Railways Africa February 2011

FEBRUARY 2011

ROLLING STOCK | PERWAY | INFRASTRUCTURE | SIGNALLING | OPERATORS | COMMENT

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The Backbone to your Economy

6 – 8 April 2011 EXPO CENTRE – JOHANNESBURG As an operator and supplier in the Railways, Mining, Harbours, Intermodal and Commuter sectors, you need to be at the Railways and Harbours Conference and Exhibition 2011 - the importance of efficient railways and harbours for our continent’s future dare not be underestimated.

Don’t miss the biggest rail and harbours event on the African continent from 6 to 8 April 2011 at the Expo Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa - the ideal opportunity to network and connect with industry peers, see the latest technology first-hand, engage with suppliers and glean the latest trends from financing to infrastructure development from our impressive list of speakers.

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RAILWAYS AFRICA / FOREWORD

Foreword

This time last year, you will remember, impressive endeavours in South African passenger rail were in the news virtually every day. Big money was being poured into revamping, new stations built and huge effort put into promoting rail as the transport mode of choice to Soccer World Cup events, as well as between the venue cities. It was promised over and over that the extensively overhauled system would be so good that service would be in “world-class”. Moreover (and we were continually assured of this), it was not going to be a 30-day wonder. The unrecognisably revitalised railway would remain as a persisting “legacy”, serving the South African public efficiently for many years after the World Cup was over.

Well, the World Cup finished in July.

Before the end of the month, a barrage of complaints in Cape Town followed the cancellation of countless scheduled Metrorail trains, worsening overcrowding, and hundreds of dismayed commuters arriving late for work. Judging from press reports, matters have not improved and official explanations have come up with nothing new. Old and worn-out rolling stock appears to top the list. Then in August, South Africa’s entire intercity passenger rail service was summarily wiped off the map, with nobody bothering about niceties like advance warning to people holding reservations and tickets.

Months went by before any semblance of a long-distance express reappeared.

Before Christmas, passenger rail in

the country was back to the traditional scheme of things: a critical shortage of rolling stock, recurrent locomotive breakdowns, malfunctioning signals, disgruntled employees threatening strikes, and disgruntled passengers threatening reprisals (which usually involve matches) for late trains and generally poor service.

At Christmas – a Christmas noted for the smallest number of holiday specials ever operated (if any ran at all) - a mockery was made of government appeals to people to use public transport, to avoid the most dangerous roads in the world at the most dangerous time of the year.

It is now February 2011 and the World Cup ended seven months ago. At the time of writing, no “tourist class” intercity trains are running and the Premier Classe has been “temporarily” withdrawn. Metrorail train frequency in the major centres is down from the same time last year, apparently due to cuts in subsidy, despite official statements saying that passenger numbers are going up.

The scenic commuter line to Simon’s Town, a great tourist drawcard, has been out of action since problems in November 2009.

Other tourist specialities – the popular steam-worked Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe at Mossel Bay and the world-famous narrowgauge Apple Express at Port Elizabeth - are (as from late 2010) no more.

Whatever happened to all the promises?

Undertakings by politicians should be taken down in writing and used in evidence when not fulfilled, preferably at the next election.

And so much for the “legacy”.

PHILLIPPA DEAN Publisher / Railways Africa

FEBRUARY 2011

February 2011 seemed a good time for Railways Africa to look at passenger rail, something that is in growth mode across the globe - from China into the rest of Asia and through Europe to the United States - with visionary people (and politicians) emphasising measures to lessen pollution and the carbon footprint. Are the lot of them out of step, or is it Africa (not counting Morocco) that has fallen out of line?

ROLLING STOCK | PERWAY | INFRASTRUCTURE | SIGNALLING | OPERATORS | COMMENT

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PUBLISHERS Phillippa Dean Barbara Sheat EDITOR Rollo Dickson DESIGN & LAYOUT Grazia Muto ADVERTISING Sue Klomp SUBSCRIPTIONS Kim Bevan CONTRIBUTORS Boon Boonzaaier Bruno Martin Dave van der Meulen Eugene Armer Jacque Wepener John Batwell Richard Grönstedt Paul Roos Pierre de Wet

ISSN 1029 - 2756 Rail Link Communications cc PO Box 4794 Randburg 2125 Tel: +27 87 940 9278 E-mail: stationmaster@railwaysafrica.com Twitter: railwaysafrica Website: www.railwaysafrica.com

The copyright on all material in this magazine is expressly reserved and vested in Rail Link Communications cc, unless otherwise stated. No material may be reproduced in any form, in part or in whole, without the permission of the publishers. Please note that the opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers of Rail Link Communications cc unless otherwise stated. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, neither the Editor, Publisher or Contributor can be held liable for any inaccuracies or damages that may arise.

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February 2011 Railways Africa

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Contents PRASA Lucky Looks to The Future Since its inception in March 2009, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has had to endure severe criticism from many quarters.

6 Features PRASA Lucky Looks to the Future

6

AESTHETICS AND DESIGN MDB Interiors

12

KNORR-BREMSE IRIS = International Railway Industry Standard

16

PLASSERAIL The Cleaning of Railway Ballast

18

12

Train Travel

4

Railways Africa February 2011

The Long Trek to De Aar

24

TOURIST TRAINS A Tour Operator’s Perspective

32

RAIL TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA – for the ordinary “man in the street”

36

ROVOS RAIL – South Africa’s World Leader in Rail Tourism

38

www.railwaysafrica.com

RAILWAYS AFRICA / CONTENTS

42

Zimbabwean Reality Regional Railway in The Doldrums

40

Pete the Pundit on Fashion in Passenger Rail

49

44

Industry Comment Passenger Rail for South Africa

48

Africa Update UIC African Region

56

Railway to Link 49 Ethiopian Towns

58

SA Rail News Transnet Acting Chief Resigns

66

Shosholoza Meyl – “Tourist Class” Suspended

70

Gautrain Companies Hijacked

73

67

Mishaps & Blunders Coal Line Derailment

76

Derailed at Kanonkop

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84

Railway Heritage Reefsteamers, Germiston

84

Sandstone Trust

85

End of the Line Gautrain Strippers www.railwaysafrica.com

86 February 2011 Railways Africa

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PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES

LUCKY LOOKS TO THE FUTURE Since its inception in March 2009, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has had to endure severe criticism from many quarters. Although some censure may have been justified, it must be said that Prasa inherited what can only be described as a near dysfunctional passenger rail system.

Railways Africa spoke to Prasa Group CEO Lucky Montana about some of the challenges facing his organisation and what the agency has planned in order to restore and upgrade rail services for both commuters and long-distance passengers.

Prasa Group CEO Lucky Montana

A Metrorail Business Class express.

Photo: Craig Dean.

In the modern era, the health of any vibrant economy is largely determined by its level of transport infrastructure development, especially permanent and regular public transport such as mass transport systems, specifically passenger rail.

In restructuring and transforming transport in Africa, we need to confront our history and current realities. In particular, we need to look at the drivers of economic transformation over the past three decades. The truth is that the restructuring of transport in Africa was not driven by the interests of Africa itself. This was an agenda imposed from outside with significant pressure exerted for the deregulation of economies, privatisation of key state-owned entities, concessioning of important public services, as well as the prescription to cut back on public spending. In fact, the interests of transnational corporations reigned supreme over the past three decades.

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Railways Africa February 2011

The restructuring of transport systems and the delivery of infrastructure and rolling stock must be directly informed by Africa’s own development agenda, rather than foreign interests.

In South Africa today, the Metrorail system is responsible for over 600 million passenger trips a year; Shosholoza Meyl for four million regional and long-distance rail journeys per annum. Prasa employs 13,000 people and staffs over 500 stations, maintains over 2,000km of track and more than 5,000 train coaches. An estimated 120,000 jobs in downstream industries are affected by the economic impact of the passenger rail industry.

ACTION PLANS Prasa management realised during the middle of 2009 that the group needed to prepare for the inevitable effects of the global economic downturn – especially after the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

www.railwaysafrica.com

PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES

Rail commuting in South Africa is subsidised by government up to 70%. Photo: Craig Dean.

In international evaluations of the importance of rail systems for cities it has been found that those with significant passenger rail systems have: • A higher per capita public transport ridership; • Lower averages per capita vehicle ownership; • Lower traffic fatalities and less congestion; • Lower per capita overall transport expenditure; and • Higher transport recovery costs, than cities without significant passenger rail systems.

This indicates that rail systems provide a variety of economic, social and environmental benefits, and these tend to increase as a system expands and matures. www.railwaysafrica.com

A very robust cost containment strategy was launched including a rationalisation of activities in terms of the viability of rail services. Marginal services would need to be discontinued and provided instead with more effective bus services from within the group through our Autopax division.

Various other strategies relating to better contracting-in projects, more efficient working hours, adjustments in service conditions, management redeployment and optimising corporate overheads will be required to give full effect to achieving effective cost containment.

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT It is general industry knowledge that our passenger rolling stock is at the end of its economic life, and serious consideration is being afforded at all levels to develop and approve a new rolling stock acquisition programme.

The Metrorail rolling stock fleet concept emanates from the 1920s, with 1950s technology embedded, which is currently being maintained with difficulty. The average age of the fleet is between 35 to 40 years. A third of the fleet is already beyond 37 years old and 1,300 coaches will need to be retired over the next 12 years.

Prasa has no option but to follow an aggressive upgrade and preventative maintenance strategy in order to extend the life of the current fleet for a further 12 years and to sustain service levels until new rolling stock becomes available. There is now a clear policy and commitment from government for the fleet renewal programme. This rolling stock renewal programme is worth in excess of R60 billion and will form the basis of creating a viable rail industry in South Africa.

A total of 2,000 coaches have been upgraded over the past three years at a total cost of R7 billion in order to stretch the life of the existing fleet. This strategy and decision had a negative effect on Prasa’s capital programme. Between 50 and 60% of capital grants from government have been channelled to the rolling stock programme, leaving minimal capital funds for infrastructure modernisation.

The balance of our capital grants have been earmarked for maintenance-related projects due to the age and condition of the infrastructure.

With further increases in the capital allocations to Prasa we will be in a better position to start channelling more funds to infrastructure upgrades, improvements

February 2011 Railways Africa

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PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES and modernisation. Currently we are running out of capacity on key rail corridors due to increasing demand. These corridors need fundamental upgrading and modernisation towards rapid rail transit corridors.

Prasa has also commenced with a signalling renewal programme which will stretch over the next 10 years requiring some R17 billion.

The tender to implement the signalling renewal programme has recently been awarded. This process, together with new rolling stock technology, will lay the foundation for improved service performance, safety and service capacity.

Migrating to new technological applications, including light rail and high-speed rail systems, together with moving to standard gauge will be vital in new and stand-alone rail applications that are now in the planning process. A serious review of current applications is also called for, especially the Shosholoza Meyl long distance passenger rail service, which needs repositioning towards more contemporary applications for specific market segments.

The biggest challenge for Prasa’s capital investment programme over the next 10 to 30 years will be to obtain the correct balance between sustaining the current system, and concurrently building new capacity to meet future demands, as well as modernising the system through migration to more contemporary technology and applications.

The acquisition of new rolling stock for passenger rail presents many possibilities for South Africa and the SADC region. Depending on how the procurement process is structured, there are real possibilities to stimulate the rail engineering industry, boosting skills and investment on a scale never seen before. We need to set clear industrial policy objectives and ensure that even with the buying of new technology, we strengthen our local manufacturing capacity.

IMPROVING SUSTAINABILITY Sustaining a state-owned rail commuter system that has come to the end of its economic life, while still being used by millions of workers every day, requires a specific set of strategic interventions until a sufficient critical mass of the current system is modernised.

The labour-intensive operations of passenger rail applications represent personnel costs of up to 60% of total operational costs.

Scaling down operations and personnel deployment to reduce costs has revealed that the loss in revenues many times outweigh the savings in operational expenditure. Therefore, turnaround strategies should rather focus on revenue generation efforts to grow and sustain the business for longer term sustainability.

Rationalisation and optimisation of operations as a continuous improvement process is the key to sustainable rail operations. The main objective for financial sustainability is to basically provide more services with fewer assets. For rail operators this translates into productive efficiencies (providing services at a minimum cost) and allocative efficiencies (providing services in the right places).

Matching demand and supply and redeploying personnel in line with this improved demand profile, becomes the foundation of the sustainability of rail operations.

TECHNICAL INTERVENTIONS Rail operators should have the flexibility in capital resource allocation to be able to react swiftly in cases of technical failures requiring immediate attention. In many instances an entire corridor or service can come to a complete standstill as a result of minor technical parts failure and equipment replacements such as track circuits, substation switches and signalling interlocking. Prasa makes more than R300 million per annum available to the operator for such technical interventions or minor capital works, for which the operator has full discretion to act upon as required.

PRIORITY CORRIDORS The South African government has already approved and adopted its Industrial Policy Action Plan (Ipap) where the acquisition of transport equipment is firmly on the agenda.

Marginal rail services are to be replaced with more effective (Autopax) bus services” - Prasa CEO Lucky Montana. Prasa subsidiary Autopax operates under the City-to-City and Translux brandnames.

Modernisation requirements for a system that has been in operation for more than 50 years is simply too vast to make any meaningful impact should limited capital investment funds be

“ Metrorail carries more than 600m passengers annually and Prasa staffs over 500 stations

”

The Metrorail rolling stock fleet concept emanates from the 1920s” – Montana. These 1,500V DC wood-bodied multiple–unit sets were the first electric suburbans in South Africa, linking Cape Town to Sea Point in 1927.

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Railways Africa February 2011

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PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES

A 10M4 (refurbished 5M2A) Metrorail set in Gauteng. “Over the past three years, 2,000 suburban coaches have been upgraded at a total cost of R7 billion”. Photo: Craig Dean.

spread across the entire network. Prasa follows a strategy of improving corridors in order to focus investment programmes, infrastructure renewals, signalling renewal and operational improvements towards these key corridors. Seven metropolitan corridors and two long-distance corridors have been identified to commence such focused improvements over the next three years.

The consolidated effort on specific corridors leaves the network deprived of life-cycle asset investments due to under-investment and lack of sufficient investment funding, but concentrates improvements for improved service delivery on the selected corridors. This approach does not only retain ridership for sustainability, but also creates a framework to roll out the success of the improved corridors to other areas of the network and to motivate additional investments based on successes achieved on these priority corridors.

Mass transit and suburban rail systems are being planned for the next 70 years on fixed corridors. Fixed rail infrastructure is not as flexible as road-based transport modes, which can follow market expansion as it happens. Policy directives and planning partnerships with local transport bodies are essential to ensure integration of public transport through nodal interchanges and feeders to the rail system.

PRICING Rail commuting in South Africa is subsidised by government up to 70%. The majority of our rail commuters earn between R1,500 and R2,500 a month. Subsidies are essential in retaining ticket prices within the policy directive of spending a maximum of 10% of personal income on public transport. If we make affordable public transport possible in South Africa, we effectively deal with poverty.

www.railwaysafrica.com

Metrorail has not increased prices in the last seven years, acknowledging the plea of commuters for affordable public transport – especially with current services not living up to expectations.

During the turnaround phase of Prasa’s strategic plan (over the past three years), a total of R11 billion was invested in the system: R7 billion in upgrading 2,000 coaches, R2.7 million on infrastructure development and a further R1.7 billion in preparing for the 2010 World Cup event.

In many countries around the world rail regulators link the approval of fare increases to a specific required level of reinvestment into the system, together with targeted service level improvements. With our turnaround strategy now concluded, we were in a position to propose a reasonable fare increase to our commuters, which effectively translates into an annual increase of only 5%.

The fare structure has been streamlined with the minimum fare being R5 for Metro and R7 for Metro Plus. Prices are being rounded off with standard zones to make it easy for our customers to buy tickets. Prices have been rationalised to reflect a more cost and distance-based approach, with discounts in off-peak travel time. This will make future ticketing and access control much more effective, with rail fares still remaining much cheaper than any other mode of public transport.

We will obviously not rely only on our commuters to contribute to improvements made, but will use the current economic downturn as opportunity to implement efficiencies within management and operations in order to improve the sustainability of ongoing subsidisation for the rail commuting public.

February 2011 Railways Africa

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PASSENGER RAIL SERVICES Prasa is committed to restructuring the public transport system in South Africa and ensuring the rail mode lives up to expectations of being the backbone of the public transport system, while improving, modernising, integrating and expanding the system for the next generation.

It is important that we learn the real lessons of the past thirty years regarding economic and transport restructuring. The focus on restructuring or disposing of key assets and increasing capital investment without simultaneously changing the nature of operations (enhancing operational efficiencies) will not be sustainable.

“ A total of 2,000 coaches

have been upgraded over the past three years

�

Short term strategies aimed at strengthening the financial position of public entities whilst ignoring their strategic role and public mandate will be irresponsible. We need to ensure that public utilities are appropriately capitalised to fulfil their mandates, deliver economic and social infrastructure and contribute to long-term, sustainable economic development in Africa.

A Premier Classe express south of Johannesburg: “The Shosholoza Meyl long distance passenger rail service needs repositioning towards more contemporary applications for specific market segments.

Photo: Eugene Armer

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Railways Africa February 2011

The average age of the Metrorail fleet is between 35 to 40 years, with a third beyond 37 years. Within 12 years, 1,300 coaches will need to be retired. Over the next 10 years, R17bn will be spent on signalling renewal.

Photo: Eugene Armer.

www.railwaysafrica.com

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AESTHETICS AND DESIGN

MDB INTERIORS Nobody can deny that the last century - and for that matter the current one - have seen unprecedented levels of growth in big cities - even “mega-cities” such as Mexico City or Tokyo. In 2010, for the first time in history, the number of people living in cities exceeded those living in the country.

SHANGHAI METRO

As these large cities grow, so major concerns grow with them – concerns about fundamentals like drinking water, electricity supply and public transport. Unlimited use of personal means of transport - motor cars or even motorised two-wheelers – results in nightmarish traffic congestion, and the unavoidable accompanying air pollution, noise, etc.

The older the cities are, the less likely they are to have streets suitably dimensioned to suit modern traffic. Even many cities built comparatively recently have chronically under-dimensioned road networks. Just consider the apocalyptic traffic jams in Beijing and in many other parts of China, where the car-to-person ratio is around 1:10. Just imagine what is going to happen there (and there is no doubt that it will happen) when they reach the ratio commonly seen in wealthy parts of Western cities – a ratio closer to 1:1.

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Railways Africa February 2011

The subject we talk about here concerns industrial design and styling. There’s a very direct relationship between the design of public transport and its efficiency.

The goal of every forward-thinking community today is to convince people to use mass-transport, instead of continuing to rely on polluting, internal combustion cars and motor-cycles.

Achieving this objective is a complex challenge, starting with careful planning of the main line-haul routes, station locations and transfer points as well as future extensions, together with complementary and feeder networks, usually buses and taxis. Rail-based modes today offer a wide choice, each best suited to specific sets of circumstances. There are tramways, surface light rail, underground heavy rail, single or double-deckers, etc.

Each has its own characteristics, differing

according to first cost and running expenses, passenger capacity and so on.

Once the right choices have been made, not forgetting an efficient ticketing system offering affordable pricing, the more difficult business of convincing people begins – convincing them to leave their air-conditioned cars at home. Mass transport generally doesn’t have a great reputation for comfort or safety, and one needs seriously compelling attributes to win the public over.

This is where industrial design and styling comes in. Indeed, this aspect should and must be made a key component in the whole equation.

Firstly, before sitting inside and actually travelling in the trains, metros or tramways, you need to feel a strong and definite urge to climb on board; you need

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AESTHETICS AND DESIGN to envy those already there and want to be seen inside, yourself. This is exactly what happens when people choose the shape, exterior design and colour when buying a personal car. Most probably they spend more time selecting the exterior styling than the interior, as it this that projects the personal image of the occupant so flatteringly to the world around.

The exterior design of a train is extremely important for the customer. Even though it may be seen only briefly when it glides alongside the platform, it is vital that first impressions should create very positive reactions. The traveller needs to feel enhanced by the vehicle’s image and be proud to climb aboard. It is no less important for the system operator to fully participate in this process, reflecting every aspect of the overall picture in his own branding and ensuring that every means possible be employed to attract customers.

KOREA KTX II

Even if you’re captivated initially by a stylish front-end and striking colour scheme, the last thing you want – once aboard is to be disappointed by the actual travel experience. In other words, there is a great deal more to the journey itself than simply getting from one place to another.

A competent designer will have created a multi-sensorial experience, in which each component – none less vital than the next – will have been carefully and sensitively selected and put in place.

Broad visual experience comes first, as is to be expected. One is talking here about shapes generally and atmosphere, colour ambiance, graphics and patterns. In metros and tramways, special care is needed on the upper parts of the interior: coves, ceiling, lighting, etc. In a crowded situation, these may be the only parts that remain visible!

KOREA KTX II

Carefully studied and sophisticated lighting solutions are a must. Overall illumination should be good without being aggressive.

A mix of direct and indirect lighting sources is desirable. Visual enhancement should be given to specific functional areas such as access doors in metro coaches and light rail trams. Contemporary fittings and facilities such as LEDs offer reliability, economy and great flexibility.

Materials can be mixed to attain the best compromise and a friendly feel in every situation: specially treated stainless steel for a smooth and non-stain finish on handles, handrails and poles, tough aluminium profiles or reinforced plastic

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SINGAPORE METRO

February 2011 Railways Africa

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AESTHETICS AND DESIGN for panels and fittings, natural wood or fabric for seats, handrails, window edges or frames, ie parts directly touched by travellers.

The interiors of high-capacity metros, which tend to be simple and bare, can be greatly enhanced through the use of vandal-resistant, printed adhesive film, or floor coverings bearing non-wearing integrated patterns.

The industrial designer’s aim is to make the most out of every available item, with minimal (preferably nil) additional cost, weight or complexity. Stainless steel grabpoles can be curved gracefully without losing functionality, glass partitions can

be silk-screened with fancy patterns, and ceilings can be covered with scratchresistant and colourful adhesive films, easily replaceable for maintenance or cost-efficient refurbishment.

