Railways Africa March 2011

MARCH 2011

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RAILWAYS AFRICA / FOREWORD

Foreword

Those priorities are still there. The hospitals (to take one example) are in even worse shape now and need that much more money. The proposed national health service is going to cost more billions. Then there is Eskom and the continued threat of power cuts because of a 15-year backlog in building generating capacity. Backlogs are the very devil to catch up with, as the railways have learned to their our cost.

And speaking of Eskom – which touches everyone and is therefore easier for the man in the street to understand – Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa) top man Montana is now using South Africa’s electricity crisis as an analogy in getting across his dire prediction of impending rail collapse if that R97 billion is not forthcoming. “We are going to have another Eskom if the first 350 coaches do not go into service in 2013,” he told the press the other day. There will be no passenger trains left in less than ten years, he warns, if the present worn-out fleet is not replaced.

A large slice of the nearly R13 billion spent in the last five years went on rehabilitating coaches. It was no more than a short-term stop-gap, Montana points out, briefly “stabilising a business in decline owing to years of under-investment and neglect”. The technology is sixty years old – and fixing old technology is for the birds.

He needs new rolling stock and he needs it now.

As for detail, there has been more than usual disparity in figures bandied about in the press, ranging from 6,000 to 8,600 new coaches to be bought and 2,000 locomotives. As far as we can make out, the reality envisaged looks something like this: For Metrorail in the short term: 862 additional coaches; in the medium-to-longterm, 6,296. The possibility of multiple-unit

diesel or hybrid electric & diesel units is mentioned for the Eastern Cape (a strategy, incidentally, recommended by consultants more than 20 years ago).

For Shosholoza Meyl: 1,195 coaches (sleeper; sitter; dining; catering/grill; power cars). A total of 124 locomotives (not quite 2,000!) comprising 76 x 3kV DC; 21 x 25kV AC and 27 diesel-electric.

That R97 billion, by the way, hasn’t actually been sanctioned. To be precise, it forms the bones of a feasibility study scheduled for completion in June. After that, it still has to go to cabinet, and here’s the rub: – government doesn’t, and isn’t going to, have R97 billion to spend on Prasa.

Transport minister Ndebele stresses that the “coffers of the state are not sufficient to fund such a large programme”. Montana puts it bluntly: the state is in no position to take on R90 billion’s worth of debt. In short, a partnership with the private sector is not only on the cards – it is the only way out.

Deputy transport minister Jeremy Cronin sounds confident on the prospects.

Announcing a “green paper” on transport policy to be completed shortly, he says it goes “hand-in-hand with government’s commitment to recapitalise Prasa to the value of some R97 billion.” The Department of Transport (DoT) is to develop an overarching policy, he explains, to coordinate and provide an integrated strategy to assist in rebuilding the country’s railways “We need to get all our ducks in a row in terms of strategy and policy to deal with the significant challenges of a dilapidating rail system,” Cronin says. The department is considering the “positives and negatives” of dividing rail infrastructure management from train operations.

Montana’s latest observation is interesting.

Cape Town-Johannesburg passenger trains should be running at 160km/h, he says.

The existing infrastructure is perfectly capable of handling this, and it would cut six hours off the present timing. Now we’re talking.

PHILLIPPA DEAN Publisher / Railways Africa

MARCH 2011

Much has been said in the press and on radio about the impressive R97 billion to be spent replacing South Africa’s obsolete passenger rail system. To be spread over 18 years, obviously the actual outlay will be a great deal more than R97 billion (since that’s in terms of what a Rand is worth today). It is going to take very firm resolve to keep that sort of budget intact for nearly 20 years. Look at the precedent. After the new stainless steel 8M commuter sets came in around 1990, nothing new was bought for 20 years; there were higher priorities, like health and education.

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

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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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March 2011 Railways Africa

3

Contents BOMBARDIER Innovative Locomotive Technologies Improve Railway Efficiency Over the last ten years, BOMBARDIER TRAXX has become the most successful locomotive platform in Europe.

6 Features BOMBARDIER Innovative Locomotive Technologies Improve Railway Efficiency

10 6

ISONGO RAIL Isongo Grinding for Gautrain

10

PLASSERAIL Track Maintenance

12

16

Pete the Pundit on On Railway Belts - And The Need For Subways

16

Industry Comment One More Time … Track Gauge

22

18

Cedara Tunnels The 6km Cedara Tunnels - Opened 50 Years Ago; The Longest in South Africa Until 1989 22

HAZMAT John Batwell Explores A Transnet Freight Rail Speciality 4

Railways Africa March 2011

28 www.railwaysafrica.com

RAILWAYS AFRICA / CONTENTS

32

Africa Update CFB Rehabilitation Progress

32

Kenya Seeks Nairobi Operator

34

Mozambique Needs Rail Wagon Industry

37

New Zambian Mine Railway Planned

38

48

SA Rail News Transnet’s New CEO

40

Rail’s Share of A Huge Backlog

43

Atlantic Rail

44

62

Gautrain Rapid Rail Link Gautrain Construction Update - Month End 28 February 2011

50

Mishaps & Blunders Japanese Quake & Tsunami

58

Rail Awareness Campaign

60

The Floods In Queensland

62

Railway Heritage Atlantic Rail, Cape Town

70

Umgeni Steam Railway, KwaZulu Natal

70

72

Review Pride of Eritrea

72

End of the Line PPP’S – Thoughts From Britain www.railwaysafrica.com

74 Railways Africa March 2011

5

BOMBARDIER

INNOVATIVE LOCOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IMPROVE RAILWAY EFFICIENCY Janis Vitins, PhD, member IEEE // Bombardier Transportation

Over the last ten years, BOMBARDIER TRAXX has become the most successful locomotive platform in Europe. The platform is based on a modular building-block structure from which four locomotive types are available. Today, they operate in almost all European countries in both passenger and freight service. TRAXX locomotives have been continuously developed to meet the newest railway requirements and standards using state-of-the-art technologies.

