink operations. In addition, the accident information was kept by Metrolink staff in different formats over the years.”

opinion

The Times perused paper records, called “Unusual Occurrence Reports” filed by train drivers for a variety of reasons. “These reports documented many accidents, some involving injuries and deaths, that did not appear on any electronic lists.”

Train drivers also used the paper forms to report numerous near misses in which they applied emergency braking to avoid hitting a vehicle or pedestrian. Neither the Federal Railroad Administration’s nor Metrolink’s electronic records track these near-collisions.

“Last March, Metrolink’s environmental contractor billed more than $3,200 to clean the remains of two people who were on the tracks in Fullerton and Norwalk. Metrolink’s records show two pedestrian deaths in March but say one of them occurred in San Clemente and the other in either La Mirada or Norwalk.

“According to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, Liber Quinones, a 22-year-old from Baldwin Park, was killed by a Metrolink train on 30 July. No Metrolink database reveals an accident on that date. In more than 100 cases, Metrolink records had differing dates, times or victim names for what appeared to be the same accident.”

Attempts to resolve apparently duplicate entries were often frustrated because the location or other key information was missing.

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AfricA UpdAte

ALGERIAEVALUATING ELECTRIFICATION The Algerian National Agency for Railway Investment Research and Follow-up (ANESRIF) has issued tender invitations nationally and internationally for carrying out technical and financial project analyses relating to two electrification projects. The first involves evaluation of the 130km Mechria to El-Bayadh line (130 km). The second is related to the 210km Biskra to Touggourt electrification.

ANGOLADEMINING COMPLETEAccording to Angola’s National Institute of Demining (INAD) director-general Leonardo Severino Sapalo, work on the Luanda, Moçamedes and Benguela railways has been completed. Altogether some 380km of the country’s railways were demined. A certain amount of “segment demining” remains to be done, in preparation for construction of rail-related infrastructure. A total of 28,437km2 have been cleared of landmines to permit extension of the country’s optic fibre telephone network. The operation included localisation, removal and destruction of explosive devices over an area of 78,806km2 accommodating the electricity transmission lines. In all, 51 demining brigades are working in the country’s 18 provinces.

BOTSWANABOTSWANA-NAMIBIA FEASIBILITY STUDYA pre-feasibility study for the proposed new Trans-Kalahari railway from Botswana to the Namibian coast has begun, after three years of preliminary planning. Expected to take twelve months, the work is being funded by a $US463,000 grant from the World Bank and the equivalent of $US44,744 each from the two countries.

CAMEROONSOUTH KOREA TO HELP IN CAMEROONA South Korean consortium is to undertake feasibility studies and produce a national railway master plan for Cameroon, in terms of a 13-month contract signed on 10 September between the ministry of the economy, planning, and regional

development (MINEPAT) on one hand, and the Korea Port Engineering Corporation, Chung-Suk Engineering company Limited, the Korea Transport Institute and the Korea Rail Network Authority. The plan will be used as a guide in modernising the country’s railways. According to ministry secretary-general Roger Mbassa Ndine, the objective is to build lines to all parts of the country. The project, he explained, is in line with government intentions to “lift the country’s railway system to international standards” by 2035. The studies will be funded from Cameroon’s 2009 and 2010 public investment budget.


AfricA UpdAte

ETHIOPIAUPGRADING & PLANSIn 2007, the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) was formed as a subsidiary of the country’s ministry of transport & communications, with a paid-up capital of $US750 million. Its mandate is to build a national railway as well as an urban light rail network in the capital, Addis Abeba. The main task of the national system would be to support Ethiopia’s agricultural sector, specifically the moving of export grain and livestock. however, it is also intended to provide “high-speed, high-capacity, competitive and affordable” transport for passengers. ERC director Dr Getachew Betru envisages a standard gauge network, electrified with power drawn from hydroelectric resources. (Betru also serves on the board of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation.)

In the meanwhile, work continues on rehabilitating the 781km metre-gauge Chemin de fer Djibouti-Ethopien (CDE – the Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway). The 18-month project is being funded by a grant of €50 million from the European Union. Train services at the western end of the line, including the approach into Addis Abeba, are currently suspended to facilitate the work, which is being undertaken by Costa of Italy and Ineco-SPT of Spain. According to CDE general manager To’om Terie, the line’s capacity is expected to rise to ten trains per day.

Work is currently concentrated around Metahara, where embankments are being strengthened and new bridges built. Approximately 25,000 concrete sleepers are being laid to replace steel, and the remaining 20kg/m rail is being replaced by 40kg/m on about a third of the route. The project is reportedly running three months behind schedule due to some track alignments being miscalculated.

India’s Overseas Investment Alliance (OIA), which has been supplying electrical transmission and distribution systems to EEPCo in terms of a 2006 contract worth $US65m, signed an agreement with the government of neighbouring Djibouti in May 2009 to undertake feasibility studies for a standard-gauge line from the harbour – which functions as the main port for Ethiopia.

KRC managing director Nduva Muli promises an impressive reduction in the cost of freight transport once the new line is built from Mombasa via Nairobi (for completion by 2013), to Malaba on the border with Uganda together with a branch to Kisumu on Lake Victoria (2016). The line is to be of high capacity, with trains carrying a minimum of 4,000 tonnes travelling at an average speed of 120km/h. “This compares with 800 tonnes on the existing metre-gauge line and a maximum speed of 45km/h,” he was quoted saying. Passengers are to be conveyed in double-deck trains running at ”an average” 160km/h.

“In India and China,” Muli pointed out, “railway transport accounts for 90% of long-distance freight movement compared to a meagre 5% in Kenya, causing pressure on the road network.” The line from Mombasa is one of three routes identified in the corporation’s national railway master plan. The others would be entirely new railways from a proposed new port at Lamu to Juba in the Sudan and from Nairobi to Addis Abeba in Ethiopia. Construction plans for these are at advanced stages, Muli said. he did not disclose how the expected price of Sh320 billion ($US4bn) is to be financed.

[ Nor whether this figure includes the cost of locomotives, double-deck passenger coaches and other rolling stock. – editor. ]

MALAWIREVAMPING MALAWI’S RAILWAYDuring May 2009, the Malawian government applied to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a United States government foreign aid agency, for financial assistance in rehabilitating the country’s rail network. A nine-member MCC team visited Malawi in July, to conduct a thorough appraisal of this and other projects for which help was requested. A five-year “compact grant” is envisaged.

Millennium Challenge Account Malawi (MCA-Malawi), according to public outreach coordinator Susan Banda, has already embarked on preliminary arrangements, in conjunction with Malawi’s ministry of transport and public infrastructure, to commence rehabilitation of the rail network.

Director of transport planning in the ministry of transport and public infrastructure Victor Lungu explains that rail movement in Malawi and to neighbouring countries is currently very slow

KENYASTANDARD GAUGE TENDERKenya Railways Corporation (KRC) has invited tenders to construct a 1,082km standard gauge line from Mombasa via Nairobi to Malaba on the Ugandan border, together with a 216km branch from Nakuru to Kisumu. It is hoped to reduce travel times between the capital and the sea (530km) from ten to three hours. Prospective transaction advisers and design consultants have until 15 January 2010 to forward their bids. The project includes marketing, investor identification and the selection of consultants to monitor detailed design, building and commissioning of the railway.


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because of the poor condition of the infrastructure. “Trains move at a speed of between 30km/h and 40km/h.”

The ministry’s principal secretary Francis Chinsinga says the Malawi government has approached the World Bank and the European Investment Bank for additional funds or the rail rehabilitation project.

MOROCCONEW LOCOS ARRIVE The first of a fleet of 20 Alstom 160km/h electric locomotives for Office National des Chemins de fer (ONCF – the national railway of Morocco) arrived recently in Casablanca. It was shipped from Antwerp in Belgium. The Prima II Bo-Bo mixed traffic locomotive, the second of the class to be built, will undergo a period of testing across ONCF’s electrified network before entering service in 2010. The first locomotive of the order is undergoing trials at the Siemens Wildenrath test centre in Germany.

The remaining Prima IIs will be delivered between October 2009 and March 2010. ONCF became the launch customer for the Prima II when it placed a €75 million order for a 5mW, 3kV DC version of the design in November 2007. The locomotives are being assembled at Alstom’s Belfort plant in eastern France.

MOZAMBIQUENEW LINE TO BE BUILTMozambique plans to build a new $US500 million railway to connect the coal mines at Moatize with the existing route to the port of Nacala. The project will entail linking the existing Sena line (Moatize-Beira) either by way of a new railway entirely within Mozambique or one following a considerably shorter route across Malawi. According to minister of transport and communications Paulo Zucula, funding has been secured from the Danish and Dutch governments. Completion is envisaged by 2015.

ships - hence the need to use Nacala. Mozambique plans to invest $US150 million in upgrading the Nacala line and port in the course of the next five years.

NIGERIACONCESSIONING NIGERIA’S RAILWAY According to newly appointed Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) managing director Adeseyi Sijuade, his administration is to “kick-start” the concession of train operations, while pursuing and completing ongoing rehabilitation works. Concessioning, he emphasises, does not mean the system is being sold: “NRC remains the landlord and will be responsible for monitoring and regulating the activities of the concessionaries.” Consultants appointed to resuscitate the corporation are to start work shortly.

Sijuade holds a degree in civil engineering from the University of Lagos and an MBA from Loughborough University, UK. he is a chartered civil engineer and project management consultant.

RAILS TO ABUJAAccording to Nigerian minister of information and communications Dora Akunyili, the country’s federal executive council has approved outlay of $US874.3 million towards implementation of phase 1 in the country’s railway modernisation project. The amount includes a consultancy fee of $24 million. She was quoted saying that this allocation covers the segment from Abuja to Kaduna (a new line), to be followed by funding for rehabilitation of the existing section from Lagos to Ibadan (175 km).

[ Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, currently has no rail connection. – editor ]

Rehabilitation of the 575km Sena line, currently nearing completion, will enable it to carry 6 million tonnes of coal a year. however, the Brazilian mining concessionaire Vale expects to produce 11 million tonnes of coal a year, and added to this, the port of Beira cannot accommodate large

US TEAM TO HELP NIGERIAN RAILThe mandate for a team of railway construction experts from the United States of America, presently in Nigeria, is “to work out modalities that would assist the country to rehabilitate existing railway lines across the country, rather than embark on new construction. “This would go a long way in helping the federal government to reposition the railway system and reduce carnage on the roads. Team leader Jim Blaze – following initial evaluation of the line out of Lagos – told newsmen that the rails and sleepers in the first 20 to 28km to Abeokuta need to be replaced completely because they are“old, fatigued and fractured.”