In regional or long-distance trains, every detail can be refined instead of coming straight and raw from the drawing-board: adding weel-formed curves to an armrest or headrest can bring additional comfort and style without costing more, partitions can be cut in interesting shapes – all adding meaningful visual interest to an interior.

Experienced industrial designers, too, are invariably able to suggest ideas and practical solutions for aspects such as

luggage management, the comfort of the disabled, toilet compartment cleanliness and ease of maintenance.

Today the industrial designer is a key and indispensable partner in almost every aspect of creating and operating mass transport, be it train, metro or tramway, through ensuring that the all-important “human” element is optimised. The end result, clearly reflected in the skill of the designer, brings out all the difference between a basic “metal box” and a seductive modern means of transport – one that compellingly attracts people out of their personal cars, to the benefit of the whole community.

KNORR-BREMSE

IRIS = International Railway Industry Standard

IRIS is an initiative led by the Association of the European Rail Industry (UNIFE), based in Brussels, Belgium.

IRIS was established in 2006 and stemmed from a requirement within the rail industry to set a standard for itself. It was found that the ISO 9001 standard did not quite meet the demands of the rail industry such as the RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety), design controls, project management disciplines, knowledge management etc.

What is IRIS? IRIS is a management system standard that was specifically developed in Europe to address the very demanding railway industry requirements and to reduce or even eliminate the need for multiple system audits conducted by various third-party audit houses and customers. Being a very comprehensive and demanding standard, compliance to IRIS means automatic compliance with ISO 9001 thereby eliminating the need for further third-party audits to ISO 9001.

IRIS does not only focus on the management system of a company but product development aspects, manufacturing processes and controls including control of non-conforming processes, tender and project management, also knowledge management, ie the process for ensuring that information obtained during failure

analyses or lessons learnt become the basis for personnel training, design improvements, and production improvements - to name but a few.

IRIS endeavours to ensure that best-practices are the norm and to continually build on these. thereby ensuring a process of improvements which directly benefit commuters, operators and the end-user.

IRIS is actively supported by the rail industry (manufacturers and equipment suppliers such as Knorr-Bremse, Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier), rail operators (such as London Underground, NedTrain (Netherlands), TMB – Barcelona, Russian Railways, SBB (Switzerland)) and rail associations (such as SwissRail, Swedtrain, Die Bahnindustry), as these institutions realise the importance of providing a first-class product and service.

As seen in the model, IRIS encompasses ISO 9001 and is intensely aimed at ensuring product quality and reliability and continuous product and support improvement, yet at the same time focusing on cost reduction by overall process, system and production improvements.

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Railways Africa February 2011

www.railwaysafrica.com

KNORR-BREMSE

“IRIS was established in 2006 and stemmed from a requirement within the rail industry to set a standard for itself.”

Benefits IRIS certification ensures that a company has a management system which actively supports the various demands imposed by the rail industry with regard to: 1) Continuous improvement based on lessons learnt which affect the entire production process, development of personnel skills and competence and development of support structures such as purchasing, suppliers, infrastructure and work environment; 2) Control of non-conforming processes and product and using such information in the knowledge management structure to eliminate recurring process, product or system problems; 3) The assurance that RAMS/LCC (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety/ Life Cycle Costs) are addressed during the design/development activities and that these aspects become tangible in their application, measurement and monitoring.

RAIL VEHICLE SYSTEMS

International Railway Industry Standard

GM571_PRESSLINK

Knorr-Bremse South Africa (Pty) Ltd (KBSA) has had IRIS certification since January 2009 and has just successfully passed not only a re-certification but also an upgrade audit against revision 2 valid from 5 January 2011. KBSA is the first and only company in Africa to have obtained IRIS certification and has experienced the benefits of this certification by reduced non-conformities, improved customer support, improved product quality from suppliers – simply, improved business management across the entire supply chain. | www.knorr-bremse.com | Knorr-Bremse S.A. Pty. Ltd. 3 Derrick Road (Corner Green Road) 1610 Spartan Phone: +27 11 961 7800 Fax: +27 11 975 8249

PLASSERAIL

THE CLEANING OF RAILWAY BALLAST The use of MFS material conveyor systems in the mining sector to improve ballast cleaning efficiency

Slewing transfer conveyor belt discharging spoil to the side.

INTRODUCTION The ballast bed fulfils critically important functions for the reliable, affordable, available and safe passage of trains. One of the more important is to provide large voids for the movement of particles through the ballast and to allow effective drainage of water entering the ballast bed. This implies that the ballast bed must be free of fine material between the ballast stones.

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infiltration of fines blown or washed into the bed, material dropped from traffic and infiltration from underlying granular layers.

This fine material will start to fill the void spaces between the ballast stones. Usually the fine material will start collecting at the bottom of the ballast bed and gradually build up to the bottom of the sleeper.

Fine material in the ballast bed generally emanates from ballast degradation caused by ballast fracture and abrasion, external

When the ballast bed exceeds 80% fouling, damage will start becoming evident in the whole track structure due to the lack

20% fouling.

100% to 120% fouling.

Railways Africa February 2011

www.railwaysafrica.com

Your Specialist Partner For Mechanised Railway Track Maintenance & Construction Machinery PERFORMANCE

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Telefax: (011) 474-3582

email: plasserail@plasser.co.za

PLASSERAIL of resilience in the ballast bed; sleepers may start breaking, corrugations may develop on the rail crown, tamping becomes ineffective and during the last stages before failure, the fines would have retained moisture to the extent that the formation fails and reconstruction becomes necessary.

CURRENT METHOD IN USE FOR SPOIL REMOVAL AT MINES The mines currently use standard hoppers for spoil removal. Four to six hoppers, each with a capacity of 60 tons, are shunted in using a locomotive.

The importance of ballast cleaning therefore can not be overemphasised. To reinstate the functions of the ballast bed, a ballast cleaning machine is used to excavate the entire bed and separate the fine material from the reusable ballast stones using a selection of sieves. The reusable ballast is returned to the track via the distribution conveyor. The fine material (spoil) is conveyed to the front of the machine via the spoil conveyor. (v)

(i)

(ii)

(iv)

(iii)

Working Direction

Empty hopper wagons are shunted in.

Legend: Cleaned Ballast

Excavated Ballast

(i) Cutting chain

(ii) Up chute

(iv) Distribution conveyor

(v) Spoil conveyor

Spoil

(iii) Screen box with sieves

The working principle of ballast cleaning.

The locomotive shunts the hopper closer and further from the ballast cleaner to fill the hopper as far as is possible. It takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to fill the one hopper, depending on ballast condition.

The fines can then either be spoiled alongside the track or into wagons for removal to an environmentally approved spoil site.

Spoiling the fines screened from the ballast bed alongside the track has numerous disadvantages though, including: • environmental pollution due to the use of toxic herbicides in the ballast for weed control; • the blocking of drains; • landslides with resulting track structural instability due to the added weight of the spoil when spoiling down an embankment; and • covering of services such as cables and signal boxes causing additional maintenance restrictions and problems.

The mines have realised this and are making an effort to remove the spoil. However, at some mines the most important objective of removing the spoil is to re-mine the material for the valuable minerals that fell from the hoppers between the mine and the processing plant.

20

Railways Africa February 2011

The locomotive shunts the hopper closer and further from the ballast cleaner to fill it as close as possible to its capacity.

Once the hopper nearest to the ballast cleaner is full, the ballast cleaning operation is stopped. All the hoppers are shunted to a yard to uncouple the full hopper. Depending on the distance to the yard, the ballast cleaning machine will be idle for up to 25 minutes.

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PLASSERAIL In South Africa, MFS conveyor systems are available with a 24m3 (MFS24), 26m3 (MFS26) or 38m3 (MFS38) hopper, depending on the application requirements. The hoppers of all the MFS spoil conveyor systems in use are similar in design and operation.

The MFS26 and MFS38 are built on top of standard railway wagons whereas the MFS24 is a self-propelled unit which is built on a custom chassis which houses a driver’s cab, a diesel engine and drive system.

The full hopper is uncoupled in the yard and the empty hoppers are shunted back to the ballast cleaning machine.

At the yard the full hopper will be uncoupled and the remaining empty hoppers shunted back to the ballast cleaner. This process of filling and shunting the full hopper to a yard continues until all the available hoppers are full. If all the hoppers are full before the end of the occupation, the ballast cleaning operation will end prematurely.

This process is very ineffective. Not only does it occupy a locomotive and up to six hoppers, the hoppers are not designed for this purpose and a great deal of the spoil is wasted back onto the ballast. The greatest inefficiency lies with idle time of the ballast cleaner which is an expensive resource.

MFS CONVEYOR SYSTEMS The MFS material conveyor system was developed by Plasser & Theurer of Austria to address and eliminate all the problems associated with the use of standard railway wagons or hoppers for the conveyance of spoil during ballast cleaning operations. It is extensively used today all over the world, as well as in South Africa by Transnet and Metrorail.

The self-propelled MFS24 with its 24m3 hopper together with a MFS26 with its 26m3 hopper is proposed as the ideal spoil conveyor combination for the mines. Should the spoiling site be too far, additional MFS wagons can be added.

MFS26

Engine

Main Conveyor Belt

Main Conveyor Belt

Hopper With Wear Plates

Hopper With Wear Plates

Operator’s Stand

Operator’s Stand

Slewing Transfer & Discharge Conveyor Belt

Slewing Transfer & Discharge Conveyor Belt

S24

elled MF

Self Prop

Engine

Engine

Layout of the MFS38 conveyor systems.

THE WORKING PRINCIPLE OF THE MFS CONVEYOR SYSTEM PROPOSED FOR THE MINES The transferring, slewing and discharging ability is the strength of the MFS as a spoil removal system when working with the ballast cleaner whereas the self-propelled unit eliminates the need for a locomotive.

• The ballast cleaner excavates the ballast down to formation level and separates the ballast which fits within the ballast stone envelope from the fine material. The fines are spoiled into the MFS26 in front of the ballast cleaning machine. The MFS26’s main floor mounted conveyor belt is set to a high speed to transfer the spoil to the next hopper (MFS24) as fast as it is received using the transfer conveyor belt. The rotation speed of the MFS24’s conveyor belt is controlled to fill the hopper to its 24m3 capacity.

Ballast cleaning machine spoiling into MFS38 spoil conveyor systems.

The MFS is a high-sided hopper wagon containing a floor-mounted main conveyor belt which covers the entire width of the hopper.

A slewing transfer conveyor belt is fitted to the one end which operates independently from the floor conveyor belt to either transfer its load forward, or discharge its load to the side. Each MFS wagon is equipped with its own diesel engine to drive the conveyor belts. The rotation speed of the purpose designed and wear-resistant main conveyor belt can be controlled.

The MFS24 Is filled to capacity.

Slewing transfer conveyor belt transferring the spoil forward.

The conveyor is set to a high speed to transfer the spoil to the next hopper.

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February 2011 Railways Africa

21

PLASSERAIL be transferred into waiting mine hoppers standing on the adjacent track. The reason for this is that the mine hoppers with bottom discharging doors are able to discharge straight into the mine processing bins.

• At the ballast cleaning site, the ballast cleaner continues to screen uninterruptedly while discharging the spoil into the MFS26 that stayed behind.

The conveyor speed is controlled to a low speed to fill the hopper to capacity .

• When the MFS24 hopper is full, the transfer slewing conveyor belt of the MFS26 in front of the ballast cleaner is switched off and the rotation speed of its floor conveyor controlled to fill it to capacity. The full MFS24 is uncoupled and travels under its own power to the spoiling site where the hopper can be emptied in less than 5 minutes by slewing the transfer conveyor belt to the side and discharging its contents to a stock pile at up to 4,400mm from track centre. If other MFS wagon/s are used the transfer conveyor belts of all the wagons can be slewed to the side to be emptied simultaneously.

The MFS24 travels to the spoil site to empty the hopper.

If re-mining of the spoil material is required, the MFS24 will travel to the nearest siding or double line where the spoil can

• The empty MFS24 wagon returns to the working site where the content in the MFS26 that stayed behind is transferred to the MFS24. This process of filling and emptying can continue uninterruptedly without affecting the ballast cleaning operation.

The empty MFS24 returns to the ballast cleaning site where the load from the MFS26 is transferred to the MFS24.

CONCLUSION The ballast cleaning operation is an important, valuable and expensive exercise. While spoiling to the side is not an option from an environmental point of view, spoiling into standard railway wagons is a waste of resources due to lengthy interruptions to the ballast cleaning production.

The MFS conveyor system has proved itself for its effectiveness and efficiency. The development of smaller units and self-propelled units can now extend this effectiveness and efficiency to the mines.

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Railways Africa February 2011

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TRAIN TRAVEL

The long trek to De Aar Pierre de Wet recalls a thirsty journey from Windhoek, 50 years ago – Part 2: Upington-De Aar Erts (Yard)

metres

18 JAN 1915

Br ul p

411km 805m

Kanoneilandweg

Keimoes

Rugseer

oor

t

If you remember, we had just left our cosy compartment for the first sitting that summer evening and so here we are, negotiating corridor after corridor until we arrive at the elegant diner where fine gastronomic delights await our rumbling stomachs.

We passed down lengthy corridors with people loafing, hands on hand rails, watching the big river roll by while others joined us on our long walk to the diningcar. We stepped out onto breezy balconies, feeling the footplates shifting like pincers beneath our feet, hearing our locomotive begin working for the incline ahead. We eased through the narrow balcony door into another dog-legged corridor of the old saloon and then out into the warm, smokeladen wind again, the engine by now really

Railways Africa February 2011

GE

Kalwal se Pan

ak Br

179km 939m

Copperton

Br ak

Kwagga fo

Va n He e r de

0

10 20

kilometres

Vosburg

Houtkraal

f bl a nde Ho

1 APRIL 1905

Middelwater se Pan

Upington to De Aar: Map by Bruno Martin (from Boonzaaier’s Tracks across the veld).

The metallic rumbling (louder than our stomachs) over the Orange River seemed to go on and on as we watched the zigzagging bridge girders rising and falling against a moonlit river. Dark islands appeared and then passed by below, then more silver water slid into view to the eternal banging of steel wheels on steel joints.

19 SEP 1905

DE AAR OMDRAAISVLEI

1477

n

0km 1243m

DE AAR

nt ei Brand n

Sweetfontein

BRITSTOWN 51km 1122m

Smartt Syndicate Dam

BRUNO MARTIN 3/2006 C

Weavers’ nests in old telegraph poles at Brakbos, 282km west of De Aar (photo from Boonzaaier’s Tracks across the veld).

working its guts out to pull 17 saloons out of the river basin.

At last we reached the kitchen car, where a wall of food-laden heat hit us together with pots and pans clattering, and yells, shouts and insults flying about. We glanced in at the open door in passing and were gladdened by the sight of men at work preparing our food, dishing our food and cursing our food. We left them to it by gliding effortlessly past and into a traveller’s paradise.

A Hendrie diner prepared for a five-course dinner, its pillared splendour competing with fine tables for one’s attention. Shown to our seats - all with a moving window view, we watched the lucerne-stacked sidings of Louisvale Road slip past in the dark, the reflected ambience of the saloon making it difficult to see much. Our

Beaufort West

Distance from DE AAR

OMDRAAISVLEI PRIESKA

SB

Dik PRIESKA lip sp oo RI N G B E RG E rt D O Groveput U Uit Sh its vlu am Fran pa se n g l e be Marydale y 's h rg Fa o f rm

LOUISVALE ROAD

UPINGTON

Saldanha

AS

BE

Potfontein 1692

Ka ra b Re ee dl an ds Gr oo So td or di in um O g m On dr a ge ais rs W H vle es Vo .o. uw i tw elg at a e M y er r in aa ni es Br s klo ok of Da en m

GROBLERSHOOP PRIESKA -

Dr ag ho en de r

Nakop

(Ora nge )

Cape

Strydenburg

ER

Rooilyf

Northern

Niekerkshoop

Dro .. e

Gariep

1221

Kakamas

Duikersdal

Kimberley

Kaalpan 1337

Noupoort

Lo ui Sp sva rig le R g oa d T ro Jo oi sli lap ng sp Kl ein an be OREX gi n ( S ISHE N S AL Ko DAN eg HA ) ra So B b Pu nd ie ok sp tso er ut nd pa s erw n ate r Br ak bo s

Noord-Kaap

ORANGE RIVER RAIL BRIDGE 1067 metres long

24

(Oran je)

1500 1000 500

BAKENBERG 1549

19D worked mightily up front, taking us upwards onto the plain at a slow but steady pace. Above us, chromed fans whirred silently moving the air, cooled by the river while a smartly clad steward took our drinks order. Another passed by at speed with four full soup plates in hand while corks popped and drinks gurgled into iceladen glasses. Voices buzzed animatedly as we started to pick up speed.

Above the shouts coming from the kitchen we could hear the woodwork creaking as the coach twisted around some bends and stewards had to brace themselves with their trays full of drinks as we canted into the curves. Now the heady aroma of spirits mingled with that of dinner and already a party atmosphere was evident.

How special was that train through that long wilderness with its amenities, its people and its organisation that allowed

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TRAIN TRAVEL

I don’t know about you, but when I was seated in a dining saloon, I enjoyed studying the detail of the vehicle: the workmanship and design that went into producing a railway carriage so unique.

First of all - the name and number: OMARURU - 202 in yellow, hand painted lettering, shadowed. Then the lighting set up in the high clerestory as well as along the lower panels.

with more utilitarian, rectangular lights.

However these – thankfully - still gave off a subtle warm glow, unlike the neonwhite lights of more modern diners in later years. This lighting, together with the varnished teak interior and blue genuine leather seating, gave these saloons a heart-warming appeal which never failed to charm all who ate in them. Loose chairs, many with carved backrests carrying the anagram ZASSAR in relief were still being used together with silverware, some dating as far back as the Cape and Natal Government railways.

On the serving counter in the middle of the coach stood, as often as it could be managed, a large display of flowers.

By 1957 the more elegant, original art deco lights had been removed and substituted

This of course wasn’t always possible especially in bone-dry South West Africa -

all this! And what’s more, it was all eminently affordable for most on modest salaries. Government-sponsored to be sure, so socialism - no doubt about it but what wonderful socialism in blatant support of railways!

but it was nevertheless a nice touch on the smarter main-line trains and an extra detail to be enjoyed. Elegant silver fruit bowls piled high with fresh fruit were however always there to enjoy. I loved the row of clerestory windows running the length of the saloon which stood wide open on that hot night in 1957, their chromed winding handles standing to attention like good soldiers.

These old Hendries didn’t sport the luxury of heavy curtains which the larger windowed A-24 and 25s onwards did.

What they did have though were green, pull-down blinds as well as beautiful wooden shutters that could be hauled up and hooked into position, turning the saloon on a hot day, together with its spinning fans, into an evocation of a Bhengal or

Class 19D 4-8-2 loco, for decades the mainstay of the Upington-De Aar line.

Photo: Jacque Wepener

“ We rocked along to that

familiar branch-line beat - a steady 70km/h on the straight with the smallwheeled 19D chattering away merrily.

”

perhaps more appropriately, Mombasa club. All that was missing were fezzes on the waiters.

Looking towards one end of the car one saw, behind some complicated wood panelling, the bar and cigarette counter where a steward laboured quietly, pouring and filling glasses with liquid refreshments and chunks of chinking ice while at the same time having to dispense cigarettes, cigars and drinks to patrons as well as passing visitors. Phew! The other end had the large vestibule leading to the kitchen and seeming chaos.

Heat annoys very often, as does pain and in there it was painfully hot and chefs are not renowned for being even-tempered.

Amidst the yells and thumps coming from there must have been the odd hard slap especially for lowly kitchen hands – scullies

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as they were known. Their title invited slaps from all and sundry especially chefs who had them cornered in their narrow kitchen.

They also had to do the washing up - a detestable job over three sittings.

be savoured, enjoyed, as one would a fine restaurant. And so it was the chief himself after giving us time to peruse the menu, who came to our table and asked, “What will it be sir?”

I suppose that there were few men as dangerous in life as an ex-scullie - grown up and muscular with a hell of a chip on each shoulder. I often wondered how many times they changed the wash-up water for fresh and how many fresh dishcloths they used. Perhaps best not to think on such things while eating. In any case, the tropical climate in the kitchen car would dry any plates bold enough to stay wet.

We opted for the soup, hearty, thick vegetable soup which soon came and sooner vanished - down our throats together with a slice of fresh bread served on a silver bread platter. Waiting patiently for the bread in the middle of our table was the lovely butter dish with its perforated section, suspended over ice to keep the rolled butter patties cool and firm. A three-piece cruet set, heavy and silvered, completed the picture.

Presiding over all this - away from the mighty chef’s domain, was our chief steward, thankfully on our trip of 1957 a man proud of his calling, his men and his saloon. The result? A dining experience to

Fillet of braised salmon in butter sauce came next and down the hatch that went too as we rocked along to that familiar branch-line beat - a steady 70km/h on

February 2011 Railways Africa

25

TRAIN TRAVEL the straight with the small-wheeled 19D chattering away merrily. Every now and then, a whiff of coal smoke would mix with a mouthful of braised salmon and improve the flavour. The buzz in the diner by this time was spectacular and at the same time reassuring. Everybody was enjoying themselves, but then, who wouldn’t have been? Ah! Done with the fish course now - what’s next?

Away went our plates to the scullery to the eternal consternation of the overworked scullies while we luxuriated in drooling over the next course.

Class 11 2-8-2: main-line freight locos of 1904, they handled shunting at De Aar after bigger engines displaced them.

Mmm! Salted ox tongue with mustard sauce! Sounds good. Ah! Here’s the ox tongue on a silver platter, the deft handling of fork and spoon by our steward as he dishes the delicacy carefully onto our plates. Scoop goes the spoon and he dribbles mustard sauce over the layers of tongue. A fried slice of potato and onion complete the ritual.