The concept of the TRAXX platform has been applied also to the ALP locomotive platform for North America. The ALP platform is comprised of two types of locomotives: a high-power electric and a dual-powered locomotive, both for commuter and intercity services. A third, novel diesel-electric locomotive is in planning. The dual-powered locomotives have both diesel and electric traction and thus can run with diesel engines on non-electrified routes and with electric power from overhead catenaries.

THE EUROPEAN TRAXX LOCOMOTIVE PLATFORM The TRAXX locomotive platform was the right product for railways in Europe at the right time. It was the answer to the growing needs of train operators requesting standard, interoperable locomotives to perform cross-border services between countries.

And it was launched at a time when the European Union supported unification of fragmented national railway networks. Today, the TRAXX platform covers electric locomotives for all major catenary voltages. A diesel version of TRAXX complies with the newest, stringent exhaust emission standards. All locomotives have a high degree of parts commonality and feature the same traction motors, gearboxes, bogies, control & communication, driver’s desks, etc.

Thanks to this, the railways can use the same spare parts across their fleet of different TRAXX locomotive types and can reduce costs for training as well as investments in depots and workshops.

At present, more than 1,500 units have been sold and approximately 1,200 locomotives are in operation throughout Europe. They are operated by state as well as private operators.

As standard products with high residual value, TRAXX locomotives are leased by five different leasing companies.

TRAXX locomotives are based on proven components and systems.

Thus, high reliability and availability are achieved. Service and maintenance schedules are extended compared to conventional locomotives, thus lowering operating costs. The innovations introduced within the TRAXX platform over the last ten years are numerous: • High adhesion capability combined with low track forces.

A novel wheel-slip control system is used which cleans the tracks and increases the overall adhesion capability of the locomotive. The result is that the average adhesion coefficient of the locomotive is higher than otherwise available.

• Compliance with new and upcoming railway standards such as EN (European Norms) and TSI (Technical Specifications for

The TRAXX and ALP technologies are used in very high speed powerheads up to 350km/h.

Examples are the AVE S112 and S130 in Spain which today form the largest part of the Spanish fleet of high-speed trains. In the other extreme of heavy-haul locomotives, the IORE in Sweden and the powerful HXD3 in China rely on the TRAXX and ALP propulsion and control systems. Important overall features are high power efficiency, low maintenance costs and high reliability.

The diversity of applications and high performance makes the above locomotives well-suited also to South African railways.

A 4-axle TRAXX locomotive pulling a demonstration train of 3,700 ton load (52 full tank cars) under 3kV DC catenary in Poland.

6

Railways Africa March 2011

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BOMBARDIER

TRAXX AC

TRAXX DC

TRAXX MS

TRAXX DE

15 and 25 kVAC

3 kVDC

15/25 kVAC & 1.5/3 kVDC

Diesel-electric

Italy, Spain, Poland

Benelux, Italy, Poland

Non-electrified Lines

North-South Corridors

More than 1’500 units sold More than 1’100 units in service

The TRAXX platform consists of three electric locomotives and one diesel-electric.

Interoperability). These include TSIs for noise, safety in railway tunnels, control, command & signalling, and operations.

• Design of the propulsion chain for maximum energy savings through regeneration of braking energy. By using energy metering, it is possible to reduce energy consumption through an optimal driving style. Also, state-of-the-art traction transformers, converters, drives and traction motors contribute to high power efficiency.

• New, interoperable automatic train protection (ATP) systems based on ETCS. The new systems incorporate Specific Transmission Modules (STMs) with which legacy ATP systems are integrated into ETCS equipment.

The net effect of these innovations is a reduction of operating costs per hauled train load and thus an increase in railway efficiency.

TRAXX locomotives have demonstrated the ability to pull trains that are 50% heavier than those hauled by conventional locomotives with DC traction motors. Measurements in Sweden have shown more than 20% lower energy consumption. Today, TRAXX locomotives are the most frequently sold locomotives in Europe.

HEAVY-HAUL AND NORTH AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES Heavy-haul locomotives: The TRAXX locomotive technologies developed in Europe lend themselves ideally to railway applications elsewhere. The 6-axle HXD3 series heavy-haul locomotive designed and built in cooperation with Dalian in China is an example of this. It combines TRAXX propulsion systems with the Bombardier mechanical designs of the Swedish IORE locomotive. The Swedish IORE locomotives are world-wide the first electric heavy-haul locomotives to use modern AC-propulsion technology. They consist of two 6-axle sections which are semi-permanently coupled. Each section has only one cab and can operate autonomously, allowing optimum redundancy in case of a section failure. The design objectives of the locomotive were to obtain high traction performance with the target of pulling 50% heavier trailing loads compared to existing locomotive stock. Further design requirements were to reach low

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overall life-cycle costs and to achieve high mission reliability in the Nordic operating environment.

The traction performance of 10.8MW at the wheels and a starting tractive effort of 1,200kN necessitates the use of modern ACpropulsion technology. Key features beneficial in extreme climatic conditions are: • Robust asynchronous (AC) traction motors, largely insensitive to snow, humidity and dust. The AC motor is smaller than conventional DC motors, allowing the installation of higher traction power and tractive effort into the available space envelope within the bogie.

• High adhesion utilisation when operating on steep grades and under adverse track conditions.

• Energy savings. AC propulsion circuitry allows a bi-directional flow of power, thus allowing full regeneration of braking power.

The IORE locomotives are designed for maximum possible regenerative braking power, at the same level as the traction power, ie 10.8MW. To maximise regeneration, the dynamic brake force is set to the highest possible safe level of max 750kN for loaded trains and 250kN for empty trains. On the long 17 ‰ downhill grade to Narvik, the regenerative power is limited to 8MW due to the limited receptiveness of the network infrastructure.

North American commuter and intercity locomotives: New Jersey Transit (NJT) was the first railway to introduce highpower, modern AC propulsion technology with the electric ALP-46 in North America. These initial 26 locomotives were delivered starting 2001 and are used in heavy commuter service. A second series of 36 units ALP-46A, for speeds up to 200km/h, is now shortly before delivery completion. These ALP locomotives are designed for push-pull operation with up to ten heavy, double-deck coaches, eg between New Jersey and New York City. The traction converters are of the same MITRAC family as used in TRAXX locomotives.