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RWANDASTUDY ON NEW LINE FROM DAR Ministers of Infrastructure from Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania met in late September to approve a “final study” carried out on the proposed 691km new standard-gauge railway from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigali and Bujumbura. According to Rwandan minister of infrastructure Linda Bihire, it is hoped to begin construction before the end of 2009, for completion in 2014. Trains operating at 120km/h are envisaged.

November 2008. Dependent upon the results of engineering studies, the company will refurbish and construct rail and port facilities to accommodate its iron-ore production and shipping capacity requirements and to provide third party access at commercial rates.

Parliament in Sierra Leone, AML reports, has formally ratified a lease over the railway and port infrastructure, both vital to the success of the project. The lease is for the Pepel port and for the Pepel–Marampa railway, and also covers the redevelopment of this infrastructure. In terms of the lease, the company would undertake an engineering study into the upgrade of the deep-water port and the existing railway. If these proved viable, it would upgrade, operate and maintain the port and railway and make these available to other users at commercial rates.

The company is also investigating the possibility of extending the railway (which it would operate itself) to Tonkolili, to provide cost-effective transport of its iron-ore to the sea for export.

Further, studies are under way for a heavy-haul railway linking Tonkolili to Tagrin Point, which is adjacent to Pepel. Tagrin Point would be developed into an iron-ore transport, ore handling and ship loading facility, AML has indicated that the future construction and commissioning of the system was unlikely to possess any material engineering obstacles.

Completely new rolling stock will be needed for the new railway. The existing metre-gauge vehicles use these old East African drop-hook couplers. Photo: Richard Grönstedt.

SIERRA LEONENEW RAIL PROJECTS FORESEEN Sierra Leone is reported to have an untapped iron ore resource that could rank as third largest in the world. African Minerals Limited (AML), with an extensive portfolio of mineral rights in the country, is currently working to bring its flagship project, Tonkolili iron-ore, into production about 150km from the Pepel deep-water port, which has good infrastructure.

An existing railway runs from Pepel to the town of Marampa, about 70km. According to AML, the potential exists for an additional 5 billion tonne resource over the 20km strike extension to the north at Kasafoni. Exploration activities at Tonkolili have also confirmed the potential for 800 million tonnes of hematite mineralisation.

The Marampa iron ore project, located approximately 80km from Tonkolili, is being managed and operated by Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd which has a 35% interest in the project. Cape Lambert has committed up to $US25 million towards a feasibility study and has assembled an experienced iron-ore team.

AML signed a lease agreement over key rail and port infrastructure with the government of Sierra Leone in

Built by Beyer-Peacock in Manchester in 1955, Sierra Leone No 65 was one of fourteen 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratts. With a 5t axle load, they hauled 270t trains up 1:50 grades on the 760mm gauge line, until its closure in 1974.

AFRICA UPDATE

TRL director general Narasimhaswami Jayaram said that two goods trains comprising 23 wagons would be conveying various commodities including cement from the Tanga Cement Company.

TAZARATAZARA TARIFFS UPPEDNew fares applicable on the Tanzania-Zambia Railway came into effect on 1 July. Ticket prices on ordinary passenger trains as well as the Tazara Express went up 20% while parcels and luggage rates rose 30%. Travellers from Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia now pay Tsh72,600 ($US72) in first class on the Tazara Express, up from Tsh60,500 ($US60).

To Makambako (Iringa) from Dar-es-Salaam now costs Tsh29,000 ($US29) instead of Tsh24,200 ($US24). To Rujewa (Mbeya) the fare is now Tsh29,900 ($US29) instead of Tsh24,900 ($US24).

Tazara managing director Clement Subulwa Mwiya points out that the company’s policy is to adjust tariffs annually. High operational costs are being experienced, notably in the wage bill and the continually rising cost of diesel. Tazara is upgrading its facilities at a cost of $US10 million, he says, and 18 locomotives are being rehabilitated currently

UGANDAMAIN-LINE AT JINJA REOPENSThe main-line to Kampala from Kenya, closed near Jinja on 14 May following the collapse of an embankment due to a blocked culvert, was reopened to traffic on 16 June. During the four weeks that the line remained inoperable, freight was offloaded at Iganga and taken forward by road. According to Rift Valley Railways (RVR) project manager Glenn Kleyn, quoted by New Vision (published in Kampala) a new three-metre diameter galvanised iron culvert has been installed, to provide adequate outlet for stormwater to drain into Lake Victoria, about a kilometre downstream.

Kleyn said the repair work was being done at mile 323. In addition, the company is investigating a structure at mile 289 towards Busembatia.

“It (mile 289) is not in any immediate danger but we are investigating and drawing up designs,” he told the paper.

UGANDA RATES INCREASERift Valley Railways (RVR) has increased freight rates between Mombasa and Kampala from $US80 per tonne to $110. Former managing director Roy Puffet explained in July: “The tariff adjustment was driven by continued upward costs of energy, petroleum products and steel. The price of diesel has gone up by 24% in the last eight months and there is double digit inflation as well as dollar revaluation”.

RVR commercial manager in Kampala, Geoffrey Tindimwebwa says the rates will still be lower than those charged by road freight hauliers. “Our rates have been steady since last October before the fuel prices rose and the price of steel spiralled,” he points out, whereas the truckers raise rates every time the fuel price changes. “Also, we have had a negative result from the weakening dollar as most of our rates are in that currency. It has been losing value, while the prices of our inputs have been going up.”

ZAMBIARSZ TAKEN TO TASKIn an editorial, The Times of Zambia takes Rail Systems of Zambia (RSZ), the concessionaire running Zambian Railways, to task for buying “brand new motor vehicles worth $US1.4 million”, while apparently falling short in service delivery. “While the company has every right to purchase vehicles for operations, we feel their priorities are misplaced,” the paper writes.

“Gone are the days,” it laments, “when the railway network was the most reliable mode of transport in Zambia. “It was so reliable and cheap, that the rail line was Zambia’s favourite mode of transport, offloading goods and passengers in remote areas where roads were inaccessible.

“The failure by RSZ to provide safety and reliability has forced many Zambians to abandon rail transport in preference for the faster and more reliable road transport. It was hoped that when Zambia Railways was concessioned to RSZ, things would change for the better.”

[RSZ inherited a sorely run-down system which is taking a great deal of time and money to put right. The rosy past of railways in the country dates back to the days when it was called Northern Rhodesia – but nobody will want to remember that. – editor]

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ZIMBABWENEW NRZ SERVICEThe National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has introduced a new weekly passenger service to Chicualacuala, 500km south-east of Bulawayo on the line to Maputo. The existing Wednesday train to Chiredzi has been rescheduled to leave Bulawayo at 14:00 on Wednesday instead of 21:00. Arriving at 04:00 on Thursday, it returns at 05:00 to Mbizi junction, and continues from there to Chicualacuala. Following a 14:00 departure, it runs back to Bulawayo, arriving on Friday morning. The Chiredzi-Bulawayo service retains its former timing on other days of the week.

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TANZANIACONCESSIONAIRE “LACKS CAPITAL”According to Tanzanian minister for infrastructure development Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, “one of the major shortcomings of Rail India Technical and Engineering Services (Rites) - the company contracted to run the country’s railways - is shortage of capital. At a press briefing he said the government has formed a task force to work on “problematic issues” in the contract. When these have been identified, measures are to be devised to rectify shortcomings. If these are found to be sufficiently serious to consider terminating


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the contract, he said, the government would not hesitate to take this course.

the government, through the Railway holdings and Assets Company (RAhCO), has made rolling stock available, to enable TRL to continue supplying service. he was disappointed, he said, with Rites’ decision to suspend use of its equipment (which was imported from India on hire to TRL), until payment for the leasing eventuates.

WORKERS REPAIR LOCOSAccording to The Citizen (published in Dar-es-Salaam), “TRL (Tanzania Railways Limited) workers at the Morogoro workshop managed to rehabilitate two “defunct” locomotives to show the government they can run the company without “the foreign partner”. The engines had been idle, they told the paper, since Rail India Technical and Engineering Services (Rites) “partnered with the government to establish TRL after the divestiture of the former Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC).” Tanzania Railway Workers’ Union (Trawu) secretary-General Silvester Rwegasira said the two engines were among five that had been revived by TRL technicians and were now in use. There are four others lying idle which could be revived if the necessary facilities and spare parts were provided. Two Rites engines taken to India for repairs, the workers said, failed to work when they returned. “They were tested twice in a trip from Morogoro to Dodoma and they could not make it... they are still lying idle.”They asked the government to provide them with required facilities and spare parts so that they could rehabilitate all engines and wagons that have been grounded.

ZAMBIAZAMBIAN CONCESSION UNDER FIREZambian presidential special assistant for policy implementation and monitoring Ben Kapita has urged

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Tanzania Railways Limited is the Rites-led concessionaire of the country’s national system. Photo: Richard Grönstedt.

On the $US44 million loan which Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL) had requested from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank, Dr Kawambwa said the latter had initially agreed to provide $14 million to TRL and had already disbursed $7 million. The government however requested IFC to withhold the remainder pending the outcome of its discussions with Rites.

Minister Kawambwa gave the assurance that train services will not come to a halt as a result of Rites’ decision to suspend the use of its own locomotives, coaches and other equipment, pending payment of its dues. he said

doubt committed to continue to run the line. If we were not, we wouldn’t have been investing up to now. RSZ is proud of the way it is dealing with the challenges of vandalism, competition, the bad condition of the line and the world economic crisis.”

he pointed out that RSZ had continued to grow without the support of the government, hauling one million tonnes of cargo annually in the last five years. “This trend is growing with more wagons, locomotives and other means being injected into the system. however, without the support of government in respect of security and transport policies such as road levy, and unfair competition, it will be very difficult to increase tonnages.”