Our train begins to slow down and we hear a faint whistle from up front, the clicking wheels starting to thump more solidly over the rail joints. The hubbub in the diner becomes louder as the rail sounds dampen. We try to look outside but see our own reflections only, then a sound of hissing draws nearer and suddenly we pass another locomotive with its train, its safety valves screaming deafeningly, then the hiss already growing duller as we pass by, we glimpse a fiery cab with two men hanging out, looking into our lighted saloon, then the blackness of goods trucks stepping past our window, one, two, three, four - I stop counting.

We squeal to a halt, the coach giving one final, small jerk. Already we can hear the goods train moving, departing, its crew in a hurry to get back to Upington. We can feel the vibration on our table as it rolls heavily along, one truck after another, on and on then sudden silence as the guard’s van swishes past.

There are some voices calling outside, children’s voices in Afrikaans. One cannot sit in a dining saloon in Southern Africa, eating good food and drinking good drink without at least a pang for the kids along the line. It’s the way it was back then and today it’s the way it still is and perhaps always will be.

A whistle up front and we creak into motion again. Roast leg of lamb with mint sauce and mixed vegetables is next.

26

Railways Africa February 2011

In 1906, D A Hendrie was appointed loco superintendent of the Natal Government Railways. In 1922, by which time he was chief mechanical engineer of the South African Railways, he introduced the characterful A-22 dining cars, noted for their fluted timber columns and individual chairs.

This photo shows the original lights in the clerestory.

We enjoy, after almost conceding defeat, a helping of cabinet pudding with custard which fills us not only with satisfaction.

There is hardly room for cheese and biscuits but somehow we manage them and wash it all down with railway coffee in those stubby little cups with the Union coat-of-arms in green emblazoned on their sides. The coffee is poured in a dark brown stream from an elegant silver coffee pot, multi- dented after decades of use.

We smell the aroma of cigar smoke as someone puffs away like a steam engine at another table. Then it is time for the second sitting and up we get and arrive replete back at our compartments.

Meanwhile, our beds have been made and the bedding attendant is busy in the next compartment. A canvas bedding bag lies half in, half out of the corridor while the passengers have thankfully gone off to dine leaving some space to move. “Bedding” was a welcome visitor while dining.

As a family we loved coming back to our compartment and finding it prepared for a good night’s sleep. Those were good times

of family togetherness where we switched off the overhead lights, sometimes - at us kids’ request, leaving the green night-light glowing eerily, while we settled down in the darkness to watch other compartment lights skipping across the veld below and listening to the locomotive working. The sound of the tracks, maybe the lights of an isolated farmhouse on the horizon or the headlight seeking the road ahead as we entered curves in the track.

There was something magical about being aboard a passenger train at night - especially out in the wilderness of an African night. The smell of the bush and sand, the string of lighted coaches, rounding bends, the twisting spectacle of our train on the branch-line rails as the line followed the easiest ruling. The fading and rising of the engine’s exhaust along such curvature and the blasts of firelight as the fireman stoked for the gradients, the smoke orange in the furnace light.

Then a lonesome whistle, as we came to a level crossing - almost always without any vehicle in sight. Pure railway magic.

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TRAIN TRAVEL

“ There was something magical about being aboard a passenger train at night - especially out in the wilderness of an African night. The smell of the bush and sand, the string of lighted coaches, rounding bends, the twisting spectacle of our train on the branch-line rails as the line followed the easiest ruling.”

Sometimes in parts where there was no ballast, only sand and steel sleepers, great clouds of dust were whipped up by the passing train. This permeated every nook and cranny on the train, becoming almost unbearable. Of course, after welcome and oh so scarce rain, it was a different matter and so, on that 1957 night, in the warm distance as we sat at our windows, we saw flashes of lightning.

How good that looked! The display grew in intensity as we clattered along until we ran into a thunderstorm, the rain pelting down. As the wind was blowing from the corridor side of the train we were able to keep our windows open and so were treated to the marvellous smell of rain on the dry veld. As we sat there on the blue blankets of our bedding, we were probably as content as anyone could wish to be.

Then it was bedtime and us boys clambered into the top bunks while Mom and Dad lay in easier luxury below. Steam sounds sifting through the gauze clerestory windows, just by our heads, the easy rocking and creaking of our wooden carriage and blue reflections of lightning flashes on the white roof and then blissful sleep.

During the night we passed isolated sidings and tiny stations; Koegrabie, Putsonderwater (well without water), Brakbos, Draghoender (with its fine old hotel, now in ruin, still in full swing although not at that time of the night). We arrived at Prieska with its dangerous asbestos mines still at work and heavy cultivation in fields alongside the meandering Orange in the depth of night. Too tired to get up and look, I lay and listened to other trains, the sound of shunting and strange whistles in the night, while our Upington crew exchanged their hard-working 19 for another De Aar loco. I felt a slight bump as that coupled up and then waited a while

28

Railways Africa February 2011

before a different whistle announced our departure.

As we slid out of the mining town, a few yard lights lit up our moving compartment while up front the locomotive worked hard with the long train, whistling and puffing heavily. The creeping yard lights disappeared and once more it was our long train and the veld in splendid isolation, her corridor and vestibule lights all aglow while compartment lights would have been few and far between by then. As I once more dozed off I thought, “Tomorrow morning De Aar!” We woke just before Bristown. The air was fresh as we cantered along at a good clip and water was to be seen lying in puddles in the veld. The herb-like smell of karooid bush was sweet on the air as we washed in the by now cold water. There came a rattle on our door and a head popped in.

“Coffee sir?” A steward in his white day tunic stood with loaded tray and giant silver coffee pot. Down came our folding table and then this wonderful old SAR ritual played out. Railway coffee on a moving train. How good that smelled and how excellent it tasted!

At Britstown we dropped a few passengers.

They had sent their cars by goods train ahead of them where a local garage owner offloaded, cleaned and then parked them at the station to be picked up by their owners later. The stationmaster (a rare beast these days) held their car keys and so, after packing their luggage in the boot, they were off and away to their destinations. Why Britstown? Well the tar started there in those days and the gravel roads back then were bad, so it paid to transport your vehicle all that way south.

We left the tiny town with its overnight hotel and grand old church, its steeple

visible for many miles. Now it was only 52 kilometres to the big railway town and a sense of excitement started to build up as we looked forward to the locomotives to be seen there.

Finally, as we crested the low range of hills surrounding De Aar’s depression, we saw columns of smoke and steam rising into the still morning air. Below us were the silver roofs of the town, winking in the bright sunlight and from one end to the other of the huge pan-like hollow that was De Aar, stretched railway lines and trains.

Our valiant little 19D took us at a good pace downhill, in a long curve around the hills and as we neared the north end signal box, he started whistling, announcing that here was a passenger train and although South Africa’s longest “branch-line”, it had a mighty journey all the way from Walvis Bay - which demanded a degree of respect.

We got the all clear and from the brittle clickety clack of the 60lb track, the sound changed on main-line metals to the deeper boxy sounds of heavy rail. Our driver opened up, cracking his regulator and enjoying the last sprint into the massive junction. Shunting crew along the way all waved and one driver lifted his hat. It was wonderful entering a railway yard with that courtesy shown.

Perhaps it was simply old-fashioned, perhaps just part of the steam drivers’ brotherhood, perhaps merely courtesy shown to the passengers packed at the windows - either way, it was good to see.

We pulled slowly into platform one, another passenger train waiting at platform two and a 2-8-2 class 11 standing at the ready to shunt our train. Some coaches would go to the Transvaal, while others would join the Cape train six hours later. The 11 looked burly in the morning sun, its

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TRAIN TRAVEL working parts heavily greased. It was a handsome locomotive and a wonderful thing to see, coming as it did from South Africa’s illustrious railway past.

Of course, railway history was then to be seen at every station throughout the length and breadth of the country. So much almost from the start of railways in this country was still working. Locomotives from Anglo-Boer War days were still all over the show, working hard. One could relive railway history quite easily in those days. The old Cape Government Railway (CGR) signal box was still at work at the southern end of the station as well as the CGR station building (today a ruin). Further down the line at Beaufort West their fine old double-storied CGR station building still stood. with the original engine sheds hard up against the platform, today no more.

it. Being an important junction as it was and moving as much traffic as it did, it couldn’t be much else. But perhaps its isolation had something to do with its uniqueness. Set in its depression it was essentially a railway town with railway people and railway trains. It was a service centre for stocking dining cars, with ice and food and water.

Also for the watering of coaches, and changing staff and locomotives from all corners of the country. It had a “Wild West” quality about it, the juke box café, the balconied hotel opposite the station,

the country attitudes and dimly lit streets and cowboy music’s popularity. It was a dry western town on an endless plain and it breathed railways.

From here we went north - all the way up to Zebediela to the family farm. More trains, more railway experiences but somehow different from anything we experienced on the good old South West line, so here I will end my nostalgic journey. I hope that you have enjoyed travelling with me.

Totsiens!

The old, double-storied Cape Government Railways’ building on De Aar’s island platform station, photographed in 1993, nine years after electrification was completed southwards to Beaufort West and eastwards to Port Elizabeth.

We said a silent farewell to our dining saloon and staff with not a little twinge of nostalgia. Well over a thousand kilometres and two days and nights from Windhoek, our familiar “South West” train would now be no more.

Of course the engine shed! Well, what does one say about De Aar engine shed? It was a large and important shed with large and important locomotion. De Aar had that unique feeling of a BIG railway about

Tel: +27 (0)12 653-4595 Fax: +27 (0)12 653-6841 www.vherail.co.za

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PO Box 9375, Centurion 0046, South Africa

105 Theuns St. , Hennopspark, Centurion, 0157, South Africa

February 2011 Railways Africa

29

TRAIN TRAVEL

TOURIST TRAINS A Tour Operator’s Perspective

by Geoff Cooke

Sistonke Stimela en route to Riverside, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

I made my way to number five platform, Bulawayo Station. The train waiting to depart was the first rail tour I had organised, a departure I would share with 17 passengers and a rather nervous crew.

It was 5 December 1986, and this was also the first privately-owned tourist train to run in Zimbabwe, possibly in southern Africa.

The train was a leap into the unknown, a new and untested venture in terms of which our small business would attach itself to the state railway and operate a scheduled service from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls.

Remarkably, that first tour went well – apart from the rather disturbing and still unexplained fact that all food coming out of the kitchen was coloured pink.

Our train grew over the next few years from three to eleven coaches, which included a dining car, three lounges and accommodation for up to 40 guests, some in air-conditioned suites.

Nearly ten years after that first tour we were asked by the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) to share the celebration of their centenary. This included a 25-coach train to Johannesburg and back, arriving in Bulawayo on 4 November 1996. Eleven coaches and 40 guests were under our

32

Railways Africa February 2011

“Train de Luxe” at Zanguja, Zimbabwe, 1997

“ The railway in Zimbabwe faces up to its

problems, discusses them with us and encourages us to jointly look for solutions.

This is not the case in South Africa, where we are faced with frustrations and a feeling – on our part at least - that solutions could be found if there was a desire to do so.

”

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TRAIN TRAVEL wing. The remaining 42 guests and 14 coaches were cared for by the national railway. This remarkable joint venture was a watershed: the railway had to a large extent accepted our little business as an integral part of their operations. We had reached a point where our train was running a reasonably stable service, but we did not want to expand it further without the support of someone with deeper pockets.

As the new millennium dawned we sold our train to the Shongololo Express company in South Africa and I could look back on 13 years and over 350 tours.

There were certainly frustrations as we worked out how to deal effectively with the needs of the railway, and as the railway came to terms with accommodating our requirements that were clearly higher than most of their clients: tourists tend to complain faster than coal does if the train runs late.

In reflection, the good times far outnumbered the bad ones and the national railway made a commendable effort to accommodate us with a minimum of bureaucracy.

Having sold the train, my career in railbased tourism took another route, running tours that did not include our own train.

I could now develop products that were different from those offered by the larger tour operators, but that appealed to the clients on my mailing list. We returned to a base in Britain, but the majority of my tours still had Southern Africa as their destination.

Two different markets were served by our train. Most departures satisfied the needs of tourists but a few each year ran specifically for railway enthusiasts. This mix of tours continues today, with enthusiasts’ tours that rely on chartered steam-operated trains, and those for tourists that are primarily coach tours for small groups, with a mix of tourist and railway themed attractions. Both types of tour have their rewards - and their headaches.

It could reasonably be expected that the enthusiast tours, which rely heavily on chartered steam trains, would be the hardest to plan and run. The cost of chartering trains can be inflated, and there is always a risk that the locomotives will fail with little in the way of an attractive alternative.

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Steam charter between Creighton and Donnybrook, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

Bureaucracy is a serious hindrance to maximising the potential in South Africa, a problem that has little impact in Zimbabwe where equipment reliability is of greater concern.

The railway in Zimbabwe faces up to its problems, discusses them with us and encourages us to jointly look for solutions.

This is not the case in South Africa, where we are faced with frustrations and

a feeling – on our part at least - that solutions could be found if there was a desire to do so.

Our Trains and Treasures tours have for many years offered a holiday that gives a traditional overview of the country visited, with a railway theme where appropriate and possible. In Zimbabwe, this may include a steam train from Victoria Falls Station to the famous Bridge and visits to

February 2011 Railways Africa

33

TRAIN TRAVEL

Steam charter leaving Thomson Junction, 346km north of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

relevant museums. The scheduled railway services are not to a standard that can be used satisfactorily, a fact accepted by the railway administration who are keen to find solutions once other more pressing issues have been resolved.

South Africa, on the other hand, offers a wealth of railway interest that can be harnessed, from a ride along the False Bay coast on a commuter train to an overnight journey between Cape Town and Johannesburg – and possibly further afield. However, using them can be frustrating. The Simon’ s Town line has been closed for maintenance following sea damage for more than twelve months - hardly a major issue for us, just a small eroding of an attractive rail tour package.

The Metro stations are clean, security is comfortingly visible and this worthwhile addition to our tour will, I hope, be available again this year. The only annoyance is a seemingly unnecessary restriction on photography that inevitably frustrates my clients.

We have in the past used the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe at George, the Apple Express at Port Elizabeth, Spiers Train at Cape Town and the Golden Thread train run by Transnet Heritage amongst others. Today they are all gone, making the railway tourism landscape dramatically poorer.

More serious problems have been faced on the main-line. Premier Classe has a strong traditional railway ambience and a good price, ideal for my tours. In 2010 I booked two groups on the Cape Town to Johannesburg service, and one from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. Making

Zambezi Twin Dining Car on Train de Luxe.

William serving wine.

these reservations was hard work, the friendly staff in Johannesburg working in a system that appears inefficient and not up to the job of dealing with international clients. We never really knew if our bookings would appear correctly on the train manifest, and indeed have had a few amusing surprises.

Both of the Cape Town to Johannesburg trains were cancelled two days before departure, and then reinstated a day later.

This created unspeakable frustration as we sought alternatives to replace what was a pivotal part of the tour. Of course, no good alternatives were possible, and

it was with considerable relief that we eventually boarded the train.

The Cape Town to Port Elizabeth journey was never reinstated. We used a road coach instead, and are still finalising refunds.

All these frustrations can be overcome.

Zimbabwe needs stability and investment to fulfil their wish to embrace tourism, whilst South Africa needs to give tourists the experience they want, reliably, and at an acceptable price. Visitors do not want to be negatively affected by corporate squabbles that hamper professional service delivery.

“ We have in the past used the

Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe at George, the Apple Express at Port Elizabeth, Spiers Train at Cape Town and the Golden Thread train run by Transnet Heritage amongst others. Today they are all gone, making the railway tourism landscape dramatically poorer.

”

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Railways Africa February 2011

www.railwaysafrica.com

TRAIN TRAVEL We have booked Premier Classe again for 2011, and have been assured that the problems that spoiled my sleep in 2010 will not recur. I am a rail tour operator and it is a fine train; I am not sure that many general tour operators will be so forgiving, or willing to take the risk.

stamping grounds where we traditionally operate tours that perform to expectations.

Botswana will stay on the programme as long as the mine at Selebe Phikwe continues to use steam traction to move ore from mine to smelter, and to welcome us with such open arms.

We are also running our most ambitious railway enthusiast tour in May and June this year. This exciting journey will include steam trains in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and South Africa. Kenya is a new destination for us and we are working with authorities there to establish a platform on which future tours can be built. Zambia and Zimbabwe are old

South Africa features less than it has in the past, with some services offered last year no longer available. We will however keep coming and look optimistically to a future where the existing resources will be better used to the benefit of the tourist, railway enthusiast and, of course, South Africa.

Geoff Cooke was born in England.

He emigrated to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) when his father joined the Rhodesia Railways signals department. After high school in Bulawayo, Geoff worked as a clerk on the South African Railways in Natal for a year before training in radio telephony in Rhodesia. In the mid 1970s he and his wife Sheelagh formed a theatre and television support company in Salisbury (now Harare). In 1986 he proposed to the National Railways of Zimbabwe that a tourist train be developed to service the growing tourism business to the Victoria Falls, and to draw some of those tourists further into Zimbabwe. The train grew until at the end of 1999 it was sold to South Africa’s Shongololo Express company.

In 2002 Sheelagh and Geoff returned to Britain where Geoff continues to develop and host tours to Southern Africa.

For more information on Geoff and his tours, go to: www.geoffs-trains.com.

Zambezi Twin Dining Car 666 lounge interior.

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February 2011 Railways Africa

35

TRAIN TRAVEL

RAIL TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA – for the ordinary “man in the street” > > > > >

From chartered trains to scheduled trains to suspended trains.

From Joburg to Cape Town to Bitterfontein.

From Tourist class to Premier Classe to no class.

From one manager to the next acting manager to the next acting clerk.

From CEO to acting CEO to no CEO!

The above may sound like a paradox or tall story, but it is what train tour operators, forward-looking and significant participants in South Africa’s tourism industry, have had to deal with over the past few years.

Uncertainty in the ranks of Shosholoza Meyl , the prolonged Transnet strikes, the cancellation of charter trains, the lengthy suspension of all long-distance expresses late in 2010, and generally poor service delivery have combined to force just about all rail tourism operators to close their doors.

Regular train travellers will remember once-familiar names like Hotel on Wheels, Bosveld Train Safaris, Khokhamoya train tours, Nksoi Express and Shamwari Express.

For many years, these operators addressed the travelling needs of the ordinary

“man in the street” They took people on affordable, comfortable, interesting, safe and rewarding journeys. They visited places, events, occasions and destinations not serviced by ordinary scheduled trains, buses or conventional travel agents. They brought back great memories of days and years gone by. They re-awakened for many people – young and old – from all walks of life, the enjoyment of travel by long-distance rail. They recreated interest in the whole concept of journeying by overnight train.

They stopped at small villages en route, spent money at remote stores and stalls, they donated funds and goods to people

in need, created jobs and took thousands of passengers to places where they would never have gone by other means.

They made a big and positive difference in many people’s lives – both directly and indirectly.

The good news however is that rail tourism in South Africa - despite all the setbacks is still going strong, One – and so far only one – South African train tour operator has survived…

JB Train Tours (in business since 1975) are still hosting train tours for “the man in the street”: for the person who can hardly afford one holiday or excursion per year;

Shosholoza Meyl “Premier Classe” air-conditioned sleeping cars.

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Railways Africa February 2011

www.railwaysafrica.com

TRAIN TRAVEL for the runner who likes to run the Two Oceans marathon but hasn’t the knowhow or means of travelling on his own to the Mother City; or the elderly person who looks forward to enjoying the Namaqualand daisies in season.

To meet the myriad challenges, JB Train Tours have moved their horizons, changed their marketing strategy, made various paradigm shifts, increased their destinations and departure points, added more interesting tours and listened carefully to the needs and views of “the man in the street”. They currently host about 120 train tours per annum on Shosholoza Meyl scheduled Tourist Class trains, whilst their number of tours on the Deluxe Premier Classe train just about equals that number – and is still growing.

Tourism by train is a popular, well-supported and growing industry in an increasing number of countries overseas, where it is encouraged as a vital and remunerative endeavour, apart from the valuable publicity generated. It is significant that a large proportion of travellers on South African train tour operations that no longer exist came from overseas, bringing with them and spending generously their many dollars, pounds, yen and Deutchmarks.

JB Train Tours’ categories include Holiday, Festivals, Sports and Ad Hoc tours.

The Holiday train tours include visits to Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Namaqualand and the West Coast, Garden Route, Motorbike-on-Train tours to the Western Cape and Garden Route, off-road Motorbike-on-Train tours to the Namaqualand Flowers, Baviaanskloof and “The Hell”, as well as the Eastern Cape.

Their 7 Provinces and 3 Trains tour has become very popular in a short space of time, whilst the 3 Cities and 2 Trains tour was added recently. All these excursions depart from Johannesburg.

For the people of Cape Town and the Eastern Cape, there are tours to the Kruger National Park and Lowveld, as well as the opportunity to participate in the 7 Provinces & 3 Trains tours, as well as rugby train tours.

The Festival train tours include the KKNK (Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees) in Oudtshoorn, the Cape Town Jazz Festival, as well as the Huisgenoot Skouspel at Sun City, Innibos Art festival in Nelspruit and Cherry Festival in Ficksburg.

Argus cycle race and various rugby matches to tests, Super 14 (and Super 15 in 2011) and Currie Cup games. In previous years, when charter trains were still operational, tours were undertaken to the Midmar Mile in KZN. Many schools, clubs, churches, stokvels and companies have availed themselves of the chance to travel by train to one or other interesting destination on an ad hoc tour. Senior management and board members frequently make use of the Premier Classe train tour packages, put together by JB Train Tours, to host a think-tank, small conference or launch on board a train.

South Africa is a country of opportunity, challenges and great rewards. Travel by passenger train is alive and well. It has everything going for it - let us utilise what there is and exploit the concept to the full, encouraging both rail tourism and tourism per se, love for the “unknown” and the widening of horizons. There are still many people in South Africa who have yet to discover their own country and rail tourism is one of the best, most affordable, most enjoyable and just “lekker” ways of doing it.