Railways Africa March 2011

7

BOMBARDIER

The North American dual-powered commuter locomotives for AMT and NJ Transit. These novel locomotives can operate with diesel traction or powered from an overhead catenary.

In addition, the new dual-powered locomotives, ALP-45DP, have brought about game-changing innovation in the services provided

by NJT, as well as by the commuter railway of Montreal (Agence Métropolitaine de Transport, AMT).

The ALP-45DP locomotives can run on power from the 12/25kV catenaries as well as on diesel power on non-electrified lines.

The integration of both diesel and electric propulsion was made possible thanks to new, light-weight and compact equipment.

They operate commuter trains in city suburbs where there is no electrification and switch to electric traction where a catenary is available. This makes it possible for the railways to provide novel one-seat-ride services without the need for passengers to change trains at system borders.

It is planned to complement the existing ALP pltatform with a third member: a novel diesel-electric locomotive for commuter and passenger services. It will contain a new diesel propulsion concept meeting the future demanding Tier 4 exhaust emission standards.

The design will contain a high power redundancy, thus leading to a high mission reliability. The innovative propulsion concept will

have high power efficiency, improved by 10 to 20% compared to conventional diesel-electric locomotives.

NEW LOCOMOTIVES FOR SOUTH AFRICA The South African railways can benefit from the locomotive developments for Europe and North America. Both the TRAXX and the ALP platforms are adaptable to the South African railway environment, such as the loading, narrow track gauge and specific operational requirements. An important element is to establish a locomotive platform for South Africa in order to avoid high oneoff costs for the development of each required locomotive type: passenger and freight, as well as electric and diesel. As experience in Europe has clearly shown, standardised locomotives will open up the leasing market also in South Africa, thus giving railways new operational and financing opportunities. By establishing a technology link to the TRAXX and ALP technologies, it can be ensured that the future South African locomotives will stay abridge with state-of-the-art technologies used in Europe and North America. This is a necessity to obtain the same benefits of modern traction that other railways worldwide already exploit.

The IORE was the first high-power heavy-haul locomotive with ACpropulsion technology. It hauls heavy iron ore trains of up to 8,200 tons on steep, winding tracks in the arctic north of Sweden.

8

Railways Africa March 2011

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Building the future Ultra long rails

ISONGO RAIL

Isongo Grinding for Gautrain Isongo Rail (Pty) Ltd, in association with Loram Maintenance of Way in the USA, has been awarded a short term rail grinding contract by Bombardier.

Isongo Rail (Pty) Ltd, in association with Loram Maintenance of Way in the USA, has been awarded a short term rail grinding contract

by Bombardier.

According to Isongo CEO Rupert Gebers, this is the beginning of an exciting journey. “Isongo Rail is indeed honoured to work on the Gautrain project and we relish the opportunity to show what our Hy–Rail eight-stone, gaugeconvertible rail grinder can do.”

10

Railways Africa March 2011

Isongo secured the agency to represent the Loram Maintenance of Way equipment in Africa in 2005. Loram’s rail grinders are highly respected throughout the world for their rugged equipment and effective grinding practices as well as exemplary standards and quality.

Although Isongo has pursued grinding applications in the South African railway market for several years, the Gautrain contract marks the first opportunity for Isongo and Loram to show what they are capable of accomplishing.

Isongo Rail underwent a rigorous tender process and was eventually awarded the contract for the Gautrain project. Grinding operations commenced in February 2011, and early results have been very positive.

Loram has been a supplier to the worldwide railway maintenance industry for over 55 years, with 40 years’ experience in the rail grinding business. The state-of-the-art, high-production Loram rail grinders are known especially for their reliability, productivity and quality.

The Isongo Hy-Rail is an eight-stone rail grinder. This small yet powerful machine is particularly well suited to specialist work such as defect removal, turnout grinding, track-in-concrete (street rail) grinding, level crossings, as well as open track main-line grinding.

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ISONGO RAIL The grinder is comprised of three units including: • A power car; self-contained Hy-Rail unit that provides all electrical power, control systems and fire fighting support.

• Two grind carts – each housing four 30hp (23kW) electric grind motors and a dust extraction system.

• An additional crew cab attached to a rear grinding cart when required.

The Isongo Hy-Rail Grinder has an extensive on-board fire prevention and fire fighting capability.

The grinder excels at corrective grinding, but is also particularly adept at addressing peaked flash butt welds and mill scale. It is gauge-convertible and can be transported by road across borders, dramatically reducing time spent during relocation to new operational sites. The Loram grinders are the equipment of choice throughout the world, especially for addressing turnouts and extreme corrective grinding. Loram brings the experience to help railways go from a corrective situation to an economical preventive programme.

Isongo Rail is presently short-listed for open track and turnout grinding tenders with Transnet Freight Rail and is aggressively pursuing new rail grinding opportunities elsewhere in Africa.

The company will be exhibiting at the Railways and Harbours Conference and Exhibition at the Johannesburg Expo Centre from 6 to 8 April 2011.

“The Gautrain contract marks

the first opportunity for Isongo and Loram to show what they are capable of accomplishing.

”

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PLASSERAIL

TRACK MAINTENANCE

by Leon Zaayman (Please see notes headed POSTSCRIPT on page 74.)

Adequate, well-maintained rail infrastructure is a prerequisite to South Africa’s successful participation in the global economy.

It is essential to South Africa’s long-term economic growth, development, and prosperity to eradicate poverty, famine, low skills levels and unemployment and to improve the general standard of living of all its people.

This process continues with each maintenance input achieving a lower track condition than before and the interval between maintenance inputs reducing exponentially. This produces a new deterioration curve (AK) which is much longer than the curve AC without maintenance input. The life of the track has therefore been extended.

Undeniably, reliable and affordable rail infrastructure has been the key to success of most, if not all, rich industrialised countries.

An effective railway system will stimulate the development of the national economy by transporting goods and passengers at minimum cost. Lower-cost structures facilitate domestic competition and make exports more competitive on international markets.