ZIMBABWE$US1 TO ENTER STATIONS

National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) spokesman Fanuel Masikati explains that the $US1 fee now charged to vehicles and pushcarts entering the stations at Bulawayo, harare and Mutare is a move to reduce congestion and create parking space for genuine customers. “The pushcart operators should pay the fees because they are making brisk business, dealing with NRZ passengers boarding or disembarking from the trains.”

Garratt used for shunting at the coal stage in Bulawayo. Photo: Geoff Cooke.

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the government to take over operations of concessionaire Railways Systems of Zambia (RSZ), even if cancellation of the concession agreement means a cost to the taxpayer. Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) quoted Kapita saying that investor NLPI Limited “has failed to operate the line”.

Commenting to the press, RSZ CEO Benjamin Even said the company has invested about $US25 million to date, compared to the contractual obligation of $15 million specified in the agreement signed in 2003 (with which RSZ is fully complying) and that a further $30 million is being put in to enhance operations. he was quoted saying: “One must understand that every business venture must include the components of investment and return. If the return is not in proportion to the investment, the business will simply collapse - as was the case with certain other regional railways. The concession agreement did not specify that RSZ is required to bring the rail line to European standards as this would be completely non-commercial without very heavy investment from government.”

RSZ, he pointed out, had continued to pay taxes, despite the difficult operating environment. “RSZ is still investing in the rail line, locomotives, wagons communications and security - but still in proportion to the return which can be generated; all this at a time when parastatal companies in the region are collapsing. RSZ is paying taxes and sustaining itself without creating any burden on the Zambian government or taxpayer, and is at the same time still investing and maintaining its obligation to its employees and suppliers.”

RSZ is firmly committed to running the railway, Even said, despite the difficult policy environment and unfair competition from road transport. “We are 100% without any


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South African Rail News

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TRANSPORT MONTH IN SOUTH AFRICAOn 30 September, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele officially launched South Africa’s annual Transport Month. he was accompanied by deputy transport minister Jeremy Cronin, provincial transport MECs, senior government officials and key transport stakeholders as well as members of the community. The campaign, themed “Safety in all modes of transport: systems readiness for 2010, Sisonke siyaphambili akujiki,” focuses on the user, operator and infrastructure with a strong emphasis on safety.

TRAVELLING RAIL POLICE STATIONSOn 30 September 2009, the Department of Transport’s (DoT) Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) launched a new “mobile police station coach initiative” associated with long-distance rail travel on Shosholoza Meyl. It is aimed at improving and ensuring the safety of travellers and in particular soccer fans in 2010.

NGQURA RAIL OPERATIONS BEGINIn September, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) successfully ran a test train on the new Ngqura connecting line, declaring it safe for operations. The rail route links the new port to the City Deep rail terminal in South Africa’s Gauteng Province via Beaconsfield (Kimberley). A shorter route exists but the Bloemfontein-Noupoort section (398km) is not electrified. Transnet has refurbished some 400 container wagons and will deploy class 7E electric locomotives (25kV AC) on the line, which has a designed capacity of six 50-wagon trains per day.

TFR is on target for completion of the port rail terminal, marshalling yard, and the connection to the main-line into the hinterland. Rail-mounted container cranes are now in operation and there are presently four operational lines in the marshalling yard with the remaining five due to be available by March 2010. The yard will accommodate up to six trains per day per direction. The hinterland capacity of two trains daily will be increased as volumes grow, subject to financial and business viability.

The commercial launch of the port and associated container terminal was scheduled for October.

The Port of Ngqura and its 60,000 hectare container terminal represent Transnet’s solution to South Africa’s long-time lack of sufficient container capacity. To date, in excess of R10 billion has been invested in developing this state-of-the-art port and associated infrastructure. This includes a world-class, two-berth container terminal (with a further two berths under construction), a two-berth multipurpose terminal and a single berth liquid bulk terminal. Ngqura’s advantage over other ports in Africa is its depth of between 16 and 18 metres, which is able to accommodate new-generation container vessels.

Ngqura will enable Transnet to increase capacity for container volumes, and at the same time relieve container congestion in the overall South African port system, while attracting additional transhipment cargo.

Mobile police station: a new feature of South African long-distance trains

“It will promote a positive customer experience and improve the community’s perception of the service,” the department says.

The coach is equipped with a charge office, separate holding cells for females and males, a safe for locking up firearms and dockets as well as sleeping compartments for officers.


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For reasons of efficiency and to maximise economic benefit to businesses in this area, planning of the port has been integrated with that of the adjacent Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ). With its excellent supporting infrastructure and superstructure, the Ngqura container terminal will be able to accommodate “ultra-mega” ships carrying 6,000 to 10,000 TEUs. It has the capacity to handle in excess of 100 container moves per ship working-hour, with sufficient stack and berth capacity to cater for future growth up to 2 million TEUs. The terminal boasts good inland connectivity for import and export traffic by means of both road and rail.

Milestones achieved to date included handover of the port control building, the container terminal’s first two (of four) berths, the two multi-purpose berths, the single liquid berth, the four-storey Transnet Port Terminals administration building and the temporary container engineering workshop.

The port control tower will operate throughout the 24 hours, though initially marine operations and services will be restricted to ordinary day hours.

Equipment assembled and commissioned to date includes 22 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) and six Megamax ship-to-shore cranes, two rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMGs), two reach stackers, four empty container handlers and installation of all 1,680 reefer frames for refrigerated cargo. The Navis SPARCS N4 terminal operating system and the auto gate facility have been commissioned.

While containers will be the primary cargo focus at the Port of Ngqura, TFR is engaged in a conceptual study of rail-specific traffic, with the aim of other commodities forming part of the transport mix, depending on financial viability and availability.

TRANSNET LEADERSHIP: ZUMA CLARIFIESAppointing a successor to former Transnet CEO Maria Ramos is the responsibility of public enterprises minister Barbara hogan. Neither the president of South Africa nor anyone else should be seen to intervene. This is the substance of a statement by President Zuma on 17 September, when he deplored gossip over the issue in the press. Minister hogan meanwhile says the matter is being handled by the Transnet Board. Commenting on newspaper speculation, she emphasised that TFR CEO Siyabonga Gama had never been shortlisted for the post.

EAST RAND STATIONS’ FACELIFTA number of stations in the Ekurhuleni municipal area -the East Rand - are being revamped ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup to provide spectators with a “first class” service.

sA rAilnews

Improvements include lighting, ablution facilities, platform resurfacing and “sustained energy power supply”, among other things. The refurbishing of trains and renovation of stations is in line with the objectives of Transport Month, celebrated annually in October.

According to municipal spokesperson Zweli Dlamini, “the trains will be allocated a client services supervisor and personnel as well as 12 protection and security personnel per train. The security personnel will be equipped with first aid kits and communication tools.” he said the revamping of the stations forms part of the “2010 legacy”, as local residents would continue to use the stations long after the soccer world cup was over. This also augurs well for the tourism industry as the region will be able to offer a variety of transport modes that can be used to move from one point to another.”

The Germiston, Oakmoor, Tembisa, Isando, Kempton Park and Rhodesfield stations are to have dedicated soccer trains on the routes serving them, to carry fans to the stadiums in Johannesburg and Pretoria during the soccer spectacle.

THABA’NCHU COMMUTER SERVICEPlans recently announced for the introduction of a commuter rail service between Bloemfontein and Thaba’Nchu (61km) in the Free State have been welcomed by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu). “We believe the opening of commuter rail between these areas,” said Cosatu Free State provincial secretary Sam Mashinini, “would go a long way in addressing the problem experienced by the workers and the poor. Every morning there are hundreds and hundreds of workers between Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba’Nchu who are asking for lifts from motorists.”

[ Maybe so. There also happens to be an intensive, long-established bus service run by the well-equipped Interstate company, using high-capacity, articulated vehicles. - editor ]

METRORAIL TO COEGAReplying to a question in parliament. South African minister of transport S Ndebele explained:

“The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) have developed plans for commuter rail linkages to the Coega Industrial Development

Zone (CIDZ) via the existing Transnet Freight Rail Corridor and the future Motherwell rail corridor. Once implemented, this rail network would enable comprehensive servicing of the initial and future phases of the Coega IDZ.

“Implementation of the rail intervention for Coega, Motherwell and environs is planned in three phases of priority:

Phase one: 7.5km extension into Motherwell with •planning completed. Detail design to commence on obtaining funding.Phase two: Additional 10km extension, completing a •full loop through Motherwell, consisting of a total of 17.5km over the medium term.Phase three: Spur-link from Motherwell into Coega •for the medium to long term. The Coega spur is dependent on completion of the full Motherwell loop, phases one and two.

Eugene Armer captured this express near Rooiwal with 6E1 class E1397 wearing the latest Shosholoza Meyl paint scheme. Note the half-bracket signals - an arrangement seen for many years on double lines such as Germiston-Pretoria, and Vereeniging-Kroonstad, to improve visibility around traction masts.

Tembisa station


According to Stewart Currie, Transnet Freight Rail has been using one class 91 for shunting on the 1,067mm gauge at Port Elizabeth, “which would presumably free up a 35 or 34 for main-line duties.” John Middleton comments: “They were designed to work with class 36 bogies. I am sure that the bids at the auction were from the likes of ILS, BG Loco, Sheltam, ARTS etc who could convert these to very useful shunters.”

OUTENIQUA CHOO-TJOELatest news on the Outeniqua choo-tjoe is that the coaches have been returned following attention at Salt River and that operation between George and Mossel Bay was to recommence on 16 October. Due to the drought in the Southern Cape, the associated fire risk and the shortage of water, it is understood that the train is to be worked by one of the vintage class 32 diesels. The management emphasises that advance bookings - at least 24 hours prior to travel - are essential as operation is dependent upon sufficient seats being reserved.

ROVOS ELECTRICSRovos Rail has acquired three class 5E1 electric locomotives, recently retired from Transnet Freight Rail - E1114, E1123 and E1127. These 2,600hp units, running on 3kV DC, were built by UCW with AEI electrics and taken into service originally between 1963 and 1969. The three are currently being repainted.

Earlier suggestions that class 5E locos were involved were incorrect.

ALSTOM SA CHANGES NAME TO ACTOMElectrical engineering group Alstom South Africa has rebranded itself with a new name and corporate identity. The change to the name ACTOM, accompanied by a new corporate identity and logo, is being implemented and presented to the group’s customers, staff, suppliers and other stakeholders and interested parties.