Some of the Sport train tours include the Comrades and Two Oceans marathons,

If you would like more information about the variety of train tours hosted by JB Train Tours, or to help you address specific train travel needs, contact them at Tel: 011 913 2442 or 0861 52 86 87 Email: info@jbtours.co.za or visit their website: www.jbtours.co.za or www.jbtours.co.za/upmarket

www.railwaysafrica.com

February 2011 Railways Africa

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TRAIN TRAVEL

ROVOS RAIL

South Africa’s World Leader in Rail Tourism

Rovos Rail Tours is a privately owned luxury rail tour operator based in Pretoria, South Africa. The company was started 21 years ago by Rohan Vos, a self-made businessman with a passion for classic trains. Initially, his idea was to create a family caravan of train coaches which he could attach to regular scheduled trains operating in South Africa, for vacation purposes. When he discovered the costs of running a private train he soon realised that the only way to make this dream a reality would be by means of carrying paying passengers.

Undaunted by banks’ refusals to finance his dream, he sold his other business interests to raise capital for the new venture and to devote himself entirely to the challenge. He scoured the countryside for derelict railway coaches. Then, with the help of his wife Anthea, he personally designed and rebuilt old standard South African rolling stock in splendid, high-Edwardian style to the most luxurious specifications.

From those difficult early days, Rovos Rail has evolved into a South African tourism success story employing approximately 250 South Africans, operating out of its unique private station in Pretoria and offering the most extensive route network of any luxury train service in the world.

Since its establishment in 1989, Rovos Rail has earned an international reputation for its truly world-class travel experiences.

Unique train and air safaris through the heart of Africa offer magnificent scenery, accommodation of unmatched luxury and combine the opulence of pre-war travel with subtle modern conveniences.

Trained chefs prepare five-star gourmet meals and the finest South African wines and premium brand liquors are served on board. Service is provided by a team of young, enthusiastic yet

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Railways Africa February 2011

professional staff with a staff-to-guest ratio of approximately one staff member for every two guests.

Rovos Rail offers regular scheduled three-day journeys from its private station in Pretoria to Cape Town, Victoria Falls and Durban. The epic 14-day train safari between Cape Town and Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania is one of the world’s greatest train journeys and has grown in popularity to the extent that the company operated 12 of these trips in 2010.

Annual excursions include a seven-day Pretoria-to-Namibia trip and a nine-day African Collage linking SA’s best scenic attractions. In addition Rovos Rail now offers a totally unique nine-day Golf Safari three times a year, linking five of South Africa’s top golf courses.

Three beautifully rebuilt classic train sets each carry a maximum of 72 passengers, who are accommodated in the most spacious suites to be found on any train in the world. With fine wood panelling and period Edwardian features - as well as every modern convenience and comfort - each air-conditioned suite accommodates two guests, offering the option of queen-sized twin or double beds. An en-suite bathroom is standard in every suite

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TRAIN TRAVEL Each of the four 18m2 Royal Suites has its own private lounge area and features a full en-suite bathroom with shower and Victorian bath. The popular 11m2 Deluxe Suites each have a lounge area and private bathroom with shower. Entry-level 7m2 Pullman suites offer a comfortable day sofa which converts to either a double bed or twin bunks at night. The use of traditional furnishings and period dĂŠcor ensure an atmosphere of elegance and grandeur in the dining, lounge and observation cars.

A separate Events Train is available throughout the year for private charters and corporate lunch or dinner functions.

A maximum of 140 guests can be accommodated.

Although the company owns and operates is own fleet of historic restored steam

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locomotives, these can be used only within the confines of the areas surrounding the station in Capital Park. Otherwise the company is reliant for traction on electric or diesel locomotives provided by the stateowned rail operator, Transnet Freight Rail.

Currently the biggest challenges facing this unique company are the difficulties in operating a private company dependent on a large state-owned rail infrastructure whose focus is freight. Under-resourced, the service provider is characterised by locomotive shortages, poor track conditions and electric cable theft on mainlines. These are the main obstacles to daily operations.

the Victorian-style station became the home base and nerve centre of the company’s operations Essentially, Rovos Rail offers a luxury cruise on rails. Trips are fully inclusive of all luxury accommodation, excursions off the train and food, as well as both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. A demographic profile of guests reveals that they fall into the A/B income group and the 45 to 75year age bracket. Guests are predominantly of international origin and are essentially individuals with the time and money to travel globally and extensively.

In 2000, Rovos Rail acquired its own private station located at Capital Park in Pretoria. After extensive refurbishment,

February 2011 Railways Africa

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ZIMBABWEAN REALITY

REGIONAL RAILWAY IN THE DOLDRUMS John Batwell reviews Zimbabwe’s rail system 30 years after independence…..

A handful of steam locomotives enables NRZ to run a newly launched Rail Leisure business unit out of Bulawayo. Photo: G Cooke

Three decades ago, the fledgling Southern African independent state of Zimbabwe inherited from its “colonial masters” one of the continent’s finest railway systems – once a vitally important, seamless and well-greased rail corridor contributing to the economic well-being of the whole region. Sadly, just over 30 years later, economic mismanagement of Zimbabwe has crippled its numerous parastatals including the almost 2,800km National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).

In latter years, the brain drain from the NRZ compounded by strike action for foreign exchange remuneration (owing to the collapsed local currency) led to the pulling in of retired staff.

The overt opulence of NRZ senior management driving brand-new 4 x 4 vehicles also prompted industrial response. In a country that once laid claim to being safe and fairly crime-free, the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” has catapulted Zimbabwe into a freefor-all society.

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Railways Africa February 2011

The NRZ has not been spared this survival mindset. In 2009, $US30 million was needed to repair the vandalised overhead contact wires stolen off the 307km electrified Dabuka-Harare main-line, NRZ’s modern showpiece just four years after independence. The situation deteriorated to the supporting masts being uprooted. The electrified section, in which 360km of copper cables were stolen, has ended up returning to diesel traction, rendering the fleet of class EL1 electric units useless. In December 2010, NRZ reported that only one of the fleet of 30 electric locomotives was operable.

Of late, $US38 million has been required to repair some 476km of railway whose poor condition necessitated 106 caution points throughout the system. Not long ago, the World Bank listed a number of NRZ lines which it recommended for closure due to their poor condition. The theft of phone lines along the line resulted in the introduction of radio communication between train crews and centralised traffic control (ctc) but – in many places – there has been a return to paper-written trains working orders. The former Rhodesia Railways, as far back as the early fifties, prided itself on ctc control of all main-lines, complete with colour-light signalling. In the past 10 years some horrific collisions, resulting in considerable loss of life, have been blamed largely on defective signalling.

The railway is currently reported to be working at between 3050% of its capacity owing to the myriad challenges. The struggling parastatal has on more than one occasion failed to raise, via government, the monies to acquire desperately-needed new motive power and rolling stock. Seven years ago, a $US110.4m deal with

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ZIMBABWEAN REALITY China for 10 locomotives, eight commuter trainsets and 64 intercity coaches came to nothing. Further orders for twenty-nine passenger coaches and 14 diesel locomotives from the Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Company were thwarted too. The system’s oldest diesel-electric motive power type, although it has been reengined, dates back to the mid-1960s.

By the end of 2010, in its most recent effort to obtain new motive power, NRZ had managed to raise 10% of the $US29 million asking price for 14 locomotives from the China North Railway Company (CNRC). The supplier however declines to deliver except against full payment.

Aged British-manufactured coaching stock from the 1950s, seen here, has lasted in service long beyond any expectation on the National Railways of Zimbabwe. Photo: A Crotty

This main-line, General Motors-built GT22LC2 type locomotive is one of 61 such units delivered to NRZ from 1982 – now almost thirty years old. Photo: G Cooke

Passenger services Elements of NRZ’s passenger rolling stock date back to the fifties. The passenger services, both urban in the form of socalled “The Freedom Trains” linking highdensity suburbs with the city centre in both Bulawayo and Harare, as well as the inter-city services, were popular when the Zimbabwean currency was in free-fall. The train was cheapest! However, since the US dollar has become the standard currency following the abandonment of the hyperinflated Zimbabwe dollar, commuters have returned to road transport. The minibustaxis are quicker and competitive once again where fares are concerned.

Today’s passengers complain that the aged passenger rolling stock is dirty, smelly and dangerous – interior lights are inoperable in most coaches and commuters feel vulnerable. Late running has also become an issue with commuters as well as overcrowding when insufficient saloons are laid on.

In all, NRZ says it requires $US274 million to invest in new equipment, but finance

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Railways Africa February 2011

minister Tendai Biti has made available a mere $US16.7m!

The huge disparity between these figures suggests minimal grasp of the situation’s seriousness. Not only is the railway vital to the economic viability of Zimbabwe, but the NRZ network is a major corridor for neighbouring states such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo and their connection to South African ports. The Tazara line from Zambia to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania, built to provide an alternative route to the sea, appears to function in fits and starts, and it is also chronically short of rolling stock and engine power.

The woes of NRZ, meanwhile, continue - and seem to be growing, with an entirely new threat surfacing in December. In continuing efforts to gain reparation for a long list of farms seized by the Mugabe government without a cent in compensation, the farming community has registered determined claims in the USA. They are demanding the right to attach identifiable government property or quasi-state corporations

located outside Zimbabwe – such as planes and trains. Initial reports indicate they are likely to be so empowered.

Remarkably, despite the gloom and doom, the NRZ still plays host to tour operators by running steam safaris in the southern and western parts of the country. The clients speak highly of efforts by the railway’s operating department to put on a good spectacle in the face of very difficult odds.

Recently an enterprising new business unit was created, in terms of which NRZ is marketing and running its own Rail Leisure ventures (see www.nrz.co.zw).

There’s one thing for sure - the people of Zimbabwe have always been admired for their incredible resilience, their admirable capacity for facing up to problems and their enviable ability to get stuck in and “make a plan”.

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OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD

PETE THE PUNDIT on

Fashion in Passenger Rail Across the world, though sadly not in Southern Africa, passenger rail is fashionable again. Many countries, even the car-crazed United States, are energetically encouraging motorists to reduce pollution and the risk of accidents, save on fuel and relax during their journeys by taking the train. For instance, Amtrak, Union Pacific and the Illinois Department of Transportation have announced agreement on speeding up passenger trains between Chicago and St Louis. After spending $1.1 billion on mainly federally funded improvements, the fastest passenger train between the two cities will take about 30% less than the current fastest time and “faster than an automobile travelling non-stop at the legal speed limit.”

South Africa’s showing in the passenger rail stakes picked up momentarily ahead of the Soccer World Cup, but nose-dived again afterwards. Following several months with (first) no intercity trains at all and (then) only a miserable handful, the “Touristclass” sleeper trains have been suspended.

Cuts of 30-40% in subsidies to commuter rail reportedly saw as many as 70 daily Metrorail trains biting the dust in Durban.

We do not have figures for Gauteng but hear that services appear to be trimmed week by week, this despite official statements saying that passenger numbers across the country are growing. A Cape Town southern suburbs commuter wrote in a letter published on 25 January: “Most sets that should be eight coaches are operating with seven … my record was two weeks ago when I witnessed a train which is normally an eight-coach set operating as five coaches. What happened to the other three?”

BOTH WEBSITES DOWN A dismayed would-be traveller complained in late January: “Both Premiere Class and Shosholoza websites are currently down. The only place where information is available is at the station(s) and call centre, but I have never been able to speak to a consultant in less than eight minutes of holding and listening to the same old advertisements over and over!

“A very innovative company named African Sun Travel (AST) created websites called www.shosholoza-meyl.co.za and www.southafricanrailways.co.za, both of which link to a site that provides info about the Shosholoza and Premier services in easy-to-understand format. They accept no telephonic queries, but there is a form where you can send an electronic request.

According to the Shosholoza call centre this is not a scam and you will receive a ticket, but AST charges a commission.”

“Shosholoza Meyl has made a court case against them to stop taking bookings. My word! If they had a proper system in the first place, AST would never have been able to get a foot in the market!”

542KM: STANDING ROOM ONLY The same correspondent employs a domestic who visited family in BeaufortWest early in January. “On the way back they had pre-booked places and tickets for the Sunday night Cape Town-bound train. Because of over-booking earlier on, the train was already overfull when it arrived at Beaufort. They rightly refused to stay behind as they had valid tickets for that train and some had to start work on the Monday. Result: about 200 extra passengers boarding an already packedout train. Some people had to stand all the way (542km) as there was no room on the floor! Obstacles like people in wheelchairs and baggage prevented them from accessing the dining car”.

Prasa locomotives are now liveried purple, distinguishing them from Transnet units which operate as a completely separate fleet. Photo: Eugene Armer.

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Railways Africa February 2011

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OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD NOW HEAR THIS Late in 2010, a Railways Africa correspondent used the intercity “economy” service from Durban to Johannesburg, but: “They only discovered after both the Johannesburg and Cape Town-bound trains had been docked alongside platforms at Durban station (and all shunting personnel and the shunt loco had already left) that there was a sleeping coach short on the CT train - and a one too many on the Johannesburg express. There were some very glumlooking Cape Town-bound passengers standing aimlessly on the platform, as their allocated coach was nowhere to be found!”

“It should have been a simple matter of having the main-line loco crews shunt the coach from the one train to the other. But the Shosholoza Meyl train crews refused to assist with shunting, saying it was not their job to shunt trains. They had to call back shunting personnel and a diesel driver from home and the shunting only began after 19:00 - half an hour after the Cape Town train should have left. During all this, the two sets of train locomotives had to go and stand aside on other lines. Needless to say, the CT train departed almost 90 minutes late and our one to Jbg left almost 60 minutes after its scheduled departure time of 19:15.”

Apparently nobody could do anything about this dismal sequence of events - such as suspending the drivers who refused to shunt the solitary misplaced coach. Had they been suspended, it seems, the trains would not have run at all, as there aren’t any spare Shosholoza Meyl drivers in Durban.

This is the legacy (now where have we heard that word before?) of splitting passenger business away from Transnet’s freight. There are other bizarre consequences of this bright idea but we won’t go into them here. (But do look at the picture).

In 1947, the Durban-Cape Town train was officially named the “Orange Express”. This was changed later to “Trans-Oranje” but when this photo was taken at Kimberley in 1993, the station loudspeaker still called it the Orange Express

AND THIS David Green, writing on sar-L: “On 26 January, my wife and I were booked on the 18:30 from Durban to Cape Town. We arrived at the station about two hours early to be advised that the train was cancelled due to a washout between Harrismith and Bethlehem but that they had organised a bus: ‘Be at the car park at 18:00’. The bus was a Translux coach which was not fully loaded. It appears that other passengers had been pre-notified of the cancellation and decided not to travel. The bus set off around 19:00 and cruised along the N3 at high speed until it stopped at the station in Pietermaritzburg for a while after seemingly touring the city searching for it. We then regained the N3 and cruised along the N3 and N5 to Bethlehem where the coach refuelled. We then proceeded across country to Kroonstad where the coach entered the station yard, stood for a minute and drove out.”

“Next stop Hennenman (or is that Henneman, both spellings used on the station platform) where we arrived at 03:30. Four ladies decamped from the bus to the station waiting room. It appeared that we were waiting for one passenger for onward travel but she was not there. The bus was under the charge of the Shosholoza Meyl representative who decided that we must wait for up to six hours to the due departure time of the train.

There then erupted a heated debate led by the bus driver who urged the SM rep to consider the other passengers, however the decision of the SM rep prevailed. The driver switched of the engine, which closed down the aircon, and we sat in the dusty station yard in the dark. After a couple of hours of uncomfortable sleep we woke up and became aware of a terrible stench in the coach. The driver suggested that this had resulted from everybody farting while sleeping! He, meanwhile, had sat at the front end with the door open.”

“After another short while the SM rep was urged to call up his control to try and telephone the passenger to come to the station early. He disappeared off to the station building where a station staff member had now arrived. Fifteen minutes later he returned and advised that the passenger had been rebooked onto this train as the previous week’s train was ten hours late, however, in the event the passenger had caught the previous week’s late train but his booking had not been removed from the list of passengers for our train!”

The old order: footplate staff swap between the southbound Trans-Karoo passenger express (right) and a northbound freight at Matjesfontein in the Karoo. Today’s Prasa and Transnet crews work for different employers, meaning separate fetching and carrying by road at the end of their shifts.

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Railways Africa February 2011

“The SM rep was then urged to check the status of the other passengers who were due to be picked up en route. This resulted in a deviation to the route as we could now avoid De-Aar. The engine was restarted and the aircon burst into life and after a short time comfort was re-established, most passengers having previously removed themselves to beneath the trees.”

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“We then set off for Bloem where we picked up an elderly lady who was quite frail and did not appear to remove herself from her seat until she arrived at her destination at Bellville in the Cape Town suburbs. She was assisted by a couple of other passengers and the SM rep who bought her food and drink at the various comfort stops en-route but I did wonder about her other needs during the 14 hours she was on the coach.”

“From Bloem we proceeded to Kimberley where we stopped at the station and I got a ticking off for spending too much time examining the class 25 on the platform and the 10 class 6E electrics parked in the middle road. We then moved to a mall for exactly 30 minutes for lunch.”

“After lunch we set off down the N12 at a steady cruising rate noting only one freight train hauled by a pair of 34s. After Three Sisters onto the N1 we passed two SM trains hauled by pairs of 6E’s heading north and three southbound freights stopped in sidings. The journey was long but the weather was glorious, and although there were many signs of heavy rain we saw nothing of the flooding that had apparently occurred. As is normal on long coach trips the mood among the passengers and the three crew (SM rep and two drivers) was generally jovial. We ourselves were taken directly to the entrance to the Train Lodge at Cape Town station which was just as well as we had arrived nearly nine hours early which resulted in our having to pay for an extra night’s lodging.”

PREMIER CLASSE SUSPENDED Unconfirmed reports in late January suggest that all Premier Classe trainsets have been withdrawn from service so that the cooling system can be upgraded. Apparently this is being converted from a water-cooled arrangement to standard airconditioning. It is hoped to have the trains running again during February.

“The dining-car has run out of water. Chef says please could you fill our kettle” www.railwaysafrica.com

February 2011 Railways Africa

47

INDUSTRY COMMENT

Passenger Rail for South Africa Dave van der Meulen / Managing Member / Railway Corporate Strategy CC How to get traction?

South Africa is a member of the Group of Twenty, and has recently been invited into the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) Alliance: It moves in elevated international circles. Despite that standing, it is interesting to compare South Africa with its peers regarding passenger rail, and to seek scientific understanding from whatever differences emerge.

Among the G-20 countries, our gross domestic product (GDP) per capita ranks fourth last. Eighteen of the twenty have at least one city with a dedicated high-capacity metro rail system: A nineteenth is imminent. Eleven operate high-speed rail services, one is under construction, and one has invited tenders.

Among the smaller but less diverse BRIC subset, our GDP per capita ranks third. All other members have several cities with metro systems: China and Russia have also implemented highspeed rail, and Brazil has invited design-and-construct tenders.

South Africa finds itself among countries that have turned competent railways to advantage. Competitive passenger rail systems, which are readily available in the global market, can work amazing outcomes for cities and countries. At entry level, Rennes (France) has a metro system (catchment population 390,000), while Morocco is implementing high-speed rail. Yet with the notable exception of Gautrain, passenger rail in South Africa is in the doldrums.

Passenger rail is inherently competitive in the heavy metro, regional rail, and high-speed market spaces. Each has developed a tightly focused solution set, described below. Conversely, passenger rail is not inherently competitive in other market spaces, in which other transport modes simply overrun it.

Heavy metro is a well-established, high-capacity rail solution for high-density, short- distance corridors. Automatic train protection is de rigueur, to mitigate the risk of injury or worse to large passenger masses. Full automation is therefore a natural extension of contemporary metro technology: it allows and encourages authorities to shift focus from humdrum service design, constrained by human crews, to delivering smart mobility that attracts passengers in leading cities.

Transport for London manages everything one can conceive in urban transport integration – heavy and light rail, buses, taxis and traffic.

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Railways Africa February 2011

High-speed rail is a work in progress, spreading throughout developed and developing countries. It debuted at 210km/h on dedicated lines in Japan. Over time, 200-220km/h became the ceiling for classic standard gauge railways with appropriate upgrading. Meanwhile, dedicated high-speed railways also upped speed - China will commence world-leading 380km/h operation on its new Beijing-Shanghai line in 2011. The terms very high speed or ultra high speed reflect that escalation. Nowadays 200-220km/h is passé on standard gauge, and the nomenclature reverted simply to high-speed rail. The Intercity moniker also receded as other drivers became prominent - the 2010 HighSpeed Rail Conference in Beijing indeed emphasised economic development, reduced energy consumption, green transport, and many more.

Regional rail on standard gauge offers high-capacity, moderatedistance, 200km/h trains. Unlike metro and high-speed, it typically shares infrastructure with others, frequently freight trains. Unfortunately, delving into this interesting aspect would lengthen this article unduly.

Institutional models While South Africa’s constitution designates railways as a national competence (exceptionally, Gautrain is legitimised by the Gauteng Transport Infrastructure Act 2001 as amended), significant institutional differences exist between it and the rest of the world. Consider the following examples.

The European Union has 27 members currently, and its enlargement strategy recognises a further four candidate countries and five potential candidates. Despite that diversity, the

Bus rapid transit (BRT) in Johannesburg – commandeering a sizable portion of existing roadway

www.railwaysafrica.com

INDUSTRY COMMENT

With the notable exception of Gautrain, passenger rail in South Africa is in the doldrums: here a diesel hauls a decades-old Metrorail commuter set out of Pretoria during a planned power outage. Photo: Eugene Armer.

European Rail Agency regulates international matters, such as technical standards for interoperability, while each member has its own national rail authority. Urban rail is a local competence, sometimes escalated to second tier government when transport integration in an agglomeration is indicated.

As example, the Zweckverband (read purposive association) Rhein-Ruhr manages railway passenger traffic in nineteen cities and five districts in Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr area. It has achieved wide-scale business and technical integration, among others regauging former metre gauge lines to standard gauge to achieve interoperability and networkability throughout its domain, and acquiring services from Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) and others.

It was legislated into being by the state North Rhine-Westphalia.

Interestingly, Transport for London manages everything from streets (pedestrians, cyclists, road users, and operations) through licensing taxis to operating buses, and light as well as heavy rail: Its remit spans as wide as one can conceive urban transport integration.