This process will continue until the period between required maintenance inputs becomes uneconomically short (compare distance GI with BE). Complete track renewal eg formation rehabilitation, replacement of sleepers, rails, fastenings, ballast or any combination of these components will then be required (IJ). The whole process will repeat itself.

The railway system is admittedly only one part of the total transport picture but in a country where the road infrastructure is deteriorating very fast and where transport is required for bulk commodities and minerals, the railway is still the most energyefďŹ cient and environmentally friendly mode.

However, for the railway system to be called “efďŹ cientâ€? and to be able to transport freight and passengers at cost-effective rates, the infrastructure must be reliable, available, affordable and safe. This can only be achieved if an effective track maintenance strategy is followed which considers the entire life cycle cost of the infrastructure. The objective of maintenance is to lower the track geometry deterioration rate to preserve service life. Figure 1 shows a hypothetical track deterioration curve schematically, and the inuence of maintenance on track life.

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The longer the curve AK, the longer the life of the track and the lower the track life cycle cost will be, resulting in lower freight costs and greater competitiveness on world markets for exports from South Africa.

Therefore, the construction and every maintenance and rehabilitation activity thereafter must aim to reduce the track deterioration rate. The entire life cycle of the infrastructure must be considered at all times. The life cycle is inuenced by the following, among others:

1. Initial quality Decisions made during the planning, design and construction phases of the track have far-reaching consequences for expenditure later in the life of the track structure. The use, for example, of lower standard track components, or lower standards of formation or drainage construction, may save money in construction costs, but the extra track maintenance cost and train delay times that result from this lower standard of work will consume these savings several times over.

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The higher the initial quality of the track, the greater the quality reserve, and the longer it will take before the next maintenance intervention becomes necessary. This point is illustrated in Figure 2.

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An increase in track roughness will result in an increase in dynamic loads, which will accelerate the rate of deterioration. The curve AC represents deterioration of an asset with no maintenance intervention. If the deterioration is left unattended, the functionality of the asset will reduce until it can no longer be used.

However, for the safe passage of trafďŹ c at a realistic speed, the track cannot be allowed to deteriorate beyond a determined threshold for minimum allowable track condition.

To extend the life of the track, track deterioration must be slowed down through planned maintenance actions (as depicted by BD) which are executed on time. However, the original as-built functional condition cannot be regained by typical maintenance input due to wear of the track components.

After maintenance input the track will continue to deteriorate (DE).

Once again, as the deterioration approaches the threshold for minimum allowable track condition, maintenance input is required (EF) and, as before, the condition as achieved after the previous maintenance input cannot be regained.

12

Railways Africa March 2011

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Figure 1: Hypothetical track deterioration curve.

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Figure 2: The effect of high initial quality on the deterioration curve.

2. Threshold for minimum allowable track condition Maintenance strategy should address the value of the threshold for minimum allowable track condition as this will have a major inuence on the track’s life cycle cost.

Outsourcing in track maintenance, a paper presented by Professor Peter Veit, provides some of the vital technical and economical correlations of the track based on a project adopted by Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB – Austria’s state railway) since 1996. The paper and project concentrated on the optimisation of track maintenance and also addressed the issue of threshold.

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PLASSERAIL If the threshold for maintenance intervention is set at a low value as indicated by the line “threshold 1â€? on Figure 3, the effect of too little maintenance will be hardly noticeable at ďŹ rst but the service life will be reduced by the knock-on effect of earlier track defects.

For example, if the track roughness index is set too low before tamping takes place, the roughness will cause higher dynamic loading of the track. This will cause crushing of the ballast, which will result in turn in ďŹ nes in the ballast bed retaining moisture, etc; eventually resulting in damage to the track material.

Professor Veit’s research supported and proved this hypothesis.

His evaluation showed relatively high initial improvements in quality values directly after maintenance. However, this level was not sustainable and the deterioration accelerated over time. The quality level achieved after maintenance was lower than when measures had been implemented sooner. Intensive maintenance efforts at a later stage, aimed at extending service life, proved uneconomical.

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new, the available maintenance budget is concentrated on other sections where the track condition is poor. Initially the effect thereof cannot be seen. As the track ages, the threshold has to increase due to the increasing wear of all the track components, in order to maintain a reasonable availability and track life. However, the knock-on effect referred to earlier has already taken its toll and will negatively impact on the life of the track.

The Austrian project has proved that the most economical approach to track maintenance is when money is invested in a high initial quality level with corresponding maintenance. In other words, a long service life and lowest life cycle cost can be expected when the threshold for maintenance intervention is at its highest while the track is still new. The threshold is then gradually reduced towards the end of the track life.

3. Maintenance tactics The maintenance tactics that will be employed during the life of the track must form part of the maintenance strategy, as this will inuence the ďŹ nancial investment as well as the organisational structure required - and will have an immense effect on the life cycle cost and life expectancy of the track.

Figure 5 provides a diagrammatical layout of typical maintenance tactics. The two main tactics are either “plannedâ€? or “unplannedâ€? maintenance. The danger of unplanned maintenance is that - over time - it can easily consume all available resources. The railway can fall into a situation where all resources and ďŹ nance are employed to address unplanned emergency work. This allows the track structure to deteriorate very fast due to a lack of preventive maintenance.

), *(& *( #, 2 -,+(-* #'! ' * $ #', ' ' 3 (' * ' )

Figure 3: summary of the effect of maintenance due to threshold.

However, it is not only the level at which the threshold is set that is of signiďŹ cant economic importance. Research shows that the threshold should not be set at a ďŹ xed value but rather linked to the age of the track.

The general tendency by maintenance managers is to maintain a constant threshold for maintenance intervention throughout the life of the track (see Figure 4). With a constant threshold, maintenance intervention will always take place when the track condition has reached a predetermined level, irrespective of the age of the track.

Ideally the majority of resources employed should be to carry out planned preventive maintenance activities as this is the only tactic that will extend the life of the track.

Preventive maintenance has two elements, routine and corrective.

Corrective maintenance refers to work that is required to prevent failure after a defect has been identiďŹ ed and the date and time of the execution of such work can be planned; ie it is not an emergency yet.