DELIVERY OF CLASS 39-200On 21 September 2009 Transnet Freight Rail took delivery of five beautiful red Class 39-200’s from EMD and Transnet Rail Engineering from their facility in Koedoespoort.

sA rAilnews

Photo: Jacque Wepener

“The 2006 regional rail plan and the 2008/09 comprehensive integrated transport plan confirmed the future Motherwell and Coega rail connections as necessary transport interventions in the future. The Motherwell rail corridor (phase one) is considered a priority future rail corridor and the Coega linkages as a medium to long term requirement once the Coega IDZ has experienced greater development.”

The class 91 locos, all based at Port Elizabeth, are 700hp GE UM6B Bo-Bo units on 610mm gauge, new in 1973. Photo: R Timmermann

understood that the Welsh highland Railway may have been interested initially, but the class 91s are in fact too large for the line. This could apply to other UK lines as well. They were in fact a narrow-gauge version of a medium-gauge loco. Bids of R92,368 were received for the two steam cranes and R84,000 for class 6E1 E1340, which was without traction motors. (Both figures met the reserve price).”

Photo: Barend Botha

Photo: Craig Dean

[ Metrorail service at Port Elizabeth is confined at present to diesel-hauled rakes of 5M2A suburban trailers, running to Uitenhage on a line that is unwired west of Swartkops junction. The introduction of commuter service to Motherwell would probably bring emu operation to the area. - editor ]

COAL TO MATOLACoal mining group Coal of Africa (CoA), listed in London, Australia and on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and owner of mines at Mooiplaats, Vele and Makhado in South Africa, is reportedly negotiating with Transnet Freight Rail (TFR). The aim is to increase rail access to the Matola terminal in Maputo, Mozambique, by matching additional port exporting capacity that CoA has already secured from Grindrod, the Matola port operator. A public-private partnership is believed to be on the cards.

The company’s current export capacity through Matola is of the order of a million tonnes annually. This is expected to rise to 3mtpa before the end of 2010, with potential to reach 13mtpa at a later stage, following an additional 10mtpa expansion capacity envisaged by way of a planned new dedicated coal export terminal.

TRANSNET AUCTIONEarly in October, South Africa’s Transnet conducted an on-line auction of redundant equipment. Lots on offer included:

“Over 800 railway wagons, scrap steam cranes (quantity 2), class 91 series diesel-electric locomotives (quantity 6) in working condition and more than 2,500 friction bearings.”

Peter Bagshawe reports: “The locos (in working order) were 91 003/012/013/016/017/018. I believe they were being sold for re-use rather than scrap. Thirty minutes before the auction closed, bids of between R1,540,000 and R1,750,000 had been received, but the reserve price had not been met. It is therefore possible that no sale has taken place. It is


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After a month spent in Namibia, Pierre de Wet reports enthusiastically on a number of well-kept stations:

“Down south at Aus on the Lüderitz line there is a large depot with concrete sleepers in neat stacks including those fancy see-through ones that Railways Africa published some time ago. Brave people - resuscitating this very difficult line. Apart from this large track and sleeper depot, the old German railway station still stands together with a motley array of goods trucks in the station precinct. A very nice little hotel overlooks the station called Bahnhof hotel.”

“Visited the Windhoek Railway Museum where Konrad Schullenbach showed my wife and me around. It is good to see this museum occupying most of the top floor of the Windhoek station building, thereby putting this fine building to good use where it would otherwise have

stood empty. This museum is well worth a visit, having a large number of interesting artefacts on display together with some fine photographs.

“The yards at Windhoek were all but deserted with no movement to be seen on a lovely morning. A far cry from the bustle of the fifties with the engine shed about a hundred metres from the platform and teeming with class 24s, 8s and 7s with shunting going on all over the show and the yards usually filled with passenger coaches and goods trucks. Of course many railway staff were also to be seen as well as the public coming and going on railway-related business.

“Visited the family farm at Wilhelmstal just this side of Karibib where we crossed what seemed like 95lb track on good ballast. Stopped at Karibib station on our way to Swakopmund where a train drawn by red and grey Chinese diesels was standing. It was empty but the diesel was throbbing and staff were around. It was called ‘the Desert Express”. Cream and brown livery, Union Carriage coaches. Again, the original German station still stands, nicely preserved and serves as a restaurant.

Namibian Interlude

Railworkers’ caboose at Aus

A 4-8-0 class 7 entering Windhoek station with a main-line passenger train. The date: some time before 1948, the year in which the new class 24s took over.

“Okahandja was also quiet - no trains but the historic old station building built by the Germans still stands. Unfortunately, this is more a place for loafing in the shade for many and no sense of urgency is to be found, or indeed of anything railway-related. Meanwhile, big trucks rumble and grunt

their way [on the road] through the town all the time. The railway is disappointing perhaps but not Okahandja’s biltong and droëwors. This made me forget the trains.

Okahandja station, built 100 years ago, in 1909

At Karibib, 2-8-4 class 24 steam locomotives have been supplanted by Chinese-built diesels.

“Saw no trains at Swakopmund”, de Wet continues, adding that the distinctive German-styled former station in the town, now a hotel, has been refurbished recently in the African style.

At Swakopmund, the distinctive German-styled former station is now a hotel. “had supper in the old tug Danie hugo on the foreshore. This has been converted into a fine restaurant but it looked much better moving shipping in Table Bay harbour back in the 50/60s. On our way north along the coast to henties Bay at Vlotska Baken, I saw one seaside home there constructed partly of a narrow gauge vehicle. This has been there for many years and has surprisingly survived.

“On to Etosha which costs an arm and a leg nowadays and then out again to see a goods train from Tsumeb cantering along with a single dirty red class 33 SA diesel on the new railway line north. After a night in Tsumeb it was on to Grootfontein where again, no trains were to be seen, but evidence of Grootfontein’s importance as railhead during the Angolan war in the largish yards with plenty of overhead yard lights.

feAtUre


“Travelling south again, another very smoky SA diesel on a train of tankers was passed near Otavi, a run-down little town near some copper mines where the making of mosquito nets is its second largest industry. Went along to the station to have a look and saw a few tank wagons and a dilapidated, 1950s style SAR station building - ugly and utilitarian. Turned around and headed towards Otjiwarongo - a much more attractive town.

“After arriving back in Windhoek the next day and passing a goods train swinging around the curves to Okahandja we drove on to Gobabis. For many years as a youngster, I had watched the class sevens to

and from Gobabis trundling past my home and once my wife had taken the overnight mixed to that town back in the 50s. I longed to be in one of the four wooden saloons behind the clanking goods wagons on the overnight train as it panted past our home on a long embankment but never managed it. We decided to trace its route to that Kalahari town and to overnight there.

“The climbing track through Klein Windhoek was now ballasted and heavier rail was in place. It is a tremendous climb out of the Namibian capital and all the way to the airport is hilly country which required the use of two locomotives, one banking. At last, at Windhoek International Airport, the first sign of level ground and a string of avgas tankers at the pumps. This is probably the main load on the line these days. The line continued into yet another thunderstorm with Kameeldoring savanna etched against dark clouds. Then a sign – ‘You are entering CATTLE COUNTRY!’ And the large ranches of the Gobabis district and their main export, beef, swept into view.

“And the railway line? This had now deteriorated into very light track set in sand, looking exactly as it had 50 years ago. No more cattle by rail - so what does this line still carry? Very little I’d have to say. The station and yards at Gobabis were deserted with only two grey DZs next to the goods shed. The station building looked good, nicely painted and looking as if it was waiting for the next train to arrive. The yards, extending quite far beyond the station, with yard

Windhoek station today

lighting, were completely empty and probably have been ever since the cattle trains stopped running. It was more a museum than anything else.

“So the next morning after breakfast, we left this town where my wife’s father had once run the Gobabis hotel back in the forties, and sallied southwards along the Nossob River bordering the Kalahari Transfrontier Park. We passed farms visited long ago and then began the tiring trek from Mariental (no trains) to Keetmanshoop. One train stopped in section with cement wagons just outside Keetmans with two of the Chinese diesels.

“Grünau hotel that night and many memories rekindled of stopping opposite the same hotel 50 years ago and watching people happily drinking on a hot stoep with American farm bakkies parked in front. They used to chase our train, the farmers, until it grew too dark and then they’d turn around in a cloud of dust, hooting. Probably saying goodbye to someone

on the train. That night I heard the grumble of a diesel passing on the 60lb track. No different from all those years ago although the track has been upgraded round Windhoek and on to Swakopmund.

“And so, the next day we crossed the Orange River into the bone dry Richtersveld and it was au revoir to Namibia.”

A pair of Chinese-built Sifang SDD6 diesel-electric locos

General Electric U20C (ex Spoornet class 33) on newly laid tubular track near Aus on the Lüderitz line.

feAtUre

Lüderitz station


PARK TO ROSEBANKparK station The station base slab at rail level is complete and construction of the platforms is in progress. The roof slab is finished and the concourse slab is nearing completion. The foundations for the parkade structure above the station are almost finished. Column and retaining wall construction continues. Preparations to reinstate Wolmarans Street to its original configuration have commenced. Subsequent to this report compiled at the end of August, tunnel excavation towards the north broke through to that advancing southwards from emergency shaft E2

emergency shaft e2 (the wilds, houghton): Emergency shaft E2 (the Wilds, houghton): Excavation of the shaft to its final depth of approximately 50 metres is complete, as is the 236 metre adit (cross passage). From the intersection of the adit and the rail tunnel, tunnelling has been in progress southwards and subsequent to this report (compiled at the end of August), broke through to that advancing northwards from Park station. The tunnel extending north towards Rosebank station is complete at 144 metres. This was the breakthrough point to the southern end of the excavation by the tunnel boring machine (TBM).

emergency shaft e3 (riviera): Civil works within shaft E3 and construction of the head house structure on the surface continue. Being a shallow shaft, 21m deep, with direct access to the surface, there is no safe haven necessary at the bottom.

emergency shaft e4 (houghton): Civil works within shaft E4 and construction of the head house structure on the surface continue. Being a shallow shaft, 16m deep, with direct access to the surface, there is no safe haven necessary at the bottom.