Several agencies manage transport in the complex New York and northern New Jersey agglomeration. One is the bi-state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which among many services, such as airports, bridges, buses, ports, and tunnels, also operates metro rail services.

Institutional arrangements in these examples range from local to continental, with bottom-up integration and top-down regulation of interoperability and safety. Within G-20 countries, local railways are a local competence: metro and regional rail service coordination escalates, but no higher than second-tier government, and then only when multiple local authorities are involved.

Positioning rail for competitiveness and sustainability Rail is inherently competitive when it exploits the strengths of its three genetic technologies - Bearing, or carrying heavy axle load, Guiding, or travelling at high speed, and Coupling, or linking vehicles to raise capacity. Noting that even heavy metro has comparatively light axle load (<20 tonnes), and operates at low speed (≈80km/h maximum), its high-capacity competitive advantage derives from coupling vehicles together.

At the low-speed end, weakly positioned metro rail applications are vulnerable to a pincer attack. First, if available or potential traffic is insufficient to support high axle load, then rubber-tyred mass transit solutions suffice. Hence, bus rapid transit (BRT) threatens rail’s market share from below. Second, automated rubber-tyred guided vehicles emulate rail’s high capacity by offering extremely short headways, ie virtual coupling. Hence, automated light metro (eg VAL) threatens rail’s market share from above.

It is no surprise therefore that South Africa started implementing BRT. However, applause for it has not been deafening. The author’s subjective personal observation of Johannesburg’s BRT is that commandeering a sizable portion of existing roadway seems to have not only displaced common road traffic, but also the vibrancy that accompanied it. Contrast this with Gautrain, which is positively influencing its environs by adding value through stimulating development around stations. This distinction between rail and road transport is crucial: nothing comes free, least of all right-of-way in built up areas.

At the high-speed end, rail exploits its guiding genetic technology robustly, and to a lesser extent its coupling genetic technology.

COMPELLING INSIGHT FROM ORIGINAL RESEARCH www.railcorpstrat.com

www.railwaysafrica.com

February 2011 Railways Africa

49

INDUSTRY COMMENT South Africa’s topical debate and speculation is understandable, but much work remains before strategic direction can emerge.

Seeking financial closure

private investors from the outset, this in a milieu where global competition for investment funds finds ready alternatives, such as BRIC countries developing their potential. Proposals and funding sources seem misaligned.

Consider the following propositions to reveal possible constrictions: First, metro, regional or high-speed passenger rail can potentially contribute value to a host setting throughout the world. It amasses many benefits, such as low capital and operating costs per unit capacity, low energy consumption, small carbon footprint, broad economic stimulation, and many others. If South Africa does not implement appropriate passenger rail solutions, but through inadequate investment allows less effective modes to hijack the demand, then it generates economic losses that do it disservice.

Second, if government is institutionally mandated to invest in rail infrastructure, but cannot muster the means, then it may frustrate progress if it does not allow private investors to consider such opportunities. Government could have first refusal on investment in designated fields, but should not impede other willing investors if it cannot pony up. Of course, some proposals only deliver benefits beyond a time horizon that might attract private investors, for example deploying high-speed rail to rebalance and strengthen a county’s economic geography. Such situations are an entrée to public-private partnerships, by means of which a government can leverage available funds through attracting private participation. Authorities can pursue policy objectives while private investors concurrently earn satisfactory returns. Such arrangements have gained acceptance across a wide range of railway opportunities. For example, Buenos Aires Metro is concessioned to a private operator; Seoul Metro Line 9 is privately funded; and Lisbon-Madrid high-speed railway infrastructure is being built under a forty-year build, finance, and maintain contract.

Third, no generally accepted case for passenger rail investment in South Africa appears to exist. The author does not suggest that it may not actually exist - many bankable projects probably do exist. However, their presentation has not yet persuaded potential funders to do what funders do. The National Transport Master Plan 2050 will no doubt address this topic, but at the time of writing, the critical Phase 3 Forward Planning and Phase 4 Action Agenda reports were not yet publicly available on its website. National Treasury is responsible for disbursing limited public funds prudently, among others to passenger rail, but contention with other heavyweight claimants limits the prize.

Furthermore, present institutional arrangements discourage

Fourth, if ultimately no investor shows interest, then the absence of viability will be plain for all to see, and nobody should complain.

It is evident that South Africa has not worked through these propositions to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Financial closure on valuable projects is likely to remain elusive until then.

Discussion and conclusions The G-20’s mission is to cooperate and consult on matters pertaining to the international financial system. In such lofty company, South Africa’s grounded understanding of struggling through huge challenges qualifies it as a competent world leader in the new century. However, the tatty condition of its passenger railways does not match its international standing. South Africa needs a major mind shift to conceive and express its passenger rail requirements in a format that leads naturally to bankable proposals that attract public and/or private investors.

Commuter rail would probably find a place in such a dispensation.

However, finding counterpart countries that approach commuter rail at national level is not easy. Spontaneous, bottom-up coordination seems more effective, but it would most likely require institutional amendment. Regional rail is probably some way off - resolution of track gauge and access arrangements are prerequisites for 160-200km/h operation. Above all, high-speed rail transcends conventional cost-benefit analysis into the realm of bold country positioning.

BRIC countries are leveraging effective railways to ascend the ladder of global economic significance. Can our ideologies support the perspectives presented here? Many state functions already have complementary private sector counterparts - think of education, health, security and others, and - in transport airlines, and roads. By contrast, state and private enterprises compete in passenger rail. South Africa needs to apply mind and resources to catch up with its peers. Alternatively, it might not need passenger rail at all or less than at present. Citizens must know either way, to advance decisively, or to avoid wasting managerial- or other resources by barking up the wrong trees.

Note in closing that this article reflects Railways Africa’s feature of the month: One could compose a companion article on freight rail …

6 – 8 April 2011 EXPO CENTRE – JOHANNESBURG

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Railways Africa February 2011

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by South Africa’s Transport Deputy Minister, Jeremy Cronin, and the keynote address will be delivered by Clem Sunter.

8.30 - 9.00

Deputy Minister Jeremy Cronin

Department of Transport

Opening Address: Government's Investment in Rail - The Future of Rail

9.00 - 9.30

Richard Vallihu

Transnet Rail Engineering

Opening & Welcome

9.30 - 10.00

David Anglin

Bombardier

Opening & Welcome

EXHIBITION HALL

WEDNESDAY 6TH APRIL

10.30 - 11.00

Clem Sunter

Mind of a Fox

The World and South Africa Beyond 2011 - The Latest Scenarios.

11.00 - 11.30

Peter Copley

DBSA

How Do We Get Meaningful Participation by The Private Sector to Meet The World Shift Back to Rail?

11.30 - 12.00

Klaus Findt

KPMG

How Can You Attract International Investors for Long-Term Infrastructure Projects in Africa; Lessons Learned From Other Developing Countries

12.00 - 12.30

Professor Philip Black / Craig Parker

University of Stellenbosch

New PPP Models

12.30 - 13.00

Dr Barbara Jensen

Head: Communication Gautrain

Public Private Partnerships - Changing Perceptions. Successful Communication Strategies : Gautrain

13.00 - 14.00 LUNCH 14.00 - 14.30

Dede Bukasa

Khuthele Projects

Passenger Rail Development in South and Southern Africa

14.30 - 15.00

David Lubinsky

OPSI Systems

Planning & Scheduling Technology for the Rail Industry

HALL 1

10.00 - 10.30 MORNING TEA

15.00 - 15.30 AFTERNOON TEA 15.30 - 16.00

Fanie van der Walt / Garry Pita

Transnet Group

Transnet’s Competitive Supplier Development Programme (CSDP) success to date and a brief look at the future Supplier Development Plan (SDP)

16.00 - 16.30

Richard Bean

UNIDO

UNIDO Supplier Procurement Exchange Programme: Implementation in South Africa

16.30 - 17.00

Alexander Kerschgens

MTU Friedrichshafen

HST Project in The UK

THURSDAY 7TH APRIL 2011 8.00 - 8.30

Vinay Mudholkar

Louis Berger Group (USA)

"Share Corridor Railway Development for Regional Economic Growth" Project Cases: Railway Links to Mines, Cities and Ports

8.30 - 9.00

David Anglin

Bombardier

International Operators: Best Practices and Trends

9.00 - 9.30

Ambassador Roger BallardTremeer

SA-Angola Chamber of Commerce

Angola's Ports And Railways - What of The Future?

9.30 - 10.00

Johny Mitchell Smith

Walvis Bay Corridor Group

Corridor Development and Operations Efficiencies

10.30 - 11.00

Waddingham Makonyola

Ministry of Transport & Public Infrastructure - Malawi

Economic Growth in Malawi VS Rail and Port Infrastructure What is the Future Outlook and How Do Suppliers Get Involved?

11.00 - 11.30

Barnard Cvijanovic

Arcelor Mittal Commercial RPS

State of the Art Port Structures in Steel Sheet Pile

11.30 - 12.00

Elias Mwenya

Namport

Containerization and Depot Management, Effective Use of Technology

12.00 - 12.30

Richard K Chitepo

GIBB

Estimating Energy Consumption Patterns of Old and Modern Trains

12.30 - 13.00

Mr. Jean-Pierre Lehman

UIC Coordinator for Africa

UIC Africa and Future Plans

13.00 - 14.00 LUNCH 14.00 - 14.30

Isabelle Fonverne

UIC- International Union of Railways

International Level Crossing Awareness

14.30 - 15.00

George Kaulbeck

CPCS Transport

Costs and Benefits of High Speed Rail Projects

15.00 - 15.30 AFTERNOON TEA 15.30 - 16.00

Graham Bishop

Mott MacDonald South Africa (Pty) Ltd.

Is South Africa's Rail Infrastructure Capacity Capable of Meeting Future Increased Mining Production Levels?

16.00 - 16.30

Chris Campbell

PDNA

Developing Rail Capacity - The Skills Challenge Times subject to change

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HALL 1

10.00 - 10.30 MORNING TEA

RAILWAYS | HARBOURS | MINING | INTERMODAL | COMMUTER THURSDAY 7TH APRIL 2011 - TECHNICAL 8.00 - 8.30

Dr Dave van der Meulen

Railway Corporate Strategy CC

Competitiveness and Sustainability: Scenarios for Rail Development in South Africa

8.30 - 9.00

Dr Willem Sprong

GIBB

Innovation in Railway Infrastructure Maintenance Strategies

9.00 - 9.30

Dr Frank Mueller-Boruttau

INNOtec Systems

How to Reduce Maintenance Costs of Rolling Stock and Infrastructure and Improve Safety with Mobile Monitoring Systems Lasca and Moni

9.30 - 10.00

Corné Engelbrecht

Bombardier

The Gautrain Maintenance Program and Facility

10.30 - 11.00

Ahmed T Ashaukat

International Finance Corporation - World Bank Group (USA)

Typical Global Funding Model for Rolling Stock

11.00 - 11.30

Leon Zaayman

Consultant to Plasserail

Specialised Requirements for Tamping Switches and Crossings

11.30 - 12.00

Tshepo Sebothoma / Hendrik van Stryp

SIMS

Mechanised Turnout Replacement

12.00 - 12.30

Markus Nottelmann

Sperry Rail

Portable Ultrasonic Equipment Applications for Rail Flaw Detection

12.30 - 13.00

Njabulo Khumalo

Infraset

Maintenance Free Masts for the Railways

HALL 2

10.00 - 10.30 MORNING TEA

13.00 - 14.00 LUNCH 14.00 - 14.30

Colin Gewanlal

Kaytech Engineered Fabrics

Erosion Control of Railway Embankments with the Use of A Geosynthetic Cellular Confinement System

14.30 - 15.00

Dr Janis Vitins

Bombardier

New Generation of Heavy Haul Electric Locomotives

15.00 - 15.30 AFTERNOON TEA 15.30 - 16.00

Servaas le Roux

Rocla

New Product for Track Laying or Track Life Cycle: Concrete Signal Boxes

16.00 - 16.30

Gunter Ehm

T-Systems International GmbH

T-System's Platform Solution - The Basis for Services in Transport Logistics and Public Transport

8.00 - 8.30

Dave Stromberg

Transnet Planning

Port Expansion Plans for Durban, Focussing on Container Growth and Capacity Plans, Including the Proposed New Digout Port Complementary Rail Plans in the Context of the 2050 Vision for the Durban to Gauteng Freight Corridor. Resulting Economic Benefits and Opportunities.

8.30 - 9.00

Dr Allan Wijnberg

Prestedge Retief Dresner Wijnberg

Port/Harbour Expansion, Deep-Water Ports – Planning, Design and Construction

9.00 - 9.30

Craig Henry

Pragma Africa

Maintenance Engineering During the Design Phase and Maintenance Management During the Operational Phase, are Key Factors Determining Asset Life-Cycle Cost

9.30 - 10.00

Karl Socikwa

Transnet Port Terminals

Ngqura and its Future Expectations and Role

10.00 - 10.30 MORNING TEA 10.30 - 11.00

Edwin Briggeman

Briggeman Material Handling Solutions

Materials Handling, Logistics and Landside Connections

11.00 - 11.30

Kriba Naiken

ICM Group

Minerals Supply Chain – Mine to Furnace

11.30 - 12.00

Xavier Prevost

Fossil Fuel Foundation

Impact of Deteriorating Infrastructure on Mining

12.00 - 12.30

Simone Smith

Silvex (Pty) Ltd

Value Chain Management in a Multimodal Cargo/Logistics Hub

Glenn Hare

T-Systems South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Dynamic Railways and Harbours Through Cloud Computing

Cowan-Harper Attorneys

The Controversial Labour Bills of 2011 – Implications for Employers

12.30 - 13.00

HALL 1

FRIDAY 8TH APRIL 2011

13.00 - 14.00 LUNCH

FRIDAY 8TH APRIL 2011 8.00 - 10.00

Rod Harper / Osborne Molatudi

10.30 - 12.00

Michael Judin

Goldman Judin Inc. Attorneys

CRISA (The Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa) King III and the Companies Act

12.00 - 12.30

Marie Parramon

Imbewu

Green Legislation

12.30 - 13.00

To Be Advised

To Be Advised

To Be Advised

13.00 - 14.00 LUNCH Times subject to change

W W W. R A I LWAY S A N D H A R B O U R S . C O M

HALL 2

10.00 - 10.30 MORNING TEA

AFRICA UPDATE

AFRICA UPDATE UIC AFRICAN REGION Office National des Chemins de fer (ONCF – the national railway of Morocco) CEO Mohammed Khlie, who is the new chairman of the UIC (International Union of Railways) African Region, recently proposed an action plan for the region at the UIC executive board. A working group met on 14 and 15 October in Tunis, attended by Messrs Jean-Pierre Lehman, UIC coordinator for Africa and legal director SaïdChandid, head of ONCF’s corporate strategy department, Mokhtar Essadok, head of SNCFT’s communications and external relations department (Tunisia), and Mrs Rym Ben Ayed, head of SNCFT’s external relations department. The group’s aim was to draft a proposed short-term action plan for this UIC region. The action plan was submitted to the UIC executive board for Africa on 13 November 2010 in Tunis under the chairmanship of Mohammed Khlie and brought together, in addition to ONCF, Société Ivoirienne de gestion du Patrimoine Ferrovaiare (SIPF – the state railway of Côte d’Ivoire) , Société d’Exploitation du Transgabonais (Setrag – the state railway of Gabon) and Transnet (South Africa).

ANGOLA CFN WILL BE BACK IN 2011

FIRST TRAIN AT MALANJE

Angolan minister of transport Augusto da Silva Tomás announced at a function on 23 December that the 756km Caminhos de ferro Namibe (CFN) railway from the Atlantic to Menongue will reopen for public service during 2011. Known formerly as the Moçâmedes Railway, the system was largely destroyed during the civil war.

On 27 December 2010, Angolan minister of transport Augusto da Silva Tomás formally inaugurated the Caminhos de ferro de Luanda (CFL) new station in Malanje, endpoint of the 424km railway from Luanda, capital of Angola. The line was out of operation for 18 years after the civil war began. Reconstruction was carried out by Chinese contractors at a cost of $US600 million and included rebuilding 27 stations. These each have two floors, an administrative area, restaurant, clinic, train control area and waiting rooms with capacity for 200 and 500 people. Workshops and accommodation for employees are provided. Rebuilding included 40 bridges and 600 culverts.

A new bridge on the 756km rehabilitated Angolan line to Menongue: Caminhos de ferro Namibe (CFN) - formerly Caminhos de ferro de Moçamedes. Photo courtesy Anton van Schalkwyk.

Zenza

Luanda

Malanje

Dondo

ATLANTIC Lobito Benguela

ANGOLA

Camacupa Caaia

Lubango

Dongo

Luau

Menongue

Chamutete

Chiange

Dilolo

Luena

Kuito Huambo

Cubal Namibe

DRC

Km 300

ZAMBIA Oshikango Ondangwa NAMIBIA Tsumeb

56

Railways Africa February 2011

Grootfontein

BOTSWANA

On 13 January, the first commercial passenger train arrived in Malanje after a journey of around 10 hours from Luanda.

Commercial advisor for Caminhos de ferro de Luanda (CFL) Aurélio Russo said just over 200 fare-paying passengers travelled in the seven coaches.

A twice-weekly freight service was launched on the line from Luanda to Dondo (190km) at the end of July. Dondo is the endpoint of a 55km branch from Zenza (135km from Luanda), junction with the main line to Malanje.

The Malanje province is located in the north-east of Angola and its population mainly makes a living from farming livestock and crops. According to the news agency Angop, the region is rich in natural landscapes and tourist areas, such as the Kalandula waterfalls and the black stones of Pungo-a- Ndongo. The sable antelope, an animal found exclusively in Angola, is to be seen in the Luanda nature reserve.

www.railwaysafrica.com

AFRICA UPDATE CAMEROON SOUTH KOREAN PLAN FOR CAMEROON According to permanent secretary at Cameroon’s economy ministry Paul Tasong, a group of South Korean companies is to draw up a plan to expand the country’s rail network. Rail connections are needed to infrastructure projects such as the Lom Panga hydroelectric reservoir in the east and the Memve’ele hydroelectric project in the south, as well as iron ore and bauxite mines, Tasong said the government wants to regulate the railway system, lay out rules and set standards for potential companies to follow.

Chad

Km

N

300

Nigeria

Ngaoundéré

Central African Republic

Cameroon Kumba

Currently Cameroon has one railway line, built during the colonial era. It runs from Nkongsamba via the port city of Douala (172km) to the capital Yaounde (580km), continuing to Ngaoundere in the heart of the country, a total distance of over 1,200km.

Nkongsamba Mbanga Douala

Yaoundé Mbaimayo Eséka Ngoumou

Guinea

Gabon

Congo

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AFRICA UPDATE ETHIOPIA

RAILWAY TO LINK 49 ETHIOPIAN TOWNS Posted by Daniel Berhane, 14 November 2010: “The new Ethiopian rail network will connect about 49 urban centres, according to a leaked document. To date, the government is unwilling to disclose the details of the plan, except for highly generalised statements. Various media outlets, local and international, have reported the government’s unwillingness to disclose.”

“A document issued sometime in September or October and circulated among high ranking government officials, stresses the strategic importance of the railroad network plan for the success of the five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP). It urges, in the strongest terms, ‘all concerned’ to give unconditional cooperation to the success of the plan. Presumably, this is intended to preclude bureaucratic red tapes, which often result in higher programme costs and the discouragement of contractors.”

“The new railroad network is planned to have at least eight main routes that extends to all compass points. The line will link no less than 49 urban centres, where railway stations are to be established. The proposed rail line crosses the borders of all regions, except Gambella. The network connects, among others, the Chartered Cities Addis Ababa & Dire Dawa, seven of the nine state capitals, and towns bordering Sudan, Kenya and Djibouti.”

“To this end, the government plans to construct a 4,780km railroad network. The newly established Ethiopian Railway Corporation is responsible for the supervision of the construction. The new railway system is said to enhance the freight transport capacity of the nation by ‘at least five million tones, probably more’. The construction of the railroads is estimated to cost 40-50 Billion

Birr spread over seven years, while creating ‘job opportunity for several hundred thousands of people.’ ” ‘Though the construction of the new rail system is to be conducted in two phases’, the document notes, ‘it is basically one programme which is pivotal to the renaissance of the nation.’ Thus, it urges all concerned to embark on the preparatory works needed for all phases of the construction ‘without any delay.’ The document urges ‘all concerned’ to ensure the success of the plan in a manner that engages and benefits youth and women, and complements the transformation of Cooperatives.’

“The reasons why the details are kept quasi-secret are not known.

One of the reasons is to avoid undue expectations among the towns indicated in the current railroad design, according to my sources. Since some modifications to the rail routes may be made based on the recommendations of the consultants responsible for drawing the final design. However, this is unlikely to be the sole reason, since the current design is based on a fairly long study and major alterations of the route are highly unlikely, according to professionals in the rail industry.”

“So far, the nation has a railroad that links Addis Ababa, via Dire Dawa, to the port of Djibouti. The 781km long rail tracks were built by the French in the early 1900s. About one third of the track is being relaid with heavier weight rails; that is, changing the original 20kg per metre rails with 40kg. A European company is responsible for the maintenance project, which the European Union is funding.”