However, in practice it is more likely to ďŹ nd an increasing threshold (bottom curve in Figure 4) which means that while the track is

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Figure 5: Maintenance tactics diagram.

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Routine maintenance is carried out to maintain the track to a predetermined standard before defects occur. Time-based routine maintenance is based on the elapsed time since the last maintenance action took place. Time-based maintenance is usually carried out on off-track components such as drains, greasing etc and is often seasonal. Condition-based routine maintenance will use the data from a track recording car, trolley inspections, footplate inspections etc, to determine where the use of scarce resources can be optimised. Condition-based maintenance will contribute towards the lowest possible life cycle cost.

4. Finance Track maintenance comprises a large percentage of any railway’s operational expenditure. When ďŹ nancial difďŹ culty is experienced,

Figure 4: The effect of the various thresholds on life cycle.

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Railways Africa March 2011

13

PLASSERAIL the maintenance budget will usually be reduced ďŹ rst. The graph in Figure 1 was based on the hypothesis that the necessary maintenance input in ďŹ nancial terms has been allowed for. The question arises: What will the case be if the maintenance input is inadequate, ie both in terms of maintenance intervention at a point below the maintenance threshold (too late) and/or insufďŹ cient input (too little) to achieve the highest possible condition?

The loss of customers due to late deliveries as a result of speed restrictions as well as the cost of derailments will force the railway administration to reverse the negative trend, in order to ensure the continued functioning of the track. This point of intervention is illustrated by MC2. The shaded area between the equilibrium line and the maintenance cost curve depicts the accumulated backlog costs.

Figure 6 illustrates how the deterioration curve will drop down much more sharply than it will where timeous and sufďŹ cient maintenance is carried out. The life expectancy of the track will reduce drastically. In addition, the input required to renew the track will greatly exceed the input that would have been required if timeous and sufďŹ cient maintenance were carried out - as depicted by the length of line AB as opposed to line CD.

To bring track condition back to the equilibrium level, a huge intervention cost is required over a small period. This becomes a capital as opposed to operational expenditure, for which there is very seldom money available. The value of the intervention costs greatly exceeds the backlog value (“savedâ€? amount) due to the knock-on damage to the infrastructure by the deteriorating track. If the indirect costs of derailments, reduced trafďŹ c due to speed restrictions and loss of business are added to the intervention costs, the increase in the life cycle cost of the track is astronomic. This could have been prevented by small incremental maintenance expenditure. A stitch in time saves nine.

(( ,! ' (( #,,%! * + * $ #

* $ (' #,#('

Re-investment in maintenance will be depicted by the line MC2 to MC3 which indicates an acceleration in expenditure and renewal cost. After the peak maintenance cost expenditure level (MC3) has been reached, maintenance expenditure can be allowed to slow down until it levels off at the equilibrium level, at which point the level of derailments and speed orders will also decrease, and reach an acceptable level.

#&! ('' "!

Figure 6: Track deterioration curve with inadequate ďŹ nancial investment.

The effect of such an underinvestment in maintenance was highlighted during the RT-CAP research project in the SADC countries which was carried out by Plasserail of South Africa and sponsored by Austria during the 1990s.

The maintenance cost curve of Figure 7 is based on the theoretical and practical relationship of under-investment in maintenance of the assets and the resultant intervention cost. The derailments and speed orders (speed restrictions) are the quality indicators which follow as a result of the above mentioned relationship.

!

!

!

"

5. Track information The fact that maintenance intervention is required before the track deteriorates to a point below a minimum threshold (quality standard), implies that the track condition must be determined.

The railway engineer should ensure that footplate inspections and measurements take place at regular intervals. In addition, the railway engineer should do trolley inspections to gain ďŹ rst-hand experience of the track condition and should always be involved in all maintenance decision-making. The root cause of some defects must be determined. Even observations by train drivers can be valuable. All the observations must be recorded and the data analysed to produce track information.

Various parameters of measure can then be used to decide where the threshold for minimum track condition lies, such as number of workplaces and/or speed orders per kilometre. For scientiďŹ c management, the data obtained from a track recording car can be manipulated to produce graphs that will provide very accurate information regarding the required level of ďŹ nancial investment to maintain the equilibrium.

A well planned and executed track maintenance strategy will aim to sustain the track condition at a predetermined equilibrium level.

This equilibrium level is illustrated by the line MC1 and can be measured in various different ways such as a standard deviation (measuring car data) or number of workplaces per kilometre. It implies that the ďŹ nancial input is adequate to sustain the track condition at the predetermined equilibrium level.

Transnet Freight Rail uses the Plasser IM2000 infrastructure measuring car (Figure 8) to measure and record the track, overhead contact wire, rail proďŹ le and ballast proďŹ le geometry and to produce various different reports which range from tables that list the track geometry defects by type and location to reports intended for scientiďŹ c ďŹ nancial management. The car measures and records accumulatively approximately 40,000 kilometres of track per annum. All the main lines will be measured at least three times per year.

An inadequate ďŹ nancial input is depicted by the maintenance cost curve MC which drops to below the equilibrium level, ie the ďŹ nancial input is inadequate to maintain the predetermined track condition. The deteriorating track condition will force speed orders (speed restrictions) to be imposed at an increasing number. The number of derailments will also increase.

The IM2000 is a self propelled vehicle ďŹ tted with the Plasser & Theurer optical contactless system. The car travels at 80 to 100km/h while making various measurements at 250mm sampling intervals. The measurements are recorded and various further calculations made from the measurements to produce track condition data in graphical and table formats.

Figure 7: Maintenance cost curve (from RT-CAP project).

14

The question is – where is the equilibrium level and how does one know that the investment is adequate to maintain the predetermined standard? The answer lies in the availability of track information.

Railways Africa March 2011

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PLASSERAIL unevenness on the formation which will accelerate the deterioration rate. Furthermore, the most important section of the ballast bed, the sleeper bearing area, is more often than not neglected, due to the very hard labour involved. Hand methods for track maintenance are also very slow, uneconomical and inaccurate.

Due consideration should be given to finding the appropriate machine type and supplier for the task at hand.