ROSEBANK STATIONAt Rosebank Station, the concourse slab is finished. The roof slab and platforms are approaching completion. Construction of the technical and operational rooms continues, with brickwork, plastering, painting and plumbing in progress at both platform and concourse levels.

Inside the tunnel bored by the tunnel boring machine (TBM), casting of the invert slab is complete and walkway construction is in progress. Construction continues in the cut-and-cover sections at either end of the station. These link the station box to the tunnels. Excavation of the

GAUtrAin rApid rAil linK

GAUTRAIN CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

EMERGENCY SHAFTSThe tunnel between the Park and Sandton stations is being provided with seven access shafts for use by emergency services personnel. Some have safe havens where passengers can gather in an emergency.

emergency shaft e1 (hillbrow): Excavation at shaft E1 to its final depth of 80 metres has been completed and shaft lining is in progress. Excavation of the safe haven at the bottom of this shaft was finished during July 2009.

Stairway construction for the underground platforms of Johannesburg Park station



745 metre drill-and- blast rail tunnel between the northern end of Rosebank station and emergency access shaft E5 is complete.

At the parkade structure located on the corner of Oxford Road and Baker Street, foundation piling is in progress and column construction has commenced.

ROSEBANK-SANDTON-MARLBORO emergency shaft e5 (dunkeld, rosebank): Tunnelling towards Sandton station - the only section of tunnel being excavated from this shaft - is complete. Breakthrough of this 2.28km section into the tunnel below shaft E7 was achieved on 2 July 2009. Civil works continue in this section of the tunnel, as well as in the safe haven at the bottom of shaft E5.

emergency shaft e6 (illovo): This 73 metre deep shaft was constructed within the past few months using “raise boring” methodology. This entailed drilling a pilot hole downwards and then boring a large diameter shaft from the bottom up towards the surface. The shaft collar at ground level and shotcrete shaft lining have been completed, as has excavation of the safety haven. Underground civil works are in hand.

emergency shaft e7 (rivonia road, sandton): This is located on the western side of Rivonia Road, opposite “The Inandas” townhouse complex. The shaft collar has been constructed and excavation to the final depth of 69 metres is finished, with shaft lining also complete. Excavation of the 170 metre connecting adit from the bottom of this shaft to the main rail tunnel is finished.

SANDTON STATIONUnderground station construction continues in the cavern section between the south and north shafts, as well as within the shafts themselves. These works include the base slabs for the tracks, construction of the various platforms, technical rooms and operational rooms, as well as the escalator, lift shafts and stairways. Construction of the three-level underground parkade is progressing well, with the multiple parking decks visible from the surrounding buildings. Piling, foundations, column construction and casting of the suspended slabs for the parkade structure continue.

The tunnel at Sandton station, facing towards Mushroom Farm Park. Note the two levels of track slabs.

Construction of the Rosebank underground station platforms



The 1.135km tunnel from the southern end of the station to just past the point where the shaft E7 adit joins the main tunnel is complete.

MUSHROOM FARM PARKThe temporary shaft at Mushroom Farm Park was provided to give access for tunnel construction, which has been completed in both the north and south directions. The top closure slab was cast in early August and backfilling is in progress, together with dismantling and removal of site establishment facilities. Reinstatement of the community park has commenced.

Continuous lengths of tunnel now extend from the south of Sandton station, past Mushroom Farm Park to the portal at Marlboro. The civil works within these tunnels are complete and tracklaying is in progress.

MARLBORO PORTALTracklaying is in progress, both southwards in the tunnel from the Marlboro portal towards Sandton, and north-eastwards on the surface through Marlboro station towards the N3 crossing.

Along the above-ground sections of route, the rails are supported on concrete sleepers and conventional ballast. Track construction inside the tunnels utilises a “state-of-the-art” system, specially developed for this type of application. It consists of precast concrete blocks to which the undersides of the rails are attached. Each block is surrounded by a resilient “boot”, cast into the concrete track slab.

At the temporary flash butt welding facility established adjacent to the portal, rails are welded into 216 metre long lengths prior to installation.

MARLBORO PORTAL EASTWARDSViaducts 1A and 11 crossing the Jukskei River and Far East Bank Drive are both complete, with track and catenary masts in position.

Between Marlboro Portal and the N3, the various culverts, retaining walls, the three bridges over Zinnia Drive and final layerworks are all complete and track has been laid.

MARLBORO STATION At Marlboro station, concrete works, brickwork, painting, structural steel, roof cladding and platform parapets are all substantially complete. Mechanical and electrical installations, which include the escalators and lifts, continue. Track has been laid through the station.

Construction and backfilling of a series of underpasses where the two pairs of railway tunnels cross below the N3 highway alongside the Marlboro Drive Bridge, just to the north of Marlboro station, has been completed. Both carriageways of the N3 have been reinstated to their original positions.

MARLBORO-DEPOT-MIDRANDViaduct 2 over the Modderfontein Spruit and two adjacent bridges over the future Frankenwald and Maxwell Roads are complete, together with the erection of noise barriers along this section. Rail tracks are in position on all three structures.

MIDRAND DEPOTThe administration buildings for both train and bus depots are finished. The installation of equipment for the operations control centre in the train depot administration building has been completed. This centre will manage signalling, telecommunications, automatic fare collection, traction power and overhead distribution, cctv cameras and maintenance, using high technology systems. The train maintenance workshops, including electrical and mechanical installations, are all complete, as are other

Installation of double track in the section between Marlboro and Rhodesfield stations

Precast concrete blocks


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depot facilities, including the washbay for cleaning the trains, sand-filling equipment, stabling platforms, level crossings, track lighting and entry gates.

precast YardProduction of precast components for the various structures is approaching completion – expected by the end of 2009.

Construction is in progress on the bus maintenance depot, located in the area previously occupied by the precast yard, now largely dismantled. Construction of the workshop and canteen buildings is in hand, together with refurbishment of the bus administration building - previously used as site offices for the precast yard.

tracKlaYingThe laying of stabling sidings at the depot, including the erection of overhead electrification masts and all associated railway installations in the yard, such as the overhead catenary and the signalling system, is complete, energised and operational. Main-line tracklaying and ballasting, together with catenary installation, is proceeding outwards from the depot in both directions, using specialised, highly mechanised equipment. Rails are welded into 216 metre lengths at the depot and transported on specially equipped wagons. Once placed in position on concrete sleepers, they are welded together to form a continuous rail.

On the north-south route, the double track from just south of Dale Road in Midrand, past the depot to behind Linbro Park, is complete and operational. This section of the route, approximately 7km in length, is being used for dynamic testing of rolling stock.

ROLLING STOCKFollowing a specialised construction and assembly process at Bombardier Transportation’s facility in Derby, UK, Gautrain’s

first shipment of two completed rail coaches arrived in Durban on 29 November 2008. After further deliveries, testing of the first complete four-car trainset began during February 2009. The first 15 coaches, together with body shells and major components for the rest of the fleet, were manufactured in Derby, and all have been despatched to South Africa. Following a successful skills transfer programme, local technicians are working on the assembly of the remaining 81 coaches at the Union Carriage and Wagon Partnership in Nigel. By the end of August, 32 coaches had been delivered to the Gautrain depot.

MIDRAND-CENTURION-PRETORIAVIADUCT 3North of the depot, Viaduct 3 over Allandale Road and the adjacent bridge over the future K60 road are both complete, as are all other bridges, construction works and railway installations up to Dale Road in Midrand, with only minor finishing works outstanding.

MIDRAND STATION At Midrand station, station building works and platform construction, including the structural steel platform roof structure, are in progress, together with bulk earthworks and retaining walls for the parking areas.

From the Midrand area northwards, bulk earthworks up to the Technopark area at Centurion are approaching completion. Drainage, layer works, duct installation, catenary mast bases, noise barriers and fencing are ongoing, with these works well advanced along extended lengths of the alignment.

VIADUCT 4 Viaduct 4, which crosses Rietspruit and Olifantsfontein Road South, is complete and awaiting installation of track and overhead catenary.

CENTURION AREAVIADUCT 5 OVER THE N1 & BEN SCHOEMAN Viaduct 5 carries the elevated line through Centurion, forming the link between the balanced cantilever viaducts crossing the N1 highway at John Vorster interchange in the south and the Ben Schoeman highway at the Jean Avenue interchange in the north. It supports the elevated Centurion station platforms located approximately midway along its length. The deck spans of this viaduct comprise precast concrete segments which are erected using purpose-built steel launching girders and then stressed together to form the deck spans. By the end of August, 32 of the deck spans - approximately 50% of the total – were in position.

Apart from the southern abutment at Jean Avenue, construction of supporting piers and abutments at both

the John Vorster and Jean Avenue viaducts is complete. Construction of the in-situ balanced cantilever deck

sections on top of the piers at each of these viaducts is in progress. With the first spans at both of these

viaducts now substantially completed, the graceful arched forms of these exceptionally

long deck spans are clearly identifiable.

CENTURION STATIONThe elevated Centurion Station

platforms are located on Viaduct 5, immediately adjacent and

parallel to West Street. The


Construction of the in-situ balanced cantilever deck sections for viaduct 5 at John Vorster Avenue



concourse buildings and parking are at ground level. The viaduct piers and deck spans on which the station platforms are being constructed have been completed. The concourse foundations and building works are in hand and installation of precast platform components is well advanced. Earthworks for the parking area have commenced.

VIADUCT 6 OVER EEUFEES ROADAt Viaduct 6, foundation construction is approaching completion and pier construction is in progress. At the northern end of this viaduct, preparations are in hand for the assembly of the launching girder that will be used to erect the deck spans.

SALVOKOP AND PRETORIA Near Salvokop at the approach to Tshwane, a cut-and-cover structure will cross below the Ben Schoeman highway. Construction of the final phase is well advanced and reinstatement of the northbound carriageways of the highway will commence before the end of the year.

PRETORIA STATION At Pretoria station, concrete works and brickwork continue at the concourse. Work on the associated technical and operational facilities is in progress. Platform construction is finished. The platform canopy steelwork is complete and roof cladding nearly so. Demolition of the McCarthy building has begun. In its place, the parking area is to be constructed.