Below are the towns that the proposed rail line connect: WESTERN Endpoint - Kurmuk, Sudan border Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Ambo - Ijaji - Nekemet - Nejo - Asosa Kurmuk, Sudan border SOUTH-WESTERN Endpoint - Bedele Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Ambo - Ijaji - Seqa - Bedele Endpoint - Dima Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Ambo - Ijaji - Seqa - Jimma - Tepi - Dima SOUTHERN Endpoint - Hawassa Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Zeway - Shashemene - Hawassa Endpoint - Weyto Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Zeway - Shashemene - Sodo Arbaminch - Konso - Weyto Endpoint - Moyale, Kenya border Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Zeway - Shashemene - Sodo Arbaminch - Konso - Yabelo - Mega - Moyale, Kenya border Endpoint - Asela Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Adama - Iteya - Asela Endpoint - Ginir Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Adama - Iteya - Indeto - Gasera- Ginir

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Railways Africa February 2011

NORTHERN Endpoint - Finoteselam Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Adama - Awash - Combolcha - Dessie - Weldya - Wereta - Bahirdar - Finoteselam Endpoint - Shire Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Adama - Awash - Combolcha - Dessie - Woldya - Mekele - Aksum - Shire NORTH-WESTERN Endpoint - Metema, Sudan border Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Adama - Awash - Combolcha - Dessie - Weldya - Wereta - Azezo - Gendaweha - Metema, Sudan border NORTH-EASTERN Endpoint - Galafi, Djibouti border Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Adama - Awash - Combolcha - Dessie - Woldeya - Semera - Ditchto - Galafi, Djibouti border EASTERN Endpoint - Dewele, Djibouti border Addis Ababa - Sebeta - Mojo - Adama - Awash - Dire Dawa - Mieso - Dewele, Djibouti border

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AFRICA UPDATE GHANA GHANA: PROPOSED ECOWAS COASTAL INE After commissioning the Accra-Tema railway in October 2010, Ghanaian President John Atta Mills broke ground to begin continuation works on the Tema Harbour station to Japan Motors rail line.

According to Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA) chairman Dan Markin, a memorandum of understanding has been signed and funding promised by foreign institutions for the planned Ecowas (Economic Community of West African States) line linking Aflao-Tema-Accra, Winneba, Cape Coast, Takoradi and Omaape. Work on the first phase including the Accra suburban line is expected to begin in February 2011.

DMUs LAUNCHED Two diesel multiple-unit sets have gone into service on the AccraTema line. According to the Ghana News Agency, the trains have a total of eight coaches and can carry around 1,200 passengers per trip. ”Deputy minister of transport Mrs Dzifa Attivor said the commissioning of the two trains would help revitalise the rail sector and reduce the serious traffic challenges facing commuters. She pledged the government’s commitment to the resuscitation of the railway sector and appealed for support to make it succeed.”

billion infrastructure bond we intend to float and through publicprivate partnerships,” Muli says. Originally conceived following a strike by matatu minibus operators in 1992, the scheme eventually got off the ground in April 2009 when the corporation signed a joint development agreement with InfraCo, a “donor-funded infrastructure development company”. This is said to “shoulder much of the upfront costs and risks of early stage development, thereby reducing the entry costs of private sector infrastructure developers.”

MADAGASCAR MALAGASY RAILCAR A vintage French-built, pneumatic-tyred Micheline railcar has been refurbished by Madarail, the company operating Madagascar’s northern railway. The Micheline is being used east to Andasibe as well as to Antsirabe, 170km to the south. The Series ZM 571 Michelines were in vogue in the 1950s. Weighing seven tons and 14 metres in length, Madarail’s Micheline, thought to be the only vehicle of its type remaining intact, has a 120hp Mercedes engine, 19 seats, a small bar and a toilet - all restored true to the original.

It is called Viko-Viko, which is the name of an endemic bird species, the Madagascar pratincole. Viko-Viko spent nearly 10 years in a workshop before returning to work in 2010.

KENYA ADDITIONAL STATION IN NAIROBI Construction of a new Sh250 million station on Mombasa Road in Nairobi is to begin early in 2011. The project forms part of the proposed new commuter rail system to serve the city and environs. Managing director of Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) Nduva Muli confirms that a contract has been signed with El Noor Construction Ltd. Muli unveiled a new logo and slogan at the Sarova Stanley Hotel on 8 December. An amount of Sh600 million was allocated in the government’s 2009/10 budget for the feasibility study, which has been completed. Approximately 160km of the existing rail system within Nairobi is to be rehabilitated and a new line about 7km in length is to be built to Unit 3 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. An allocation of Sh1.9 billion towards the project was provided in the current 2010/11 budget. Track renovation is to be undertaken departmentally. “We are soon upgrading the track ourselves because we have the expertise,” Muli explains. The upgrade, he said, will cost Sh1 billion and the rolling stock another Sh300 million.

This vintage Micheline rail car, dating back to the 1950s, was refurbished recently by Madarail, Madagascar, and has become a new tourist attraction on the island.

MAURITIUS LIGHT RAIL FOR MAURITIUS Addressing the media in Port Louis on 14 December, Mauritian public infrastructure minister Anil Bachoo said that the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (SMRT) is to advise on plans for a light rail system on the island. After studying reports submitted to it, SMRT will comment on the project’s “bankability,” and estimate the extent of subsidies needed if fares are to be set at affordable levels.

MOROCCO BIG AfDB LOAN FOR MOROCCO

Nairobi’s present station, seen at the time of the British Royal visit in 1983.

The multi-phased project, whose total cost is estimated at Sh24 billion, will link the city centre with outlying areas such as Thika, Limuru and Athi River/Lukenya. “We plan to finance the whole project using funds from the exchequer, proceeds of a Sh10

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A 300 million loan - the biggest ever extended by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to Morocco - was approved on 17 December 2010. The project aims at increasing capacity on the Kenitra-Rabat-Casablanca and Casablanca-Settat-Marrakesh sections of the Tangiers-Marrakesh north-south railway. On the Kenitra-Rabat-Casablanca line, a 148km third track is to be provided between Zenata and Kenitra, dedicated to freight. Work on the Casablanca-Marrakesh line involves upgrading and partially double-tracking the 40km between Settat and Marrakesh.

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AFRICA UPDATE MOZAMBIQUE

NIGERIAN PRIVATISING PLAN

SENA ALMOST READY TO START

ZAMBIA

MALAWI

Lake Malawi

Caminhos de Ferro do Moçambique (CFM) chairman Rosário Mualeia says it will be possible to move 5 million tons of coal annually with effect from the first half of 2011, when the largest mining companies at Moatize - Brazil’s Vale and Australia’s Riversdale Mining - expect to start exporting coal. By then, the “very nearly complete” reconstructed Sena line (575 km) will have recommenced operations. CFM’s port division is rebuilding dock 8 at the port of Beira to accommodate TANZANIA the traffic.

Lichinga

MOZAMBIQUE

Chipata Lilongwe

Dam ra Bassa

Cabo

ZIMBABWE

Nampula

Blantyre

Moatize

To Harare

Monapo

Entre Lagos

Za Tete m be si R ive r

Lumbo

Chiromo Mocuba

Mutarara

Morrumbala

Vila de Sena Caia

Quelimane

Inhamitanga

Marromeu

Indian Ocean

Manica Mutare

0 Dondo

150

300

450 Km

Beira

NIGERIA To Bulawayo JOS COMMUTER SERVICE

To Johannesburg

Boane Goba

e kw

no

na ba gu ba am Mo a rci Ga

Un

ssa

Re

Cho

After a lapse of many years, commuter passenger service returned to Jos, capital of Nigeria’s Plateau state, at the end of December. Three trains run daily, the first at 06:00, serving five intermediate halts - Dogon Karfe, Old Airport Junction, Bukuru, Anguldi and Vom. The SOUTH endpoint of the branch is at Kuru (30km), junction with the 1,443km line from Port Harcourt AFRICA to Maiduguri in the north east, onInhambane which reinstatement of passenger service is planned.

Marao

Chicome Manjacaze av Xai - Xai a Ma nh ne ica MAPUTO Xin

SWAZILAND

Inharrime

Nigeria’s current contract with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation to rehabilitate the 1,126km Lagos- Kano line constitutes the first of three proposed upgrading phases. The project comprises the sections Lagos-Ibadan (181km), IbadanIlorin (200km), Ilorin-Minna (270km), Minna-Abuja-Kaduna (360km) and Kaduna-Kano (305km).

Nacala

Cuamba

Nkaya

In terms of a government plan to privatise operation of Nigeria’s railways, three separate concessions of 25 to 30 years are envisaged, running trains in the western, central, and eastern regions.

The government is considering a bid by Railway Constructions Pakistan Limited (Railcop) for involvement in building the new 186.5km Abuja-Kano line. According to minister of finance Olusegun Aganga, the project – including nine stations and 18 bridges - would create about 4.300 jobs. The contractors would be required to construct an industrial park at Idu in Abuja, and establish a training centre for rail operations and management – all at no additional cost to the government.

Nigeria has 3,557km of 1,067mm gauge track linking Lagos with Nguru in the northern state of Yobe and Port Harcourt i n the Niger Delta with Maiduguri in the north-eastern state of Borno. The entire system is in parlous condition and characterised by decades of inefficient administration.

SWAZILAND SWAZILAND EXTENSION PLANNED The railway from Matsapha to Ngwenya is to be extended to Lohiya in South Africa.

According to minister of public works and transport Ntuthuko Dlamini, there is to be a mobile clinic train, with all the facilities a person can get when going to hospital, as well as a goods train. He said people would be treated along the way from Matsapha, Ngwenya and Lohiya.

The minister said the reason they were extending the railway is because there is congestion at Ermelo. If a train is to leave, a call must be made first, to check if it can leave.

“We felt there was a need to revive this line, and this will not need much money because there is an existing one and the bridges are still there.”

“Only the rails will be replaced.”

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Railways Africa February 2011

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AFRICA UPDATE Dlamini said the railway line will not require much money, except for the stretch from Ngwenya to Lohiya, a distance of about 138km.

The minister said previously, the trains would travel in South Africa from Phalaborwa to Nelspruit, then through Swaziland and back to South Africa, ending up at Richard’s Bay. He said by June next year, they would start rebuilding the railway line which will create employment for a number of Swazis. Dlamini also said what is good about this is that government will not be putting money in this project as outside investors have been found.

Gideon Mahlalela, the CEO of Swaziland Railways, said a survey will be conducted early in 2011 so those who are to give way for the railway line have enough time to move.

TANZANIA TANZANIA CENTRAL LINE Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL) announced on 16 January that reopening of the central line running westwards from Dar-esSalaam had been delayed. Rehabilitating the damaged section between Bahi and Kintiku, where a bridge collapsed after the four piers were undermined when the Bububu Riner changed its course during a flood, was taking longer than anticipated. TRL executive director Hundi Lal Chaudhary told the Dar-es-Salaam Citizen that high water in the river had hampered reconstruction work at the bridge. Passengers who had already purchased tickets would be refunded.

The creating of the task force follows continuing disturbances at Tazara in 2010, which culminated in late December with Zambian President Rupiah Banda sending special envoy Professor Geoffrey Lungwangwa (the Zambian minister of communication and transport) with a “special message” to Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete. Tanzanian minister of transport Omari Nundu announced next day that Tazara would hold a special board meeting, specifically to appoint an independent team to review and investigate various accusations, grievances and petitions from Tazara workers.

TUNISIA IRU OFFICE OPENED IN TUNIS As part of a strategy to extend the Paris-based International Railways Union (IRU) network in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the United States and Asia, regional headquarters for the African region were opened recently in Tunis by local transport minister Abderrahim Zouari.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by representatives of the international and African railway unions and the national rail transport networks from Tunisia, Morocco, Ivory Coast and South Africa. The IRU mission aims at developing the international rail transport in conformity with the international standards and boosting international co-operation in this sector.

UGANDA UGANDAN ECONOMY AND THE RAILWAY

Moshi

Bujumbura Singida

Kaliua

Muheza Mpanda

Manyoni

Tanga

Kilosa

According to Dr Emurwon Olupot, who chairs the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Uganda, the railway is not the only factor on which revitalisation of the country’s rural economy depends. A number of prominent people have made this assertion. Olupot makes the point that most personal trips in rural Uganda currently are made on foot. “An International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) study in Uganda found that 715 journeys per day recorded at 55 points on rural roads, 75% were accomplished on foot, 22% on bicycle, and only 2% in vehicles. Head-loading agricultural produce over long distances is a very well documented phenomenon.”

The first priority therefore, Olupot says, is to improve footpaths and roads. He continues: “The rail network will not only facilitate movement of goods in bulk over long distances, safely and cheaply, but [it] may also attract a portion of passengers away from road transport. This mode is more environmentally- friendly and, therefore, more supportive of the global initiatives being undertaken around the notion of sustainable development.”

GRIEVANCES AT TAZARA At an extraordinary meeting held on 16 January in Dar-es-Salaam, the board of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara), resolved on the appointing of an independent task force to probe the background and issues pertaining to various work stoppages and disturbances in all operational areas. Its main purpose will be to guide management on the handling of human resources and industrial relations and it is to recommend “lasting solutions” to existing problems.

The task force will comprise one Tanzanian, one Zambian and two others - neither Zambians nor Tanzanians - from among persons having no association with Tazara. Management has appealed to all employees to ensure that work resumes and continues “in harmony, cooperation and appropriate productivity.”

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Olupot poses the question: “Will the rail network achieve its full impact under circumstances of the status quo marked by our neglect to deal with the persisting rural transport problem? To me, the rural transport problem must be halted through three interrelated approaches. First, there is need for national rural road strategies and policies in all the countries which are understood by all stakeholders, a comprehensive rural roads management framework which captures the participation of everybody including rural poor farmers. The management of rural roads and tracks must be seen as an essential part of the struggle to mitigate poverty for which the role of transport planners must be central.

“Finally, the countries must identify sustainable sources of funding for rural road infrastructure, especially for maintenance

February 2011 Railways Africa

63

AFRICA UPDATE purposes. Not until the accessibility and mobility needs of all citizens, including the rural poor, are addressed will the revitalised rail network play a significant role in reducing poverty and underdevelopment.”

ZIMBABWE

FARMERS MAY SEIZE ZIM TRAINS Zimbabwean farmers whose property was seized since 2000 without compensation by the government of President Robert Mugabe have registered claims in New York seeking the power to attach any assets belonging to quasi-state Zimbabwe corporations outside the country which they can identify. Railway rolling stock is included among these items.

On 3 December, finance minister Tendai Biti told members of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI): “The farmers registered an order in New York and they can attach any quasistate asset owned by such organisations as the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and Air Zimbabwe.” According to the Zimbabwe Independent, the farmers are also said to be identifying offshore financial assets owned by Zimbabwean parastatals with the intention of seizing them too. “This would make doing business virtually impossible for many state firms.”

The finance minister said the only way to resolve the problem was to pay compensation to the farmers for properties they lost in Zimbabwe. “We have to solve the issue of this debt,” he was reported saying. However, the paper points out, “paying off the farmers may prove difficult as the bankrupt Harare government owes billions to other lenders, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.”

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FOUNDRY BUSINESS Specialist producers of a range of cast products for the rail industry from locomotive, wagon and passenger coach parts through to state-of-the-art permanent way components. We also serve the mining, automotive

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SA RAIL NEWS

SOUTH AFRICAN

RAIL NEWS TRANSNET ACTING CHIEF RESIGNS NEW DIESELS FOR SOUTH AFRICA The first two of Transnet Freight Rail’s newest diesel-electrics – the class 43 built by GE in the USA – were offloaded at Durban on 24 January 2011. It is understood that the first ten of the current order for 100 are to be built in America, and that the remaining 90 will be assembled in South Africa. Technical details are as follows:

Chris Wells, acting Transnet CEO since Maria Ramos left in March 2009, has handed over to Mafika Mkwanazi.

Acting Transnet group chief executive Chris Wells has resigned and handed over to the newly appointed acting CEO, Mafika Mkwanazi. Wells, who told Transnet he is not interested in a permanent appointment, joined the parastatal as chief financial officer in 2005. In March 2009, when Maria Ramos left, he was named acting group chief executive. Department of Public Enterprises spokesperson Ayanda Shezi told the government information service’s Buanews: “The current [Wells] management has done a sterling job in steering the company, and Transnet’s recent interim results are further proof of that. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr Chris Wells for his selfless commitment to Transnet, and to wish him well in his future endeavours.”

• Model C30-ACi • Horsepower 3,300 GHP : 3,000 THP • Weight 126 tonnes • Wheel arrangement Co-Co • Track gauge 1,067mm • Traction Motor 3-phase AC induction • Maximum Speed 100km/h • Starting tractive effort 548kN, subject to the availability of the required adhesion level • Continuous tractive effort 460kN @ 14.8km/h, subject to the availability of the required adhesion level • Peak breaking effort 288 kN • Fuel capacity 7,000 litres usable • Wheel diameter New 1,041mm : Worn 965mm • Cab features loco cam, air conditioner, refrigerator, jump seat • ECPB not provided • Radio DP provided on the first locomotive only • Refrigerator adjacent to main cab front door • Toilet - Porta Pottie, with floor drain to wayside The class 43 will be the first wholly new main-line diesel locomotive on South Africa’s government railways in well over 20 years.

The parastatal’s interim results to 30 September showed revenue up 7.6% to R18.7 billion due to volumes growth in most commodities transported. Profit for the six months was up 35% to R1. 7 billion.

Another group executive, Vuyo Kahla, who had been with Transnet since 2004, has also resigned and left in December 2010.

The Department of Public Enterprises itself has a new minister. Former Home Affairs Deputy Minister Malusi Gigaba has replaced Barbara Hogan.

Acting Transnet CEO Mafika Mkwanazi.

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Railways Africa February 2011

Prior to going aboard a ship at Norfolk, Virginia, two brand-new GE C30ACi locomotives for Transnet Freight Rail - nos 43 001 and 43 002 - lay over in Enola, Pennsylvania on 28 December 2010. Photo: J Kerr.

COMMUTERS THREATEN According to a News24 report on 15 January, Metrorail drivers and support staff were threatened by commuters who say they will be “attacked” if the trains don’t start running to time. Numerous breakdowns in early January in Gauteng were attributed by Metrorail to ageing and defective signalling and other equipment, aggravated by the effect of continuing heavy rains.

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SA RAIL NEWS SOUTH AFRICAN CLASS 39 All 50 of Transnet Freight Rail’s class 39-200 diesel-electrics have been completed but there have been recalls from service due to excessive oil spillage. The design of the oil retention box has been changed to enable draining from the sides of the locomotive.

Although the succeeding delivery of new locos begins with class 43, classes 40, 41 and 42 do not exist as yet.

Class 39.200 locomotives (and a 34) at Richards Bay depot in December 2010. Photo: Charles Baker.

NEW SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTRIC LOCOS Altogether 27 of Transnet Freight Rail’s new dual-voltage (25 kV AC, 3kV DC) class 19E locos had been delivered by the end of 2010 for use on the heavy-haul coal line to Richard’s Bay, as well as 13 class 15E (50kV AC) for the Sishen-Saldanha heavy-haul iron ore export line.

SHOSHOLOZA MEYL SCHEDULES & FARES Official reply to an enquiry dated 15 December 2010: All return trips are double the fare.

• PLZ-JNB Tourist class (sleeper accommodation) fare will be R460.00 per adult single, children 0 – 9 pay 50%.

• Tourist Class Frequency: Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

• PLZ-JNB departure time is 15:00 arriving the next morning at 11:35.

• JNB-PLZ departure time is 13:15, arriving the next day at 09h:15.

• CPT-JNB the fare will be R620.00 per adult single on the sleeper accommodation and R300.00 on the Economy class (sitter accommodation), Children 0-9 pay 50%.

• Tourist Class & Economy Class frequency daily on both directions. CPT-JNB departure time is 10:00 arriving the next day at 12:16.

• JNB-CPT departure time is 12:30 arriving the next afternoon at 15:30.

• DUR - JNB Economy sleeper (sleeper accommodation) fare is R300.00 per adult single, children 0-9 pay 50% of the fare. All return trips are double the fare.

• Economy Sleeper Class: Frequency every day except Tuesdays in both directions.

• JNB-DUR departure time is 18:30 arriving the next day at 07:21.

• DUR-JNB departure time is 19:15 arriving the next day at 07:14.

• CPT-DUR Tourist class (sleeper accommodation) fare will be R740.00 per adult single.

• Tourist Class: CPT-DUR departure time is 18:50 Mondays arriving on Wednesday at 08:10.

• DUR-CPT departure time is 18:30 Wednesdays arriving on Friday at 08h:45.

NB: Fares are subject to change without any given notice and space is subject to availability. Please call central reservations to check availability and to make reservations.

086 000 8888 or +27 11 774 4555 Email: info_shosholozameyl@shosholozameyl.co.za Web: www.shosholozameyl.co.za/www.premierclasse.co.za - From On Track, newsletter of the Railway Society of SA (Reef branch) Brand-new class 19E dual voltage loco at UCW before handing over to Transnet Freight Rail. Photo: Eugene Armer.

A class 15E locomotive marshalled in a train on the ore line.

Photo: Aidan McCarthy.

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February 2011 Railways Africa

67

SA RAIL NEWS PHELOPHEPA HEALTH TRAIN For sixteen years, South African Transnet’s health-care train Phelophepa has provided the country’s poor rural communities with primary healthcare services. It is planned to expand the initiative significantly in 2011.

The word Phelophepa combines elements of the Sotho and Tswana indigenous languages, translating roughly as “good, clean health”. In 2009, Transnet announced it would spend R82 million on equipping a second health-care train, Phelophepa II, to be introduced from January 2012.

At Transnet Rail Engineering’s (TRE’s) Salt River workshops in Cape Town, 172 employees are busy constructing the 18-coach train.

Phelophepa technical project manager at TRE Peace Kopper told Engineering News that Phelophepa II will have the same layout as its predecessor, but there will be several improvements, including a vacuum ablution system and better onboard communications, enabling medical students to continue their studies and research while away from class on the train.

All coaches are refurbished vehicles donated by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR).

After stripping they are redesigned, then equipped with high-technology medical equipment by specialist suppliers who work closely with the team. The first ten vehicles, currently in hand, comprise four accommodation coaches, health clinic, dental clinic and the power car.

The power car is to be fitted with two 250kVA alternators and two diesel tanks containing about 9,000 litres each, to provide a constant supply of electricity.

When the trains are not running, they will be housed at the Salt River workshops, where they undergo all necessary maintenance and upgrades. Running for 35 weeks every year through eight provinces, excluding Gauteng, Phelophepa has been covering some 15,000km of track, treating about 46,000 patients in its on-board clinics during this time.

such as counselling workshops, health-care education, visual, oral and health screening, and education. This number could double with the launch of the second train.

The train has primary health-care, dental and optometry clinics, a pharmacy and a counselling service to help patients deal with issues such as suicide, depression, abuse, parenting, conflict and violence.