For example, when deciding on the tamping machine to be used, consideration should be given to the track kilometres to be tamped per annum, the number and tamping cycle of turnouts, the length and availability of maintenance windows etc. A low-production tamping machine may have a low initial cost, but due to its low production rate, the unit costs of tamping long distances on main-lines will exceed that of a high-production, more expensive machine.

Figure 8: Plasser IM2000 infrastructure measuring car.

6. Maintenance practice Every maintenance input should aim to reduce the track condition deterioration rate. Some of the parameters that accelerate the rate of deterioration are poor weed control, poorly maintained drains, fouled ballast, uneven track geometry, rail surface defects and neglected ballast profile. These parameters are interrelated, thus explaining the exponential deterioration rate so often seen.

7. Maintenance planning Planning refers to more than just deciding where to work. Planning also includes addressing root causes of problems as opposed to addressing the symptoms, understanding trends and being able to recognise built-in defects such as rail joints (where defects are detected by a recording car). There are just too many variables for any human to manage and cannot be efficient or effective without the use of a proper maintenance management system.

Various systems are available, ranging from highly sophisticated computer systems to a simple line layout diagram. The maintenance planning system should show where and what type of maintenance needs to be done and where it was done, what the interval of the maintenance is, where recurring defects exist which require more investment, etc. Such a system will allow the maintenance manager to manage his resources effectively.

Planning takes place at various levels in the organisation. Over and above managerial planning in terms of financial investment and the maintenance planning as described above, the day-to-day logistical planning around the maintenance site is also important for the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the maintenance input.

The effectiveness of maintenance planning will have a deciding effect on the life of the track and therefore the life cycle cost.

8. Maintenance equipment and machinery Today it should no longer be necessary to argue the benefits of mechanised maintenance over the use of hand labour. As a matter of fact, hand ballast cleaning, for example, has been shown to create

The supplier of the machines and the technology used by the supplier is a further consideration. So for example, the Plasser & Theurer tamping process has been extensively researched and proven to provide the maximum durability possible.

Practice has also shown that the decision between in-house and outsourced mechanised maintenance has a great influence on cost-effective maintenance.

Various examples exist in Southern Africa where railways attempted to maintain and operate the machines themselves, all of which have failed. In the 1960s, the South African Railways owned, operated and maintained their own fleet of machines. Availability dropped to below 70 % which necessitated more machines to achieve production requirements. In the 1970s, Plasserail was contracted to own, operate and maintain the machines, an arrangement which still continues today. Reliability of machines is now characterised by availability exceeding 95 % on a month-to-month basis.

Plasserail’s success in maintaining such high availability can be attributed to following exactly the same philosophies set out for track maintenance in this article.

The overall message here is that practice, especially in South Africa, has shown that track maintenance can only be optimised if appropriate mechanised track maintenance machines are used and if the maintenance is outsourced to contracting companies who have the necessary skills, experience and infrastructure.

CONCLUSION A railway line is an expensive and valuable asset, especially in the developing world where it provides vital infrastructure for sustainable social development. The railway is a very reliable and economic means of transporting goods and passengers. Wisely planned and implemented maintenance at regular intervals will extend the life of a railway, enabling it to remain economically viable for many years - to the benefit of economic growth in the country involved. At the same time it will ensure a track infrastructure that is reliable, available, affordable and safe.

REFERENCES 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

LICHTBERGER, Dipl-Ing Dr B. Track maintenance strategies for ballasted track – a selection. Rail Engineering international edition 2001, no 2.

Course Proceedings – Introduction to multi-disciplinary concepts in railway engineering: University of Pretoria chair in railway engineering Regional track condition assessment project: Plasserail MULKE, DR FRIEDEL. Stormwater drainage of rail track SELIG, PROF ERNEST T, Characteristics of ballast shoulder cleaning and ditching:– 6th International Heavy Haul conference SELIG, PROF ERNEST T and JOHN WATERS. Track geotechnology and substructure management EBERSÖHN, DR WILLEM and ING CONRAD J RUPERT. Erstellung Einer Gleisdatenbank Und Eines Instandhaltungs Systems Unter Verwendung Von GPS-, LiDAR-, Und Video-Technologien: Der Eisenbahn Ingenieur, Heft 8/2001 8. VEIT, PROF PETER (Technical University Graz). Outsourcing In Track Maintenance:– OVG Conference September 2004 1.

Article in periodical: JAMES E G and ROGERS F R. The significance of political interference in railway operations. Railway engineering, vol 89, no 97. July 2007, pp 8-10.

2. Book: JAMES E G and ROGERS F R. The significance of political interference in railway operations. Indianapolis, Indiana university press, 1979.

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Railways Africa March 2011

15

OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD

PETE THE PUNDIT

On Railway Belts - And The Need For Subways Two eminent Kenyan writers have been putting down thoughtprovoking observations that deserve a wider audience.

the Kenya-Uganda Railway then (and today), travelled through bush. Travelling by railway, you saw very few people.

KENYA’S RAILWAY BELT

“Compare that to travelling by road. A trucker driving on the Mombasa-Kampala route can stop and drink at 20 bars and, as some do, have girlfriends in 10 towns along the way. Passengers can do the same. Train drivers and passengers doing the same Mombasa-Kampala route will not even have got out at any station once! Therefore, of the two, the chaps who travel by road will be more broadminded because of their encounters with various cultures along the way.

Onyango-Obbo, executive editor of The Nation media group’s Africa and digital media division, writing in The Citizen (published in Dar-es-Salaam), observes: “At the end of last year, senior editors at The Nation media group were studying the Kenyan population and political map, and trying to understand how it might change with the new constitution that established 47 counties as the new administrative units.

“As we added the numbers, and plotted them on a map we realised that nearly 75% of Kenyans lived within about 100km of the railway. Recently, I looked at the Tanzanian and Ugandan maps to see if the pattern was the same. It was.

“The ‘railway belt’, if we may call it that, is a great population pull.

The main reason for this is that the colonial economy was built around the railway. That became the foundation of the dynamics of our societies. Thus, Machakos was the first ‘capital’ of colonial Kenya. However, the capital was moved to Nairobi in 1899 for one reason - it [Machakos] was bypassed by the Kenya-Uganda Railway. Nairobi, in turn, had been founded as a rail depot on the line linking Mombasa to Uganda.