PRETORIA-HATFIELDVIADUCT 7Construction of Viaduct 7 is progressing well, with the deck to the section that will carry the line across Nelson Mandela Boulevard clearly visible. The M-beams for the first eight spans have been placed in position. Pier construction continues on the remaining sections of this Y-shaped structure, which will carry the Gautrain tracks over the existing railway lines. Two spans of M-beams have been installed on the second leg, designated viaduct 7.2a.

Between Gautrain’s Pretoria and hatfield stations, a number of road bridges crossing the existing Metrorail railway are being lengthened, to accommodate the new tracks which will run parallel.

The Cilliers Street bridge has been completed and the road reopened to traffic. Construction is proceeding on the extension of bridges at Walton Jameson Road, Bourke Street and Lynnwood Road, as is work on new road-over-rail bridges at Ridge and Grosvenor Roads. Extensive lateral support works, to enable the existing railway cutting to be widened, are also in progress.

HATFIELD STATIONWork on foundations for the concourse and platforms continues at hatfield station. Lateral support and excavation of the southern embankment is complete, enabling construction of the station proper to commence. Column construction and casting of suspended slabs at the parkade structure continue, and the P2-level deck has been completed. Work continues on levels P3, P4, P5 and P6, and parapet installation has commenced. Structures to separate the Gautrain and Metrorail tracks are complete.

MARLBORO-AIRPORTCivil construction works are substantially complete along the entire airport link, which includes eleven bridges, three viaducts and a number of other structures, including the platforms for a future station at Modderfontein. Erection of the 2.4 metre high concrete palisade fence along both sides

of the rail reserve is in hand, as are topsoiling, hydroseeding of embankments and minor finishing operations

By the end of August, tracklaying from behind Linbro Park towards the airport had progressed to Lovato Road, just west of the Kelvin power station.

VIADUCTS 13 & 14 Viaduct 13 over Centenary Way in Modderfontein and Viaduct 14 over Zuurfontein Road are both finished, with trackwork and catenary in position on the former and in course of provision on the other.

VIADUCT 15 & RHODESFIELD STATION At 1.5km, Viaduct 15 – now complete - is the longest on the east-west line. It supports both the Rhodesfield and airport station platforms and will carry the double track over the R21/R24 road network. Track and overhead catenaries will be installed shortly.

The Rhodesfield station platforms are elevated, located approximately one third of the way along Viaduct 15, directly above the existing Metrorail lines running between Isando and Kempton Park. The station entrance, concourse and parking area will be located at ground level on the eastern side of the existing railway.

At Rhodesfield station, the platform structure and platform roof are complete, including cladding. The station entrance, concourse and parking area are at ground level on the eastern side of the existing lines. Structural work on supports for the escalators continues, as well as on the access and escape stairs linking the concourse to the platforms. Concourse building works, platform access ways and erection of the structural steel concourse roof are well advanced and installation of equipment in the technical rooms has commenced. Brickwork to technical rooms and operational rooms is finished, the lift shafts are complete and the entrance canopy columns erected. Parking area construction is well advanced.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has commenced foundation excavation prior to constructing a new station, immediately adjacent to the Gautrain facility. This will provide commuters with a convenient transfer link between the Gautrain and Metrorail systems.

OR TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT STATIONFinishing works within the station concourse shell are approaching completion, while electrical and mechanical installations continue. Prototype ticket vending machines and fare gates have been installed.

The platform structures, structural steel platform canopies and roof cladding are all substantially complete.

Rhodesfield Station elevated above the existing Metrorail lines. Photo: Eugene Armer


At Windermere, Actom extended the mimic panel and control desk and installed electronics to provide links to the communication channel - covering train routing, signal passed at danger (SPAD) detection and data capture and logging.

The contract also included the design, manufacture, supply, installation and commissioning of additional tracks and points at Khayelitsha station. This involved the provision of a new hR92 interlocking system and linking it to the existing

Spoorplan Mark Ib interlocking. At Khayelitsha station, new DC points machines were installed, matching those already in operation.

compAny news

Recently, Actom Signalling successfully completed a major signalling contract in Cape Town’s Khayelitsha township. Difficulties faced included illegal power connections and cable damage, which caused setbacks in the installation along some sections of the line.

“Just at the point when we were ready to commission the equipment, illegal power connections gave rise to fault currents, resulting in our track circuit equipment burning out and having to be replaced,” explained Gerrie Coetzer, the company’s contracts manager, who managed the project.

“SARCC and Metrorail officials had to persuade representatives of the

ACTOM Signalling site supervisor Cecil Luyt checks the Failsafe Data Transmission (FSDT) unit installed as part of the Khayelitsha signalling contract.

Challenges in Installing Signalling Equipment at Khayelitsha and Eersterivier

Another important contract recently completed by Actom Signalling comprised a R5.7m project for Transnet Freight Rail at Eersterivier junction. here, where the branch to Stellenbosch leaves the line from Bellville to the Strand, the company was required to immunise existing signalling equipment against interference from newly installed 132kV Eskom power transmission lines.

This fast-track contract, started in late 2007 and completed in August 2008, involved:

Replacing the installed Jeumont track circuits with •jointless and jointed ML63 track circuit equipment;Cutting and repeating the existing feeds to the •signalling equipment;Installing Thales axle-counters between •Eersterivier and Lynedoch station (on the Stellenbosch branch); andInstalling Thales axle-counters between •Eersterivier and Faure station (on the Strand line).

“It was a tough undertaking meeting the deadline. The work was aggravated by heavy flooding during part of the time, which meant working in continuously pouring rain over a seven-day stretch,” Coetzer commented.

local community to temporarily disconnect unlawful power connections so that we could

connect and commission our equipment. “Even during installation we had to cut illegal lines to do trenching and rejoin them again afterwards. Additional problems arose over the employment of local labour. We arranged to employ local people through negotiations with a liaison person representing the community, but this didn’t satisfy some people who on several occasions cut our cables to try and force us to employ them. We then had to take the matter up with the community liaison person, to resolve the situation. We also had to take special measures to protect our stocks, to avoid repeat incidents of this sort.”

The R17m contract, on the Cape Town-Philippi-Khayelitsha line, involved the design, manufacture, supply, installation and commissioning of interlocking, track circuits and remote control systems and points machines along a new 4km extension beyond the existing Khayelitsha station, previously the terminus. Two new stations, Kuasa and Chris hani, have been provided. Jeumont track circuits identical to those already in place were installed by Actom, together with AC points machines at Chris hani, the new terminal. At the same time, the S2 remote control system was extended to connect the control equipment to the Centralised Traffic Control (CTC) centre at Windermere.


mishAps & BlUnders

DUTCH 3-TRAIN COLLISION KILLS DRIVERThe driver of a freight train died and several people were injured when two freight trains collided near Barendrecht outside Rotterdam. A spokesperson for rail management company ProRail said that derailed wagons hit a passenger train headed for Belgium, but none of the 150 occupants were injured. All train traffic between Rotterdam Central and Dordrecht was halted immediately and police closed the parallel A15 motorway, to enable rescue workers to reach the accident site.

ELSBURG’S ONE-LINE SMASHThe one line refers to the extent of newspaper coverage – nobody was killed, nobody was injured and no locomotives were written off in this distinctly unnewsworthy event. In railway terms however, it probably rated as the most spectacular and disruptive accident to be seen in South Africa this year. On Thursday 10 September, according to our information, the locomotives heading a consist of loaded containers from KwaZulu-Natal to Gauteng were detached (for reasons unknown) about 2km south of Germiston. Evidently the brakes were not properly secured, as the entire train of flatcars ran away downgrade, past successive red signals. With the points at Elsburg junction set against it, everything derailed in a massive pile-up that filled the cutting with smashed containers and their contents, tore up several hundred metres of track, brought down all the overhead traction masts and draped the lot in electrical catenary. A fire that broke out took many hours to extinguish. Luca Lategan, who was on the scene on Friday 11 September, wrote: “About 20 workers were standing in a line transferring whole bottles of Jameson to a bakkie. Someone is going to have a lekker party this weekend.”

– the Djibouti-Ethiopian Railway). has been emphasised by a “string of derailments” between Dire Dawa and Djibouti, where trains carry fruit and vegetables, coffee and livestock for export and return with construction materials. At the end of July, a Djibouti-bound freight train carrying 1,000 tonnes of export coffee and livestock left the rails, killing 13 “free riders” and injuring a further 20 people including the train crew. [ See map on page 11 ]

US TRAIN LOSES ITS WHEELSOn 11 September, a six-loco, 140-wagon Union Pacific coal train from the Twentymile Coal company’s Foidel Creek Mine in Colorado lost some of its wheels. More precisely, one wagon in the consist separated from its bogies as the train started to move, a short distance south of downtown Oak Creek,

Wisconsin. The rest of the wheelless, 125-ton vehicle was left helpless on the track. A company employee quoted by a local newspaper said “mechanical failure” was suspected.

[ Or maybe the coal was too dirty. Don’t you love official explanations? – editor ]

SHOOTING AT PIENAARSPOORTOn 13 October, a Metrorail security guard was shot – fortunately not fatally - and a train passenger injured at Pienaarspoort station east of Pretoria. It is understood that commuters became angry when an official asked to see their tickets. Metrorail spokesperson Sibusiso Ngomane told the government information service’s BuaNews: “A group on the train became violent. During the skirmish a shot was fired.” Ngomane said no arrests had been made in connection with the incident. Both the security guard and the commuter were subsequently suspended indefinitely. Train services to and from Pretoria main station resumed the following morning.

POWER OUT: TRAINS STONEDOn 14 October, impatient occupants of a Metrorail suburban set stranded by a power failure between Kempton Park and Elandsfontein vented their fury by stoning trains passing on an adjacent, unaffected line. “About ten” commuter injuries were reported. Metrorail spokesperson Sibusiso Ngomane told the government information service’s Buanews that the company could not guarantee services in an environment that continued to expose assets and staff to “unabated” criminal threats. “It must be noted that should the security outlook in this corridor remain serious and volatile Metrorail will take firm action against all criminal elements and take necessary steps to ensure that incidents of this nature do not recur.”

One 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.

Extensive disruption to services continued for a week, with buses replacing suburban commuter trains to Katlehong and Kwesine. The cost of the incident runs into millions.