The cost of treating each person seen on the train works out at about R74. Some procedures are offered free. The charge for a pair of spectacles is R30, dental procedures can involve as little as R10 and medication costs R5 for the dispensing of a script.

All procedures for children are free, as are health screening, examinations and tests such as diabetes and cancer screening, eye screening and counselling sessions for adults.

In addition, 200,000 adults and learners benefit through outreach programmes

South African Transnet’s health-care train Phelophepa behind diesels 35 256 & 35 250 near Frankfort, OFS. Photo: Eugene Armer

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SA RAIL NEWS 14 FEWER TRAINSETS BLAMED ON HOT WIND February began with 14 of the 85 suburban trainsets serving greater Cape Town being withdrawn without prior notice, reportedly making thousands late for work. Regional manager of Metrorail in the Western Cape Lindelo Matyatold Nashira Davids of The Times that bad “blustery winds”, “excessively high temperatures” and vandalism forced the company to withdraw the 14 trains from service.

Davids quoted president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry Michael Bagraim saying: “They did not inform or consult with us beforehand. The national government calls for the creation of jobs, but how are you going to do that when you can’t even get people to work in the first place?”

has failed to pay Union Carriage & Wagon - a subsidiary of Murray & Roberts - for the refurbishing of rolling stock. “This month, Prasa will be hauled before the Johannesburg High Court by UCW because it allegedly ‘withheld contracted payment’.

Murray & Roberts group CEO Brian Bruce announced in his company’s annual report that Prasa owes UCW R150 million.

“Prasa has also failed to pay other contractors and suppliers who do crucial maintenance work on trains. Alan de Goede, owner of electrical engineering company ADG Electric, refuses any further service to Metrorail until it pays the R26,000 he says he is owed. Last year it took Prasa seven months to settle his account of R165,000.

“ The shunter got the tender the wrong way round. Now the fireman doesn’t know where to put the coal in!”

[Cape Town is currently experiencing successive days of strong Southeasters and 30°-plus temperatures. Both are normal for this time of the year. - Editor]

PRASA IN COURT OVER NONPAYMENT According to Nashira Davids of The Times, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA(Prasa)

Tel: +27 11 794-2910 | Fax: +27 11 794-3560 | Email: info@yalejhb.co.za | Web: www.yalejhb.co.za

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February 2011 Railways Africa

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SA RAIL NEWS

SHOSHOLOZA MEYL – “TOURIST CLASS” SUSPENDED Shosholoza Meyl’s “Tourist class” trains – the old first class (4-berth) and second class (6-berth) sleeper expresses on the main routes between Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban have been suspended, apparently due to lack of serviceable rolling stock. Unconfirmed reports suggest that as much as 80% of Shosholoza Meyl coaches are out of service awaiting overdue scheduled maintenance.

All passenger trains on these routes are running currently with “economy class” sitter vehicles and a smattering of 6-berth sleepers (occasionally the odd 4-berth), the two sections separated by the dining car (or “catering vehicle”). Catering on many trains is reduced to “tuck shop” facilities due to a shortage of operable dining-cars. A recent traveller between Johannesburg and Durban reported the presence of a single 4-berth coach on the train. He conceded that a tasty snack was delivered to his compartment in the evening (choice of a roast or pap and rice).

He was disappointed that the tuck shop could not manage breakfast, as the train arrived in Gauteng three hours late. “When I asked staff why this train couldn’t even provide sandwiches, I was told that there

is no money allocated for anything extra - it was alleged that a dining car manager who had used his initiative a few weeks earlier and bought a couple of loaves of bread out of the previous evening’s takings in order to make toast to sell to passengers had been fired for ‘unauthorised expenditure’.

“The return trip on the Premier Classe was more or less up to its normal standard, although here too there were numerous

items unavailable due to ‘suppliers not having provided the requirements’. The train only had about a dozen passengers, all of whom were accommodated in one of the 15 coaches.”

A number of subsequent Premier Classe trains have been cancelled due to lack of support. On 23 January for instance only four people booked on the DurbanJohannesburg train.

Photo: Eugene Armer.

Specializing in the railrOaD inDuStry >> >> SURTEES RAIL GROUP HEAD OFFICE P.O Box 40178 Cleveland 2022 Republic of South Africa 93 Whitworth Road Heriotdale, Johannesburg Gauteng Republic of South Africa Tel: +27 11 626-3516 Fax: +27 11 626-1171/28 sales@surtees.co.za www.africanrail.co.za

OPERATIONS & WORKSHOP No1 Frikkie Meyer Road Pretoria West Gauteng Republic of South Africa Tel: +27 12 307-7251 Fax: +27 12 307-7112 fafrail@worldonline.co.za

>> >> >> >> >>

Sales and rentals of locomotives, trackmobiles and other rolling stock.

Repair/reconditioning of locomotives, trackmobiles and other rolling stock in our Pretoria West based workshop and on site.

Repair/reconditioning of all locomotive and other rolling stock equipment (engines, bogies, turbo chargers, air and vacuum brake valves and auxiliaries, compressors and exhausters, couplers and draft gears etc.)

Service exchange components for most major items on present day locomotives, which include traction motors, bogies, power packs, expressors and main generators etc.

A full range of spare parts for locomotives and rail wagons, most of which are available off the shelf.

Sales and rentals of electrical, mechanical and air jacking systems for the lifting of locomotives and rail wagons etc, on site.

Operation and control of entire rail systems ranging from the maintenance of customers own locomotives and rolling stock to the control and transport of their products and the maintenance of their railway tracks and switch/signalling systems.

SA RAIL NEWS PREMIER CLASSE JOURNEY Eugene Armer writing on sar-L: “Prasa has its problems, no doubt about that, but my wife and I travelled on the Premier Classe from Johannesburg to Cape Town on 18 November. With all the negative publicity recently, we were not sure what to expect, but I can honestly say that, overall, the trip lived up to the Shosholoza Meyl promise of ‘a pleasant journey’ and we enjoyed it very much. We will do it again, next time hopefully on the northbound run.”

“The train was pretty full, with 91 passengers, including a group of 20 or so Germans. We also heard American, British and Dutch accents, with the balance being South Africans. There certainly is room for improvement (see below), which would make a good service really excellent.

We found the staff on board friendly and helpful.”

“ My suggestion:

Keep the economy long-distance train service with sleeper accommodation, scrap the tourism class and jack up the Premier Classe - I’m sure passenger loadings will improve!

“Locos were 2 x Spoornet orange 6E1s to Kimberley, Shosh Meyl 7E E7031 to Beaufort West, Shosh Meyl 6E1 E1950 & E1834 the rest of the way. It was on the Beaufort West - CPT leg that all the lost time was made up and another 45 min was gained. Somewhere near Pieter Meintjies we flew past Rovos Rail standing in the loop. Apart from a signal check at Koup (or a crew change) and a short stop at Worcester (where we crossed the Trans Karoo), we ran non-stop from Beaufort West to Cape Town.”

“Here are some of the points I sent off to Shosholoza Meyl after our trip: • Departure from Johannesburg was 30 minutes late - no apparent reason for the delay and no explanation offered.

On the plus side, the lost time was made up and we arrived in Cape Town 45 minutes ahead of schedule; • The air-conditioning in lounge car 818 was not working and the two mobile units in the car were not very effective; • The intercom system provided in the compartments was not working. When I asked the train manager about this, he said the problem is that ‘the kids play with it and break it’; • The toilet closest to our compartment had a bottle of air freshener spray that was almost empty - and that was on departure from Johannesburg!

• While the food was reasonably good, at lunch the vegetables served with the chicken dish came straight from the frozen food bag - mealies, peas and carrots - boiled and served, not even a hint of herbs or spices. A light lunch with a selection of cold meats and salads would have been better; • There is a smokers’ lounge on the train, next to coach # 1 where we were booked. It was empty most of the time, but as non-smokers we did not want to use it because of the smell. So we had to hope for a seat in the non-smoker lounge where most of the passengers wanted to be. What a waste of a good lounge car, especially when the aircon was not working in the other one! My suggestion is to open up two compartments into a mini-lounge for smokers.

• The bar stools in the lounge cars have to be the most uncomfortable things ever designed. And the layout of the car could be changed to provide more seating along the wall.”

“My suggestion: Keep the economy long-distance train service with sleeper accommodation, scrap the tourism class and jack up the Premier Classe - I’m sure passenger loadings will improve!”

”

Premier Classe Photo: Eugene Armer.

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February 2011 Railways Africa

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SA RAIL NEWS SIGHTINGS (1) From Jacque Wepener, 14 January: “Quite an interesting week” – Kimberley-Johannesburg main-line: A northbound ore train was on its way through Bloemhof behind orange and blue 10Es. Just to the south of Bloemhof we got another northbound ore train behind orange E 10 021, blue E 10 066, orange E 10 002, SAR red E 10 121. Near Britten we got TFR E 10 101 and SAR red E 10 110 on another northbound load, this time CAR wagons. At Christiana a northbound load of containers headed through at a leisurely pace. Close to Leeudoringstad a southbound load of fine coal came past behind SAR maroon E 1544 and two orange sisters. The silos at Regina had plenty of old sugar trucks now being loaded with maize. Close to Dean another southbound load of fine coal headed through. All along the line Transnet were busy with maintenance.

Then we decided to see if anything remained of Milner Bridge and Vaal Brug

SIGHTINGS (2) OFS: From Jacque Wepener, 14 January: Orange 34 054 headed through Karee with a short load of mealies, the return working of the Theunissen and Brandfort pick-up.

Just North of Estoire we visited a Reclam site with mountains of scrapped wagon bogies lying everywhere. Here orange 35 279 headed past with a load of mealies and an orange shunting van heading towards Bloemfontein. Estoire just has a rusted nameboard left and is completely

overgrown. Across the line Transwerk’s workshops can be seen, row upon row of scrapped wagons and coaches awaiting the cutter’s torch - even still, some refrigerator trucks. Next we visited Longend, same story here, just a name left, still with Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) in the background.

Bloemfontein East is also only a name.

Two orange 36’s were standing with the shunt at Hamilton yard, orange van in tow.

All that could be identified of Pelenomi is a destroyed ruin of a building. West of Hamilton on the line to Kimberley, at Showgrounds halt the sidings still remain intact but are completely overgrown.

We paid a visit to TRE Bloemfontein.

The line of scrapped / wrecked diesel locomotives is amazing... Plenty of activity going on, new coal wagons and iron ore wagons being built, as well as passenger coaches and other repairs being done. A level crossing warning sign reads “Stop 19 Lines”! Plinthed class 16DA 878 “Jock” looks good, still completely intact, but in need of a polish.

Orange 34 028 came through Hennenman en-route to Kroonstad with the return working of the Bothaville pick-up. Passing Whites, we saw RRL (Railroad Logistics) 33 01 coming from the south, East London we are told. She was put onto the branch and a couple of minutes later she headed towards Welkom. Now we have two 33’s here but only until next week as 33 02 and 36 01 are being transferred to Mozambique.

Bloem loco was visited in case something was hiding there, but nothing new this time. The scrapped diesels have gone and have been replaced with rows of steam cars that are to be cut up next. It is hard to believe that there are only a handful of diesels left at this depot. We found a couple of 34s idling away and at the Shosholoza Meyl side a couple of purple and blue 34s and 35s. Kelly’s View nameboard has been erected here, no wonder we could not find it at the lineside!

Apparently a 35 class for RRL is arriving in two weeks, also only for a while before she goes elsewhere. The class 91s are to be modified to enable them to work in multiple, to help them cope with the ore loads. We have been told that Sheltam’s 31 class no 1201 is being transferred to Sappi at Ngodwana.

A quick visit was paid to Bloem coaching yard. Here too only a fraction of the number of passenger coaches are left compared to the situation years ago. The Kei Rail coaches are staged at one end of the yard. Purple 34 102 was standing in Bloemfontein station, nothing else.

At Hennenman and Virginia we noticed passengers on the platforms long after the Trans-Oranje should have passed.

We learned that the whole embankment at Culworth on the van Reenen line had moved following heavy rain. The washaway was between Besters and Brakwal, before van Reenen’s pass. The Orange was rerouted via Standerton, Union and Vereeniging onwards to Kroonstad. It had just left Sasolburg at 11:50 and running about seven hours late when she reached Kroonstad.

Rail Road Logistics (RRL) class 33.

Photo: Jacque Wepener.

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SA RAIL NEWS

GAUTRAIN COMPANIES HIJACKED From Politicsweb: “Two of the companies responsible for the Gauteng rail project were hijacked early in 2010. In July the legitimate directors of Bombardier Transportation UK Limited and Isithemala Rail Services were ‘resigned’ on the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) system and replaced by one “Setlabocha William Koto”.

“Bombardier Transportation is the lead company in the Bombela Consortium which received the contract to construct and manage the Gautrain system.

Isithemala is the company responsible for laying the tracks of the rail system.

Bombardier and Isithemala join a long list of confirmed victims of a syndicate (or syndicates) which has been hijacking companies for the purpose of stealing tax refunds from the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

[The legitimate directors of both Bombardier and Isithemala were subsequently reinstated. - Editor] It appears that the controls introduced by CIPRO on 10 August this year have proven ineffective. A Politicsweb investigation has uncovered a number of cases of company hijacking which postdate their implementation. Politicsweb can confirm that four other companies - MJS Trading, South African Valve and Tube Industry, Natmed and OEP Office Equipment Products - also fell victim to company hijacking this year.

GAUTRAIN PRANKSTER American Charlie Todd and his organisation Improv Everywhere have made more than 100 crazy improvisations come to life in public places, including this January’s NoPants Subway Rides in Manhattan and the follow-up No-Pants event that made headlines on Gautrain (see page 86 [ie back page Feb issue]). Charlie attended the 2011 Cape Town Design Indaba which opened on 23 February 2011. He was quoted saying he was looking for a “large amount of volunteers for an Improv mission to cause “chaos and joy in public places.”

Through improvisation, Todd encourages people to take the time to notice what’s happening around them while also making them laugh, without humiliation or embarrassment. He says the pranks “bring

www.railwaysafrica.com

This brings the total of confirmed cases to seventeen (see table right). These frauds all make use of the CM29 (change of directors) function on the CIPRO system to remove legitimate directors and replace them with fraudulent ones. The fraudulent director will then open a bank account in the legitimate company’s name.

Usually this is for the purpose of diverting tax refunds.

CIPRO hijacking victims list as at 2 December 2010)

“On 10 August 2010, CIPRO implemented new controls ostensibly to clamp down on this kind of fraud. Changes of directorships now required the ‘lodging of certified copies of IDs, passports, other valid forms of identification of directors and other officers’ and of a ‘certified copy of an extract of the minutes where the resolution to appoint or remove directors was made...’

* A Million Up Investments 48

“On 13 October 2010 the Department of Trade and Industries released a statement which claimed that the problem of company hijacking through CIPRO was under control and no external intervention was needed.

“Despite having been involved in earlier reported company hijackings one ‘Bekizitha Dlomo’ of Botshabelo Bloemfontein was inserted on 25 August as the sole director of Natmed and on 31 August 2010 as the sole director of South African Valve and Tube Industry. MJS Trading was initially targeted by hijackers in May this year.

However, in October the legitimate directors were again removed and replaced by one ‘Ann Ntando Skosana’ of Rocklands, Bloemfontein. excitement to otherwise unexciting locales and give strangers a story they can tell for the rest of their lives.”

He is the author of Causing a Scene, published by Harper Collins in 2009, and has hosted 150 million on-line views of

* Gap Distributors * AFC Ltd * Vanern Investments * Nestle Purina Petcare

* CHM Vuwani Computer Solutions (KZN)

* Aobakwe Louw Properties * Taquanta Asset Managers * Vereeniging Foundries * Pretoria Ooginstituut * Columbia Pharmaceuticals * Bombardier Transportation UK Limited

* Isithemala * Natmed * South African Valve and Tube Industry

* MJS Trading * OEP Office Equipment Products Improv Everywhere’s on-line videos. He considers the current democratisation of media as one of the most exciting things happening in the creative world: “To be seen and loved by millions no longer requires a green light from someone in a corner office.”

According to the Design Indaba organisers, “If you are interested in taking part in the chaos and humour of Charlie Todd, go to Mp3 Experiment Cape Town on Facebook and get ready for moments of insanity you won’t soon forget.”

Charlie Todd – he made Gautrain’s undies parade happen.

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SA RAIL NEWS GAUTRAIN IN PRETORIA Pretoria residents had their first sight of a Gautrain set on 13 January, during 120km/h test runs between the Midrand depot and Centurion station. Trains entering Centurion have an aerial view of the Supersport cricket ground as the line is carried over the town on a high viaduct.

Centurion’s Supersport Park cricket ground, showing Gautrain viaduct in the construction phase.

On Sunday 23 January, during the final one-day match with India, Reuters reported: “The Gautrain - well one of them, anyway - sat stationary on the elevated line that runs along the east of SuperSport Park. It was part of a marketing exercise for the latest tentacle of the multi-billion rand railway that will link Pretoria and Centurion with Sandton. A large banner was strung underneath that read: ‘Faster than a speeding Steyn - go BOYS.’” Public service was to have begun in March, but the date has been set back to June. Before starting to operate commercially, the Bombela Consortium explains, each trainset undergoes a long and rigorous testing and commissioning process. All systems and subsystems are tested, from the brakes and power to air-conditioning and communication. The trains are expected to complete about 3,000km on the test track before being certified ready for public operations.

Testing is followed by trial running. This phase includes verification of the time table and training of personnel, as well as disaster and emergency simulations carried out in conjunction with Gauteng’s emergency services.

EMPTY GAUTRAIN BUSES Letter from Chris Steyn published in the press 15 December 2010: “My wife and I returned from an overseas trip over two months ago, and decided to take the Gautrain train/bus combination home, as there is bus stop right at the end of our road, and we thought we would give it a try. While the train was pretty full, we were surprised to find ourselves alone on the bus, except for the driver and guard. Incidentally, we were as impressed with the courteousness of these two people as we had been with the Gautrain staff, so they had clearly been well trained.

“On an evening drive to the cinema last week, which involved a trip up and down the William Nicol highway at different times, we were astounded to see that the numerous Gautrain buses travelling alongside us were all empty, except for the driver and the guard. Apparently Jack van der Merwe, CEO of the Gautrain Management Agency, had just been interviewed and said not to worry, that it was early days and these empty buses had been planned for. Is he serious?

“This raises some obvious questions: who is paying for all this atrocious wastage, why is no one using this excellent service and why is it not being properly advertised?”

Empty Gautrain buses: “Who is paying for all this?”

- Chris Steyn

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Railways Africa February 2011

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS

Mishaps & Blunders 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.

COAL LINE DERAILMENT A derailment at Commondale in KwaZulu-Natal on 6 December resulted in closure of the coal line to Richards Bay for four days.

Transnet Freight Rail spokesperson Sandile Simelane told I-Net Bridge that the line was reopened on the night of 10 December, when test runs were carried out.

TOURIST TRAIN DERAILS On 10 December, Garratt 4074 heading a tourist train operated

by Ingwe Rail of Creighton KZN derailed between Inglenook and Sizanenjana. Fortunately the train was travelling slowly and damage was confined to a bogie under the loco after the cowcatcher became dislodged.

SIX OFF NEAR MARITZBURG During the third week of December, about six loaded timber wagons derailed on the line west of Pietermaritzburg between Edendale and Elandskop.

FIRE DEVASTATES VOLUNTEER RAILWAY Thousands of pounds’ worth of precious tools, handed down through generations of rail workers, were lost in a fire at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway (SCR) in the south-west of England. A timber shed containing the equipment at Blunsdon station was destroyed, caused an estimated £8,000 worth of damage. According to SCR vice-chairman Dave Peace: “This is an accumulation of items that have been passed down the generations from the original railways, or donated by members of the community, so we are gutted. We had tools, strimmers, everything; it’s all gone and now there is the possibility that the land is contaminated and will have to be cleared.”

The fire is believed to have been started by a spark after workers dismantled a hydraulic crane near the shed. The incident is the second blow for the railway. In November, vandals caused hundreds of pounds’ worth of damage just hours before the first of the annual Halloween Ghost Trains ran. The engine shed had been broken into, cabinets trashed and the buffet cart at Hayes Knoll had been ransacked, with tools and equipment thrown around.

But the show went on despite the damage and organisers were adamant that the fire would not affect the scheduled Santa Specials in December.

was reported. According to the press, local residents enjoyed a New Year bonanza, siphoning fuel from the derailed wagons throughout the night. They were lucky. In January 2009, 110 people lost their lives when a petrol train caught fire at Molo in Kenya.

MASSIVE UK DISRUPTION AT XMAS Only two weeks after catastrophic snowstorms wreaked havoc on Britain’s railways in December 2010, infrastructure maintenance work caused massive disruptions to train schedules over the Christmas period, when many people travel across the country visiting family and friends. Passengers loaded with presents were warned that bulky luggage might not find room on buses that replaced many trains. The disruption, lasting from late Christmas Eve to 3 January, saw four of Britain’s seven main lines severed at some point: London to Glasgow, London to South Wales, London to Penzance and London to Norwich. Some 22 million travellers were affected.

Overall, out of 25 train operating companies, 15 closed lines over the festive period. The biggest shutdown was at Reading, with all tracks closed from late on Christmas Eve until January 3, except for New Year’s Eve. This hit trains on routes from London Paddington to South Wales and the West Country. Using replacement buses, Paddington to Swindon, normally 53 minutes, took a minimum of two hours 23 minutes.

Network Rail defended the shutdown as “great news for customers in the long term…This major project will allow more trains to pass through, improve punctuality and provide a bigger and more accessible station”.

[That’s as may be….in the New Year, fares were set to rise 13%.

- Editor]

COSTLY DERAILMENT IN KENYA On 1 January, more than 200,000 litres of fuel worth “millions of shillings” spilled when five tankcars in a train carrying fuel from Mombasa to Uganda left the track at Nauria, 10km from the Ugandan border at Malaba. “Severe damage” to the rolling stock

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Unprecedented bad weather caused havoc on Britain’s railways in December 2010.