“Also, nearly all the leading schools in East Africa are within the railway belt because that is where the colonial administrations invested most. But there was something else. Missionaries started many of the schools in Uganda. The missionaries, too, followed the railway, so they built their schools near it.

“Thus the railway has shaped our countries. The railway belts have produced most of the region’s presidents, rich men and women, influential intellectuals, and eminent bureaucrats. Because they didn’t have much sympathy for areas out of the railway belt, they neglected them.

Kenya’s “railway belt” – colonial legacy.

Photographer unknown.

“From that point of view, though the initial collapse of the KenyaUganda [Railway] was an economic disaster, it was a good thing politically because it shifted, on average, 80% of East Africans from the narrow-mindedness of the railway, to the liberating possibilities of road travel.

“There were other outcomes from the collapse of the railway, without which even the glimpses of democracy you see in East Africa today wouldn’t have happened.

“The collapse of the railway was one product of the decline of the post-colonial state all over Africa. Governments could no longer run railways, and everything else - education and hospitals.

To fill the gap, private transport (buses) were licensed, as were private schools, and hospitals.

“Until then the structure of our economies meant that governments controlled every aspect of your life: You travelled by state-owned railway; went to a government hospital; went to a government school; and were employed by the government and lived in a government pool house. The government decided which crops you grew and at how much you sold the harvest at a government-owned market.

“Without the collapse of the railway state, we would all be living in dictatorships. Now, it can be revived, because the power has shifted away from what our grandparents called the ‘iron snake’.”

KENYA NEEDS AN UNDERGROUND According to Oman Ondus, a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya currently working in Canada, Kenyan planners should consider building underground railways.

Commenting on the envisaged light rail system in Nairobi, which he thought would do much to alleviate the problems associated with matatu minibuses, he points out that “major cities elsewhere now prefer smoother underground subways that avoid street level challenges”. Heavily used examples are to be found in cities such as Seoul, Moscow, Tokyo, London, New York and Paris, carrying millions of commuters every working day (some as many as 10 million).

“This partly produced the deprivation of North Eastern Province, North Rift, and the northern extreme of Eastern Province in Kenya.

Likewise, north-eastern Uganda. And in Tanzania, the southern region.

“I also think it explains the parochial and sectarian tendency of the railway-belt elite. Until about 30 years ago, most students travelled to and from school by railway, as did workers and civil servants going back to their villages to visit on holiday. Most of

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Railways Africa March 2011

Underground railways, Ondus says, “stimulate subterranean economic activities such as restaurants, coffee shops, book stores, clothing stores and pharmacies. For instance the cities of New York, London, Tokyo, Seoul and Toronto have built impressive subway-level multi-billion dollar business centres that handle millions of customers daily.”

Egypt, he writes, is the only country in Africa with an underground railway. Even South Africa, “with its economic muscle, has not implemented such a transit mode even for its commercial capital,

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OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD Rubber-tyred underground train in Paris.

Photo: editor, 1977.

Tampa, waiving more than $2 billion in grants from the federal government. He says the proposal is too costly and could put the state’s taxpayers in line for costs as high as $3 billion. He believes ridership and revenue projections “tend to be too optimistic” and would probably require ongoing state government operating subsidies. Scott noted that if the project foundered, Florida would be required to refund everything the federal government invested in it.

LOTTERY CASH FOR ISLE OF WIGHT STEAM RAILWAY

Johannesburg. Pundits have attributed this to past apartheid policies which would have made it uneconomic to run on a segregated basis.”

[Jawellnofine. Actually some 15km of Johannesburg’s Gautrain line is below ground, with Sandton station (for instance) 40 metres beneath the surface.– Editor]

A major visitor attraction on the Isle of Wight is the 16km steam railway. A £35,000 development grant from Britain’s Heritage Lottery is to go towards a project which Isle of Wight Steam Railway chairman Steve Oates explains, “will give visitors the opportunity to view historic railway vehicles at close quarters and discover how they were once so much a part of life on the Island.

This is a tremendous boost to us.”

Two points: 1. Heritage steam railways are big tourist draws overseas 2. They are recognised as worthy candidates for lottery handouts

COSATU ON HIGH-SPEED RAIL Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said on 16 February that the proposed Durban-Johannesburg high-speed rail link is “elitist”, to benefit only “the fortunate few.” That’s his opinion, which you may share (if for example you are in the business of building high-speed railways) or may not (like if you think the unfortunate majority who use Metrorail can think of a more worthy cause).

FLORIDA, OHIO & WISCONSIN CANCEL HIGH-SPEED RAIL PROJECTS The state governors in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin have rejected planned high-speed railways. Florida governor Rick Scott is scrapping a proposed high-speed line between Orlando and

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

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Railways Africa March 2011

17

INDUSTRY COMMENT

One More Time … Track Gauge Dave van der Meulen / Managing Member / Railway Corporate Strategy CC How to get traction?

In this issue, Railways Africa features wheels, axles, bogies and other key components - the global industry is a cornucopia of this hard core of railways. The three components mentioned support aggressive competitiveness when applied to standard-gauge track, but are quickly emasculated if applied to narrow-gauge.

To repeat once more, the strengths of standard-gauge, and the weaknesses of narrow-gauge, stem from the vertical and lateral components of wheel-rail interaction. The vertical component supports heavy axle-load, the lateral component supports highspeed. They underpin rail’s inherent competitiveness in the heavy-haul, double-stack, and high-speed market spaces, three applications where rail dominates all competitors. Alas, narrow track gauge frustrates attainment of the heaviest axle loads and the highest speeds, while standard-gauge excels. Narrowgauge railways are thereby denied access to market spaces in which standard-gauge railways are inherently competitive. With few exceptions, Gautrain for one, railways in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot enter market spaces where rail is inherently competitive and sustainable.

This applies even to heavy-haul, where 30-tonne narrow-gauge axle-loads are lower than their 40-tonne standard-gauge counterparts, precisely in the track gauge ratio 1,067mm/ 1,435mm, or ¾. Heavy-haul lite would be an apt moniker.