ETHIOPIAN DERAILMENTSThe urgency of work involved in the current upgrading of the 781km metre-gauge Chemin de fer Djibouti-Ethiopien (CDE

Have wheels, need train


IRISH BRIDGE AFTERMATHThe collapse of a supporting pier carrying the viaduct across the Broadmeadow Estuary 13km north of Dublin on 21 August (see August Railways Africa, page 10) was caused by tidal “scouring” of the foundations, subsequent investigations determined. Only luck prevented what would probably have been the worst railway accident in Irish history, as several heavily laden passenger trains were scheduled to cross within minutes after the bridge failed. The driver of the last train over reported visual signs of subsidence when he arrived at the next station, Malahide, and all traffic was stopped.

A major inquiry by the Railway Safety Commission’s rail accident investigation unit is currently under way, looking not only at the Broadmeadow incident itself, but also the adequacy of the railway’s inspection procedures for bridges over water. Though all have been inspected in recent weeks, they are to be examined more closely by experienced divers for scouring of their foundations, a phenomenon mainly associated with tidal movements.

Iarnród Éireann (IE - the Irish state railway) was alerted five days before the Broadmeadow incident by one of the leaders of Malahide Sea Scouts who suggested there was a risk to

the structure. An inspection carried out the following day by an engineer and a subsequent report by the crew of a track-monitoring vehicle found no detectable problems. Yet within 24 hours, one of the 11 piers fell into the sea.

Daily commuters as well as users of the Dublin-Belfast main-line service are suffering massive inconvenience by the closing of the line, which ordinarily carried 90 trains every weekday. It is hoped to complete repairs before the end of November.

[ The Irish railways have had no fatal accidents in the last 26 years. – editor ]

CASSELTON: 19 OFFOn 13 September, an eastbound freight of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) derailed 19 wagons 5km west of Casselton, North Dakota. No injuries were reported but damage was considerable, with lumber scattered around the scene. County Road 10 was blocked at its level crossing. A repair crew comprising some 75 people expected that one of the two rail tracks would be reopened within about 12 hours, the other around three days later.

DAMAGES OF $29M AWARDED AFTER DERAILMENTA Cook County jury awarded $29.5 million to a Chicago woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a derailment on 17 September 2005. The lawsuit was filed by Renea Poppel, who suffered “catastrophic brain damage, a broken neck and broken pelvis” when a Metra commuter train came off the line between Joliet and Chicago. Two passengers were killed and more than 100 injured.

Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the driver failed to slow the train as it negotiated

mishAps & BlUnders

a crossover. After a two-week trial, the jury awarded the money to cover past medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of normal life, and future damages she will suffer as a result of the injuries. The families of the two passengers who were killed settled their wrongful-death lawsuits for $11 million.

LAWSUITS FOLLOW L A CRASHLawsuits have been filed on behalf of seven people injured or killed in the 2008 Metrolink accident in Los Angeles. Twenty-five people died and 134 were injured in a head-on collision between a Union Pacific freight train and a double-deck commuter set .

Investigations suggested that the Metrolink train ran through a red light, and that the driver was sending cellphone text messages around the time of the crash. The lawsuits were filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court, two of the cases being “wrongful-death” claims.

According to Associated Press, the lawsuits name a variety of defendants, including Veolia Transportation (operating sub-contractor to Metrolink); its subsidiary, Connex Railroad (which provides the personnel who drive Metrolink trains); and the estate of train driver Robert Sanchez. Some suits also named the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the regional rail authority that operates Metrolink.

DRIVER “TRIED TO SHIFT TRACKS”Seven people died and 88 were injured when a passenger express derailed at hua hin in Thailand. According to an Associated Press report, quoting “the head of a fact-finding panel,” the driver fell asleep after taking antihistamines and other cold medicine. On the previous day, a freight train carrying cement powder derailed north of Bangkok. Union members blame “mismanagement, budget cuts and old trains” for a number of derailments in Thailand recently, and have called for the head of the railway to resign. “Train workers have been overworked,” union leader Sawit Kaewwan told the press, “due to a policy limiting recruitment. They have failed to solve the massive shortage of workers.

The AP hua hin report continues: “While asleep, the driver jumped a red light and awoke in time to see he was headed straight for a parked freight train, prompting him to abruptly try to shift tracks, which resulted in the derailment.”

[ Which raises all manner of interesting questions, which we won’t try to go into here. – editor]

Mishaps & blunders continued on page 36


SPANISH END-OF-LINE FATALITYThe driver was killed when a Spanish passenger train ran into the buffers at Lezama in Spain’s northern Basque province. Three passengers were reported hurt, one badly. According to Agence-France-Presse, quoting an official spokesman, the reasons for the incident “were not immediately clear”. Earlier on the same day, a caller who said there was a bomb on another line in Basque country caused traffic to be held up for about four hours, but nothing was found.

LOCO & 2 COACHES IN WATEROne passenger was killed and at least 40 injured when the engine and six coaches of the Katihar-bound Amarpali Express derailed near Naugachia in Bihar, India. Officials reported that the locomotive and two coaches were “submerged in water”. The area had been affected by floods which may have been a contributory factor.

“It’s Tuesday – this must be Golela”.

BooK review

by Jamie MonsonThe primary announced purpose of the 1,852km Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara), built by China and opened in 1976, was to provide the Zambian copperbelt with access to export markets independent of the route through South Africa. Along much of its length, the line came to serve a much humbler though vital purpose, stimulating local development and providing for the needs of the rural population. Jamie Monson, professor of African history at Carleton College, Minnesota, has researched the Tanzanian part of this activity, and the many people involved, in great detail. The story starts encouragingly, with Chinese workmen setting a determined example of the benefits that hard work brings. Some years after the Chinese left, a North Korean contingent arrived and they too contributed meaningfully. Sadly, their rice paddies were plundered by the abundant bird life, not to mention wild pigs and other animals. The North Koreans left disillusioned when a multi-party government - anathema to the communist way of life - took over in Dar-es-Salaam.

The underlying political significance of the line is discussed at some length. Monson views it as fulfilling the needs of local people more effectively than the typical colonial-era railway. Much of the subject matter is derived from one-on-one interviews, literally “on the ground”.

These have been carefully documented, providing valuable insight into what the line achieved, and - unhappily - where things later went wrong. The thousands who lived along the line were enabled to provide for themselves (though little more than that), farming modestly, selling eatables to passengers on the trains and trading with adjoining villages. The government, they complained to Monson, gave no financial help at all. Taxes and payments to what one might call “middle men” were onerous, to say the least, while - to many - the closing of several stations because they were too costly to run, and ultimately fare increases on the railway, were to prove disastrous.

Though published in 2009, the book does not mention Tazara’s current misfortunes. Monson documents more than 100 personal interviews with a variety of people but none of these - except for four in China - took place after 2002. As it happens, a further 49 stations were closed in 2005, 25 of them in Tanzania. In July 2008, passenger fares went up 20% and the tariffs for parcels - mainstay of the locals’ business - by 30%. A month later, press reports spoke of Tazara being “on the brink of collapse” - only six locomotives running and staff wages unpaid for two months.

Monson touches on the possibility of the railway being concessioned but there has been talk of this, with little sign of progress, for more than six years now. Even before that, Chinese surveyors were warning both governments that failure to correct a serious backlog in track maintenance could result in some bad accidents.

None of this bodes any good for the people Monson writes about. The book conveys an important message: irrespective of who builds a railway and for what main purpose, its existence will serve to uplift the communities along its length - communities that will come to depend upon it and whose fortunes and well-being risk being shattered if the line is allowed to fall to pieces. - LRD

AFRICA’S FREEDOM RAILWAY

ISBN 978-0-253-35271-2. $39·95 from Indiana University Press, 601 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404-3797, USA.

RUSSIAN COLLISION: 80 HURTAfter the locomotive of a passenger express from Moscow failed at Selezni-Tambov station in the west of Russia, a replacement diesel ran into the stationary passenger train, reportedly “at speed”. More than 80 people were reported hurt.

Mishaps & blunders continued from page 35


Tel: +27 (0)12 391 1304 Fax: +27 (0)12 391 1371 Email: [email protected]

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The 14 spans were built by Ukrainian firm Ukrtransstroy at a cost of $US123m. The structure connects the main rail network with lines on the right bank, previously only linked to Uzbekistan.

DUBAI – A MILLION PASSENGERS IN 18 DAYSThe new Dubai metro carried its millionth passenger on 26 September, 16 days after the line opened. This is revealed in statistics compiled by the rail agency at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

Students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the elderly travel at half fare, in addition to 30 days of free travel annually, the RTA has announced. A “loyalty points” system is to be introduced shortly, in terms of which travellers will gain points each time they use the system, redeemable later “for a number of advantages.”

JERUSALEM-TEL AVIV HS LINEIt is reported that hofrey hasharon Ltd and its German partner have been awarded the NIS 640 million Israel Railways tender for the 4km section D (the final section) of the high-speed Tel Aviv-Jerusalem line. This completes Israel Railways’ selection of contractors to build the final sections between Shaar hagai and Jerusalem. Work on section D from Mevasseret Zion across Emek Erazim to the Binyanei ha’Ooma station at the western entrance to Jerusalem, to be started soon, is expected to take four years.

TURKMENISTAN BRIDGE COMPLETES LINKOn 16 September, Turkmen President Berdimuhamedov joined President Yushchenko of Ukraine in opening a 1.4km new bridge over the Amu Darya river between Atamyrat and Kerkichi.

A station on Dubai’s new metro

IRANIAN MONORAILWork has started in Qom on Iran’s first monorail, to be completed within 30 months. The first phase of the project includes the construction of a 6km line to improve access to the city’s grand mosque. The estimated cost of the first phase is over $US120m. Eventually the monorail is to extend some 18km.

Iran’s railway carries approximately 11% of the total freight transported in the country. Route distance totals 8,367km, of which 146km is electrified.

IRAQ METRO Seven international companies have been chosen by the Iraqi ministry of transportation to bid for a contract to build a $US3bn Baghdad metro railway. Their submissions are due in January 2010, when a technical committee is to be set up to select the most promising proposals. According to mayor Sabir al-Issawi, 17 foreign firms expressed interest in the project - the first of its kind in Iraq. It comprises the construction of two lines, each about 20km in length with 20 stops.