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS JANUARY DERAILMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA Exceptional rains at the beginning of 2011 caused many problems for Transnet Freight Rail. A derailment at Sheepmoor between Ermelo and Vryheid on 3 January - on the line to Richards Bay resulted in the cancellation of 18 trains of export coal. Five employees attending to a call-out at the Umfolozi Bridge had their vehicle swept away. One man drowned.

On 5 January, a train conveying chrome derailed at Vermont, between Belfast and Lydenburg. Washaways between Besters and Brakwal closed the Ladysmith-Harrismith-Kroonstad line, delaying export maize which had to be diverted via Vereeniging.

The Langlaagte-Crown link line west of Johannesburg was also shut down, affecting fuel traffic to Botswana.

COLLISION NEAR SPRINGS According to a News24 report on 15 January, 95 passengers sustained injury – of whom seven were said to have been hurt seriously – when two passenger trains collided near Springs. No further details were available. Springs lies at the eastern extremity of Metrorail commuter services in central Gauteng, 33km from Johannesburg’s Park station.

a popular farm stall (pink padstal) and the bridge is now a side branch of the mighty Orange River… Literally hundreds of people were stranded on the other side of the river.

“I arrived last Tuesday and guess what - the last export grape train left Kakamas until November on Monday!!! From just after the entrance to the station to just before the rail bridge over the river, everything is under water, chest high!”

“I don’t know how the rest of the branch looks, but my biggest prayer is that there is no lasting damage as that will surely lead to certain, permanent closure of the line.”

[The 88km branch along the north bank of the Orange River from Upington to Kakamas (which is on the south of the river) was opened in 1926 on 610mm gauge. It was converted to 1,067mm in 1949. The bridge at Kakamas is 394m long – Editor]

DELIVERY VAN BRINGS TRAIN TO A STOP

EASTERN CAPE MAIN-LINES AT A STANDSTILL A derailment outside East London, according to a News24 report on 15 January, blocked both tracks on the main-line, bringing all traffic – long-distance and commuter, passenger and freight - to a standstill. No further details were available.

A collapsed bridge on the main-line to Port Elizabeth halted all traffic there, too.

GAUTENG BREAKDOWNS BLAMED ON RAIN On 14 January, Metrorail told the SA Press Association (Sapa) that Gauteng had experienced an unusually large number of train breakdowns, causing cancellations and delays. “These breakdowns are caused by the ageing railway infrastructure and its inability to handle the consequences brought about by excessive rain,” Metrorail’s Gauteng regional manager Tembela Kulu said in a statement. “The average age of our rolling stock and signalling equipment is around 60 years, creating a heavy maintenance and operational burden.” Metrorail was working around-the-clock on repairs and maintenance. He explained: “It is very difficult to operate a train service when our signalling is not functional, as this puts the lives of our passengers at risk. In this regard we are able to take advantage of our emergency plans which enable us to switch to manual authorisation. However, this process is painfully slow.” This inconveniences travellers, especially during peak travel times.

FLOOD AT UPINGTON From Luca Lategan, 17 January on sar-L: “I am stuck in Kakamas! Initially the (possible) floods created a lot of excitement early last week when the waters started to rise. Each day more and more (farm) roads, irrigation channels and vineyards became more and more flooded. Farmers tried desperately to throw banks to protect the vines, lucerne- and cottonfields other teams tried walls for the roads. Unfortunately by Friday night the choice was made to abandon the roadwalls to save the vineyards, it broke and now both the vineyards and roads are under water.

“The bridge that connects Kakamas to Upington via tar road stands as does the rail-bridge, but unfortunately the dip between

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The driver of a delivery van in Boise, Idaho, noticed too late that the red lights were flashing as he approached a level crossing. He stopped but realised he was too close to the automatic barriers and would be in their path as they lowered. He was unable to reverse as there were other vehicles behind him. The barriers came down and snapped as they hit the van. They were thrown onto the line and demolished by the oncoming train. Fortunately the van and its driver escaped unharmed and the locomotive did not derail.

LANDSLIDES IN THE US NORTH-WEST On 8 January, a landslide between the Washington state border and Vancouver brought rail service between the USA and Canada to a standstill. Freight trains were running again by 9 January but passenger service remained suspended until thorough inspections were carried out on 10 January and any repairs deemed necessary had been implemented. According to a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spokesman, the slide was the second in two days along this stretch of track. A previous slide occurred on the afternoon of 7 January between White Rock and Surrey, British Columbia.

WIND DERAILS TRAIN ON BRIDGE A gust of wind is believed to have caused the derailment of a goods train on a bridge near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on 27 December, disrupting passenger and freight service between there and Pittsburgh. Two containers, fortunately empty, were precipitated into the Susquehanna River. Buses were brought in to carry about 650 passengers.

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS DERAILED AT KANONKOP On 8 December, a Transnet Freight Rail train derailed at Kanonkop, 97km north of Cape Town on the line to Bitterfontein. Kanonkop is the first station beyond Malmesbury (18km). Both class 35 locos left the track, the leading unit landing up at the foot of the small embankment, the other on its side. A number of wagons were also involved, spilling their contents.

RECORD QUEENSLAND FLOODS DISRUPT COAL From Bruno Martin in Queensland, 31 December: “The weather bureau predicted a wet Christmas – and Queensland now faces the worst flooding crisis in its 150-year history. Twelve regional towns have been inundated and residents forced to move to higher ground; two towns had to be completely evacuated. On Christmas Day category 1 cyclone Tasha crossed the north Queensland coast south of Cairns, deteriorated into a rain depression which quickly moved inland and to the south.

Here, in the south-east corner of the state, we can thank our lucky stars that we were spared the worst. Although there was some localised flooding and road closures, it was nothing like the deluge that struck the inland areas on Boxing Day.” According to a report in Wednesday’s (29 Dec) Courier Mail, coal miners are losing millions of dollars a day because of flooded mines and blocked railway lines. The Dalrymple Bay Coal terminal near Mackay, which usually exports up to 17 million tonnes of coal a week, has not shipped anything for days after 15 wagons derailed on the Goonyella line last Friday (24 Dec).

An estimated 45 vessels are sitting offshore waiting to be loaded.

Heavy rains have also closed QR National’s Blackwater and Moura coal lines, which has cut shipments from the Port of Gladstone by about 40%.

“Looking at the QR Traveltrain services website today (31 Dec): Due to the flooding all train services between Bundaberg and Townsville, the west and central west

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have been suspended. A diesel-hauled service is replacing the electric tilt train between Bundaberg and Brisbane. The Westlander from Brisbane to Charleville has been cancelled. QR advises that it is unable to provide alternative bus service for the cancelled trains to the west and central west because of flood damage to roads. A coach service is being provided from Rockhampton to Cairns. The Cairnsbound (diesel) tilt train is advertised as departing as scheduled today at 18:25, but is subject to alteration at short notice north of Bundaberg, depending on weather and condition of track.”

On 3 January, it was reported that only one of Queensland’s coal limes remained open following days of rain and flooding throughout the state. A spokesman for QR National said that the Moura Coal Rail system was the latest to be closed. The Blackwater rail system closed on 3 January and the Goonyella Coal Rail system shut down after the derailment in December.

“The only coal rail system still open is Newlands, which is the most northerly,” the QR National spokesperson said.

[In mid- January it was still raining in Queensland, with some three-quarters of the state declared a disaster area and many people dead or missing. Both main-lines and the coal export system remained in disarray.

Press comment in South Africa suggested that the time was opportune for this country to “climb into” the gap left in the supply of coal to meet world demand – but because of the shortfall in rail capacity here (not to mention a flood or two of our own) this was not possible. And the catastrophic floods that almost wiped out Brisbane were still to come - also Cyclone Yasi. – Editor]

CHANNEL TUNNEL FIRE A report on investigations following a fire on a freight shuttle train in the Channel Tunnel on 11 September 2008 has been released jointly by the UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and their counterparts in France, the Bureau d’Enquêtes sur les Accidents de Transport Terrestre (BEA-TT). The investigation was led by BEA-TT because the fire occurred on French territory (approximately 12km from the French portal of the tunnel). The “Protocol of Cooperation” between BEATT and RAIB allocates responsibility for leading an investigation to the organisation from the country in which the accident or incident occurred.

EAST LOUISVILLE DERAILMENT On 13 January, an 85-wagon train behind two locomotives derailed seven empty car carriers in east Louisville, Kentucky.

A CSX spokesman said six ended up on their sides. Nobody was injured.

EARLIER COLLISION NEAR SPRINGS Shortly before 22:00 on 2 January, a driver and guard were injured when their empty passenger set collided with a goods train between Springs and Brakpan, according to spokeswoman Lillian Mofokeng of Metrorail quoted by Sapa. Both men were slightly injured.

The line between Springs and Brakpan was still closed the following day and passengers were being carried by bus.

The damage caused to the Metrorail train was said to amount to R7 million.

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS BUSIEST US COMMUTER RAIL SUSPENDED On the day after Christmas, all passenger service on the Long Island Railroad, the busiest commuter line in the United States, was suspended due to heavy snow. According to an Associated Press report, “hundreds of travellers dozed overnight in train cars frozen at the platform at the Jamaica station in Queens. The railroad opened up some cars to provide passengers a place to sleep. The Jamaica station is at the train link to Kennedy Airport.

Passengers stood helpless at the ticket office, waiting in vain for good news to flash on the schedule screens.”

Late on 13 January, a westbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) freight derailed 13 wagons in the middle of Perry, Ohio, only blocks away from the public library, post office, city hall and downtown businesses. BNSF spokesman Joe Faust said four vehicles – of which three overturned but did not leak contained fertiliser, a hazardous material. The fourth, though upright, did start to leak and as a precaution, firefighters evacuated homes in the immediate area. An environmental team which attended at the scene reported that no water courses were affected by the spill, and none of the crew members were injured.

DERAILMENT NEAR ATLANTA On 4 January, 11 wagons in a Norfolk Southern Railway freight train derailed in downtown Douglasville, Georgia, outside Atlanta.

Amtrak’s train 19, the Crescent Limited, was detoured via Chattanooga, Tennessee and train 20 was annulled.

Perry fire chief Wayne Emmons said three families were displaced but were later allowed to return home. Two heavy equipment companies were called to help clear the scene.

GIFT TRAIN DERAILS BNSF PERRY DERAILMENT

A train carrying birthday gifts for North Korea’s future leader derailed on 11 December in a possible act of revolt by the regime’s opponents, according to a Seoul-based radio station.

Open Radio for North Korea said the Pyongyang-bound train carrying gifts for Kim Jong-Un, the youngest son and heir apparent of leader Kim Jong-Il, derailed upon departing from Sinuiju, on the border with China. It quoted a military intelligence official in the North’s north-western province of North Pyongan as saying sabotage may have caused the crash.

“The North’s railways are so outdated... but in this case, the tracks were so badly ruined that it looks like someone intentionally damaged them when the train was about to pass,” the intelligence official was quoted saying. The South’s national intelligence service said it was checking the report.

Jong-Un, believed aged 27, was made a four-star general in September and given senior posts in the ruling communist party during the North’s “biggest political meeting for three decades”. The source said the gifts for Jong-Un, whose birthday is on 8 January,

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February 2011 Railways Africa

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS included a large number of expensive watches and TVs. Kim Jong-Il, 68, took over from his own father Kim Il-Sung. He is known to be accelerating the power transfer to his third son after suffering a stroke in 2008.

The Kim dynasty has ruled the country with an iron fist since it was founded in 1948.

ELEVEN WAGONS OFF AT WINFIELD On 24 December, 11 wagons in a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) freight train left the rails at Winfield, Kansas. Nine fell over but two remained upright. The area was cleared within 12 hours, during which rail traffic was diverted over an adjoining siding. The train was conveying taconite – described as a sedimentary rock - from Superior, Wisconsin to Eagle Pass in Texas, according to BNSF director of public affairs Andy Williams.

[Winfield, situated along the Walnut River and known for the Walnut Valley Festival, had a population estimated at 11,861 in 2005. – Wikipedia]

UNION PACIFIC SUES TRUCK DRIVER The Union Pacific Railroad has filed a lawsuit against the owner and driver of a truck which collided with a main-line train near New Orleans on 25 November 2010.

The locomotives and a number of wagons derailed and sustained “severe damage”.

The insurer of the truck is also named in US District Court case 2:10-cv-04575 I and Judge Carl J Barbier has been assigned.

The outcome would appear to constitute a potentially meaningful precedent.

FIXING TUNNELS AHEAD OF 9/11 1OTH ANNIVERSARY On 11 September 2001, the underground rail station beneath New York’s World Trade Centre (WTC) was heavily damaged by the terrorist attack, which also flooded the tunnel linking the station to Exchange Place Station in New Jersey. Contractors are reportedly installing reinforced steel metal plates along the interior tunnel walls on the Port Authority (PATH) rail system, along with flood-prevention gates being erected at New Jersey and New York locations affecting the line to WTC and its uptown branch terminating at 33rd Street in Midtown Manhattan.

Every effort is being made to complete the work before 11 September 2011 the 10th anniversary of the attack. The PA budget is funding most of the $600 million project, with other funding support from the Department of Homeland Security and the federal stimulus package. PATH has suffered in the past from flooded tubes due to natural causes, most notably at its Hoboken (New Jersey) station, flooded for several days following a severe storm on 11 December 1992.

STOP PRESS TOURISM TO BE PROMOTED TO CREATE JOBS There may be hope for rail tours in South Africa yet.

In his “State of the Nation” address to parliament on 10 February, President Zuma said: “Honourable members, research has indicated that we can create jobs in six priority areas. These are infrastructure development, agriculture, mining and beneficiation, manufacturing, the green economy and tourism.”

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equipment and machine specialist

RAILWAY HERITAGE

Preservation is A Vital Part of The Picture

By John Batwell

Reefsteamers, Germiston On 6 November last year, GMAM 4-8-2 + 2-8-4 Garratt no 4079, belonging to Sandstone Trust but in Reefsteamers’ care, was worked out westward on the Mafikeng section.

Reefsteamers offered Friends of The Rail (FoTR) the use of class 15F no 3052 after the derailment of the Pretoria club’s own class 15F no 3117, due to sleeper theft near Cullinan last winter. However, this was conditional on the Germiston loco being kept under cover, a facility that FoTR does not have at either of its bases.

Both class 12AR no 1535 and the class 15F no 3046 suffered valve spool failure requiring rebuilds. On the class 15F, failure of the right-hand side combination lever during its Magaliesburg debutrun resulted in the valves travelling too far forward and hitting the cylinder head. Both locos have been repaired – the class 15F receiving a complete new valve rod in the process. The class 12AR is reported to be even more powerful than she was and remains the group’s prime day-trip locomotive. The club used locomotives no 3046 and no 3472 for the annual Cherry Festival working in the Free State in November. They also moved Sandstone Trust’s 1,067mm gauge stock to Kommandonek from Ficksburg.

Another day’s activity involves a run with the class 59 Garratt to Makadara and a photographic session in the Nairobi station yard with both no 5918 and class 24 no 2409 in steam. A visit to the nearby railway museum during the lunch break is to be followed by another run to Makadara and more station shunting with no 2409. The class 30 2-8-4 locomotive is the product of North British in 1956; the class 24 4-8-0 out of Vulcan Foundry back in 1922. The batch of 34 class 59 Garratts (4-8-2 + 2-8-4) started arriving on the former EAR in 1955. They gained the distinction of being the biggest Garratts ever to run on metre gauge track.

The full details of the tour can be viewed at: www.geoffs-trains.com This is just one part of a steam tour to five African countries in 2011; also featured are Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa.

Nairobi Railway Museum’s class 30 no 3020 is earmarked to entertain photographers on this year’s Africa Tour. Photo: J Ashworth

ZIMBABWE’S RAIL LEISURE RUNS AGAIN Reefsteamers’ operational class 15F and 25NC locos doublehead near Slabberts in the Eastern Free State, November 2010. Photo: David Benn

Apple Express in E Cape gets the chop The 610mm gauge Apple Express line west of Port Elizabeth enjoyed a very busy season during the December period. Class NGG15 2-8-2 no 119 was the working locomotive. Regrettably, in consequence of the Eastern Cape Department of Transport discontinuing subsidy assistance, all passenger operations ceased from January.

After an initial run to Plumtree in May using a class 16A, NRZ’s business unit Rail Leisure put on a working for the public to Plumtree on 5 December, in this instance pulling in class 15 Garratt no 395 to haul the load. Rail Leisure has now placed its planned runs for 2011 on the website: www.nrz.co.zw

Rail Leisure put on another steam run to Plumtree over the first week-end of December using class 15 no 395.

Photo: C E Rickwood

Kenyan steam for Africa Tour 2011 Further to the report in the July/August column in 2010, Geoff’s Tours plans to use all three former East African Railways (EAR) steam locomotives that are in working order next winter. One will be able to ride a charter steam train from Nairobi to Naivasha behind “Tribal” class 2-8-4 no 3020 Nyaturu. Beyer Peacock-built Garratt no 5918 will undertake a run from Nairobi to Konza. On arrival, the train will be prepared for an afternoon run back to Nairobi, timed to arrive around sunset.

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Railways Africa February 2011

www.railwaysafrica.com

RAILWAY HERITAGE

Sandstone Trust Eastern Free State Following heavy downpours late in December, the Eastern Free State had 161mm of rain in the first five days of January. Falls up to 50mm in 24 hours were recorded on several subsequent days, with the total for the month exceeding 400mm. Joanne West of Sandstone Estates writes: “We had major flooding and also washaways both during late December and early January on the farm.

This means that our Rail Safety Regulator permit was cancelled and we now have to rebuild the railway, or at least large parts of it. As a result we are not sure whether we will actually open again. The civil engineering costs may be too high.”

This means that things do not look good for the ambitious Steam Extravaganza planned to take place between 9 and 16 April. Under the auspices of Steam in Action (SIA) and the Heritage Rail Association of South Africa (HRASA), the event was to feature 22 operating narrowgauge locomotives, and all four 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 Garratts

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(class NGG13 no 49 and class NGG16 nos 88, 113 and 153), hauling one train.

Sandstone’s collection of traction engines, historical agricultural machinery, military vehicles, classic cars, buses and commercial vehicles was to be accessible to visitors and mobilised to enhance trackside photographic possibilities.

In conjunction with the event, it was intended to arrange a tour of the Bloemfontein rebuild facility in the old SAR & H steam sheds, involving a drive of about 90 minutes from the farm.

Meanwhile, besides NGG11 no 52, a second narrow gauge loco moved by low-loader to the Bloemfontein workshop in 2010 was Orenstein & Koppel 0-4-0WT no 12691/1936.

Avonside 0-4-0T no 26718/1912 has been selected too for saving, and the refurbishing of loco no 52 was well under way at the end of 2010.

February 2011 Railways Africa

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END OF THE LINE

CORRESP NDENCE GAUTRAIN STRIPPERS Wearing underclothes but no pants is not done on Gautrain: you have been warned! At 15:30 on 9 January, police arrested 34 people so attired when their train from Sandton arrived at Rhodesfield, took them to their own station at Kempton Park and fined them for disregardng the system’s “rules”. Initial endeavours to charge the “suspects” with public indecency were not pursued (anyone arrested in South Africa is labelled a suspect). Reportedly, a charge of illegally gathering in a public place was also contemplated.

The event coincided with similar frolics at 48 cities in 16 countries around the world. Hundreds in freezing New York, their upper halves warmly wrapped, displayed polka-dot bloomers and other fetching undies on the underground railway, to mark the 10th annual No Pants Subway Ride. The locals at Rhodesfield, who numbered about 150 in all, were not amused: “This country has lost its sense of humour,” one participant remarked. Those detained were held for three hours and fined R700 each, reduced later to R350.

According to the Johannesburg Times, Gautrain’s Dr Barbara Jensen commented icily: ‘’There were other people on the train and it is actually not [a venue for] a bachelors’ party.’’

Gautrain riders: remember to bring pants with.

LATE TRAIN, NEARLY MISSED THE BUS Dear Editor I am so angry with Prasa; I think they must give the trains back to Transnet. Last year when I came back from Kimberley with the train to Johannesburg I nearly missed my bus. The train was late and then it had a power failure. We had to wait for a diesel from Klerksdorp. When Transnet had the trains there were no problems. When Prasa took over there were problems. Prasa must make a plan to repair the locomotives.

I ride the train since when I was a little baby. And I want to know why the train was not running for several months.

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Across the veld we take the train To boarding school and back again.

Parental tears, excited screams, “Be sure to count the Fourteen Streams.”

We’re Second Class, with bunks for six, And passing Fountains, Kirkness Bricks.

Smoking fags and eating naartjies, Nearly caught by “Alle kaartjies.”

Transvaal skies, fantastic weather, Here we are all back together.

Joburg Station, never fear, There’s twenty minutes for a beer.

And then for lunch, our daily dose Of stokvis met tamatiesous.

Potch and Klerksdorp, on ahead To Kimberley, and so to bed.

But not before the dinner gong Has summoned us to come along, For frikkadels and boiled peas, Cabinet pudding and railway cheese.

Out the window, what a view: There’s nothing there! It’s just Karoo, “And noise and smoke: it’s hard to see, We’re right behind a 15E.” De Aar, and then the sound we guessed Of wheels tapped at Beaufort West; Down the mountains, craning necks, With silly jokes of Hex and Sex. Worcester, Wolseley, Tulbagh Kloof, Black clouds above the carriage roof.

Paarl and Bellville, “See the rain!”

Now we’re back in school again.

Lance E Dickson © 2006

In mid-August 2010, Prasa cancelled the entire Shosholoza Meyl intercity passenger train service, which was not restored in full for several months.

– Disgus (by e-mail, real name supplied)

Railways Africa February 2011

TRAIN TO SCHOOL

Pretoria-Cape Town in the early fifties

A class 15E prepares to leave Beaufort West for the north with Train 7 Down. Dating from 1935-36, these hand-fired 4-8-2 locos with rotary cam valve gear headed both freight and passenger trains as far as De Aar. Around 1955, they were displaced by class 25 condensing engines.

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