GULF RAILWAY DEVELOPMENTS Except for the first part of the Dubai metro, which opened in mid-September, the Gulf’s 36 million residents are currently restricted to travel by cars, buses or air. A proper rail network would accelerate cross-border travel, trade and tourism, experts point out. According to one analyst: “The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries should look beyond the existing modes of transport and ease travel restrictions to facilitate cross-border tourism that will help more movement across the region”.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries comprise: PopulationBahrain 1,046,814Qatar 1,307,229Kuwait 2,460,000Oman 2,534,000Saudi Arabia 26,417,599United Arab Emirates 4,588,697

[ The figures are according to Wikipedia. - editor ]

TUBULAR TRACK IN SAUDI ARABIAA new company, T-Track Saudi, is a collaboration between the Al-Khobar-based Central Mining Company Investment Limited (CMCI) of Saudi Arabia and Tubular Track (Pty) Ltd of South Africa, a specialist in the development of tubular track. During the recent launch of the joint venture, attended by consultants and dignitaries from other GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) states, a detailed presentation was given on T-Track technology and its successful application in a pilot project on the Saudi Arabian main-line between Riyadh and Dammam, where the system was put to the test under difficult local conditions. T-Track Saudi is to market and distribute the innovative new technology, which is especially suited to the desert conditions typically found in Middle East countries - and elsewhere in the world.

The new Dubai metro, where part of the Red Line opened for service on 9 September 2009. Map courtesy Railway Gazette International.

According to the director of the marketing & corporate communication department at RTA Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector Peyman Younes Parham, Mall of the Emirates Station topped the list by serving 192,585 passengers during the period from 09/09 to 26/09, followed by Rashidiya (147,741), Khalid bin Al Waleed (138,720), Nakheel harbour & Tower (122,997), Al Ittihad (108,467), Deira City Centre (99,871), Financial Centre (70,973), Rigga (62,621), Jafliaya (41,674), and Airport T-3 (32,381).


rAilwAy heritAGe

Preservation is an essential part of the picture... by J. Batwell

ZIMBABWE TOURS BACK ON THE CARDSUK operator Geoff’s Trains has opened booking for a 2010 steam tour to Zimbabwe between 24 July and 2 August. The following was received from the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) director for operations: “Please be advised that the NRZ is more than willing to participate in this tour, as we have done over the years. While we have had challenges with our steam locomotives, this shall be overcome. I have instructed Mr Choto, Business Manager, Passenger Services, to respond to all your queries. Once again, we cherish the support you have given us over the years. We wish this relationship to continue.”

Encouraged by the NRZ’s positive response, Geoff Cooke is looking to run three classes of NRZ Garratts - 14A, 16A and 15 - during the winter tour plus make use of the privately-owned class 14A 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 at Victoria Falls. A pre-Zimbabwe visit to Botswana to see the industrial steam operation with class 19Ds at Selebi Phikwe is built in for interested parties. For more day-to-day details visit the site: www.geoffs-trains.com

ZIMBABWE STILL STEAMS UP MARGINALLYThe National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is still putting two locomotives into steam with some regularity. Bulawayo enthusiast Charles Rickwood reports that on his visits to the running shed a class 15 4-6-4 + 4-6-4 and a class 16A 2-8-2 + 2-8-2 are usually in steam or alternatively two class 15 or two 16A Garratts. One of the two is invariably the shed pilot whilst

the second locomotive works a Bulawayo station yard shunt. The planned restoration of 10 locomotives by the middle of 2010 seems a very tall order, considering there has been no major progress this year, with just one Garratt in the workshops - class 16A no 612.

RIVERSIDE MUSEUM & NORTH BRITISH GROUP HAPPENINGSWork on the new Glasgow Riverside Museum has begun and a cabside plate from one of its principal future exhibits, SAR class 15F no 3007, is on display at the main entrance. The loco itself remains at Nitshill where conservation work will be undertaken.

The North British Loco Group’s work in 2009 embraces liaison with the Mizen’s Railway to bring back to the UK from Umgeni Steam Railway the Dübs tank locomotive and to continue with the restoration of North British/CSAR class 11 no 929. Furthermore, the group has finalised the permanent loan of a hendrie Natal Government Railways’ (NGR) class 1A 4-8-0 no 1301 (NBL works number 19063/1909) at Greenside Colliery and this loco will be relocated to Mason’s Mill shed. NGR class 1B 4-8-0 no 1443 “Chaka” (NBL works number 16417/1905) has been purchased from Ushukela Milling and the engine remains stored on site at Gledhow Mill pending movement to Mason’s Mill. This loco is of great historic importance as it was one of David hendrie’s (and the world’s) first six 4-8-2’s to be built.

SANRASM NEWSThe South African National Railway & Steam Museum (SANRASM) at Krugersdorp has relocated former South African Railways’ class 19BR no 1410 from the Free State. Built by Berliner Maschinenbau, Germany, in 1930, it saw industrial service at Free State Geduld (FSG).

Work has started on cleaning up and repainting locomotives at the museum’s south site. First in line has been class NGG 13 no 58 which has looked rather sad since its arrival. General cleaning up of the whole site and environs to try to provide a greater element of security has been under way.

SANDSTONE RESTORES CLASS 19DThis winter saw Sandstone’s energetic and enthusiastic team at Bloemfontein steam up class 19D 4-8-2 no 2654. After so much narrow gauge locomotive restoration work over the years, finally a 1,067mm gauge project has been realised.

Narrow gauge restoration projects that continue include Orenstein & Koppel no 11112 and Class NGG 16 Garratt no 88. A venerable 10 ton steam-driven crane, built by Grafton Cranes Engineers at Bedford in the UK has been secured from Transnet. Currently in Sandstone’s secure area in Bloemfontein, the crane has been stripped and boiler work has commenced.

One of the surviving Zimbabwean Garratts today – class 15 no 414 (left) alongside class 10 no 156. Photo: B. Seiler

K1 making an appearance at the Great Garratt Gathering in Manchester last August. Photo: Facebook

Sandstone Trust’s latest 3’ 6” gauge restoration project, class 19D 4-8-2 no 2654. Photo: Sandstone

GARRATT 100 IN UKOn 17 August 2009, loco K1 - the oldest Garratt in the world - returned from her present home in Wales to Gorton Foundry in Manchester, to celebrate her 100th birthday and participate in the Great Garratt Gathering (GGG).

Arriving in style through the works gates, K1 - initially built for Tasmania - was greeted by many of the ex Beyer-Peacock (BP) employees that had built Garratts, who turned out in force for the celebration, together with the present staff of the works - and the media.

After speeches, a large birthday cake was cut, then K1 was moved around for photo calls, finally ending up inside the old boiler shop, under the old BP overhead crane. After a turn in the Tesco car park, where the people of Gorton had a chance to see her, K1 was taken out onto the main road, one of the busiest in Manchester, complete with police escort, for a short 200m journey to the church. She was pulled up barely 10m from Richard Peacock’s grave and family mausoleum. A wreath-laying ceremony then took place, followed by two blasts on K1’s whistle - one to begin and one to end a minute’s silence.

Inside the church a display told visitors all about BP and the Garratts - a highly unorthodox and very successful design that distinguished itself on many railways in Africa.


PUTTING IT ON THE LINEElectrical trains are the fashionCheapest to run - and no smell.The air is left very much cleaner

The “draadkarre” rate rather well.

Like political speakers, the diesels -Exuding much fumy hot air - Tend to be rattly and noisy

And their fuel costs get in one’s hair.

The trouble with current howeverIs that it depends on a wire -A commodity easily stolen

To be melted down in a fire.

Restringing catenary cables,A prohibitively costly affair,

Means all-in the diesels are cheaper,Despite what they do to the air.

- LRD

end of the line

CORRESPONDENCETRANSNAMIB U20C LOCOSDear editorTransnamib’s refurbishment of GE U20C locos which have been in service since 1968 is a good read. These locos including the U20C which are still operating in Zambia and Zimbabwe are the very best in engineering design and construction. They set a benchmark on which the rest of today’s locos are based. Their beauty is unparalled. South Africa’s class 33 (humpbacks) remodelled with the hump above the cockpit is a rare beauty. It reminds one of the masculine adult lion with a mane in all its glory. I hope General Electric engineers can take a leaf out of the book of South African engineers involved with the class 33s. The very best photos of U20Cs can be accessed on the http://geoff-cooke.fotopic.net/ website. I guess Geoff Cooke is the only gentleman who has managed to capture the full beauty of these locos. Thanks to TransNamib for having these locos refurbished and in the process bringing back memories. My unofficial ride in a U20C was in 1969 and the loco was 1609 - which is still in operation in harare, Zimbabwe. - Samuel Mudehwe

CAPE TOWN STATION FLOOR TILESDear editorWith regard to the Cape Town station revamp, I agree with Chanelle. Those tiles are a death trap even for the young -never mind the older generation. Something should be done about them, otherwise Metrorail or whoever is responsible will be sued left, right and centre - Kathy Collins

TransNamib GE U20C loco (2,150hp), ex-Spoornet class 33. Photo: Paul Ash

KOREANS IN AFRICADear editorWith reference to the report: “South Korea to help in Cameroon”, a Korean-led consortium is planning a railway for timber traffic in next-door Congo-Brazzaville. One wonders if there will be any connection between the two. - Shall Ford (Australia)

PRETORIA BUSINESS EXPRESSDear editor120 km/h on a line that is designed and signalled for 90km/h? This is something new. has the line and associated signalling been upgraded? - Willie de Beer

[ Ever since reconstruction in 1937 - in advance of electrification - the Germiston-Pretoria line allowed speeds of 96km/h (60mph), despite intermediate stations continuing to rely on mechanically worked points & signals for several decades. During the eighties, track improvements permitted higher speeds, with the Metroblitz express doing Johannesburg-Pretoria in 42 minutes, compared with the previous best timing of 65. In recent years much of the line has been quadrupled, with signals and points electrically worked under CTC. - editor ]

Cape Town station revamp – artist’s impression

Dear editorI totally agree with Chanelle. It is a very bad idea to be laying down tiles like that. In wet weather it could really hurt someone, people will be slipping and sliding all over the place. I now live in the UK, but have just recently returned from Cape Town. One of my visits was to the station as I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. It looks amazing I must say and can’t wait for the work to be completed as I know it will be a world-class station for Capetonians. Just do one thing though - give those tiles a rough look, please. - Fernando


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