Paradoxically, the price of narrow-gauge, heavy-haul locomotives is higher than that of standard-gauge, heavy-haul locomotives, because manufacturing volumes are very much smaller. However, because they are lighter, they haul less and their capex and opex is proportionately higher. Even well-maintained narrow-gauge locomotives generate the same faults per million kilometres as standard-gauge locomotives, hence they generate more disruptive incidents because more locomotives are required for given throughput. Similarly, narrow-gauge wagon load-to-tare ratio is lower than standard-gauge, and capex and opex proportionately higher. The inherent competitiveness of narrow-gauge railways is inadequate.

“If only they managed the railways better…” many have complained, so let us explore railway management or leadership quality, which may be brilliant or dull: This piece will not explore the distinction, but simply recognise its existence. Having established distinctions between adequate and inadequate Inherent competitiveness, and between brilliant and dull leadership quality, one can construct the accompanying figure. The four quadrant names have been borrowed from military terminology, as management writers are inclined.

Popular lamentation regarding the state of South Africa’s inherently uncompetitive narrow-gauge railways suggests that they are at best fighting a losing battle and at worst suffering defeat. Fighting a losing battle only takes longer, so examining the distinction between brilliant and dull leadership is moot. Either way, rail fails to contribute its rightful share to the national economy.

Noting that enjoying victory comes only when brilliant management quality acts on inherently competitive railways, can brilliant managers be found in Africa? Consider the recent example of WalMart, the biggest retailer in the world, and the biggest business in the world, ranked number one in the 2010 Fortune Global 500 and earning revenue 40% higher than its nearest rival. It came shopping in Africa, and acquired 51% of JSE-listed Massmart. Other examples of South African management making good in Africa and wider

18

Railways Africa March 2011

afield also exist. The bottom line is that Africa can deliver good management.

Standard-gauge naysayers lament the dismal condition of SubSaharan Africa’s railways, but simultaneously condemn the only workable way forward. Let them challenge the foregoing reasoning.

The standard-gauge world Now take a tour to see what the standard-gauge world is doing.

Starting with Africa, Mauritania already operates a heavy-haul, standard-gauge, iron-ore line and is set to build another, to move phosphates to the port of Nouakchott from deposits near the Senegal border. Morocco is adding high-speed lines to its longstanding standard-gauge network. Egypt uses standard-gauge, as does Algeria on two-thirds of its railway, and roughly a quarter in Tunisia. Libya’s standard-gauge network is under construction. A standard-gauge North African network is emerging, stretching from Mauritania in the west to Egypt in the east.

Moving to the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is extending its east-west network to create a Red Sea-to-Persian Gulf landbridge, building a north-south railway and the Haramain high-speed Mecca-Medina link. The United Arab Emirates is building a 1,500km Union Railway, of which portions will support the 2,100km Gulf Cooperation Council railway, from Kuwait City to Muscat in Oman. Jordan, a 1,050mm narrow-gauge island in the Middle East, is to re-gauge and extend its network to link with neighbouring standard-gauge Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The Middle East has become a substantial component of an Afro-Eurasian continental network.

North Africa and the Middle East are politically touchy at present, but the rest of the world seems to expect democracy rather than extremism as outcome. The resulting economic acceleration could bode well for a substantial addition to the world’s contiguous standard-gauge railway network.

Further east, Iran is developing its standard-gauge railways aggressively, having linked to Pakistan’s broad-gauge at Zahedan, and extended its network to Khaf on the Afghanistan border. To enable Iranian ports to serve landlocked countries in east Central Asia, it intends extending standard-gauge to Herat in northern Afghanistan, and on then on to Mazar-i-Sharif, which links to Uzbekistan, and ultimately to the Sher Khan Bandar border crossing into Tajikistan. From there it is some 600km to the AfghanistanChina border, beyond which lie China’s standard-gauge railways.

In addition to political turbulence in southern Afghanistan, relatively peaceful northern Afghanistan seems set to become enmeshed in locating a standard-gauge link between China and the West, together with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

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INDUSTRY COMMENT

Brilliant

Fighting A Losing Battle

Enjoying Victory

Suffering Defeat

Holding the Fort

Inadequate

Adequate

Management Quality Dull

Inherent Competitiveness Moving to south-east Asia, the Trans-Asia Railway notion dates from half a century ago. However, on a continent dominated by standard and broad-gauge, a narrow-gauge regional appendage of questionable competence got no traction. Enter China, now with economic muscle to reshape scenarios. To support the NanningSingapore economic corridor, it recently announced a high-speed, standard-gauge railway from Nanning via Hanoi in Vietnam and Vientiane in Laos, to Phnom Penh in Cambodia and Bangkok in Thailand, then to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and ultimately to Singapore. Both the Thai vice-prime minister and the Lao standing deputy prime minister delivered fitting speeches at the 2010 high-speed rail conference opening ceremony in Beijing.

opening in 2016. This will terminate the Trans-Siberian railway within a 1,000km radius of most of Western Europe.

Europe and North America have long enjoyed standard-gauge continental networks. Note that Spain, previously dominated by broad-gauge, was recently connected to the rest of Europe by standard-gauge.

The world’s railways are positioning themselves for aggressive competition through gauge standardisation and networkability.

How does Sub-Saharan Africa relate to these thrusts?

Africa’s options In passing, the “yes, but in Japan” set might note that some 98% of Japan’s 28,000-odd 1,067mm-gauge passenger stock is multiple-unit, mainly electric, some diesel. In a previous article we noted that multiple units are doable on narrow-gauge up to 120-130km/h. Analogous to South Africa, Japan Freight Railway tonnage has declined 22% over the last five years. Inherently uncompetitive narrow-gauge, perhaps?

The Eurasian broad-gauge networks - the 1,520mm Strategic Partnership and Indian sub-continent 1,676mm - are likely to stand unchallenged. Broad-gauge is inherently competitive, and can readily adopt standard-gauge technologies. Furthermore, Russian, Ukrainian, Slovak and Austrian railway authorities have agreed to construct a 1,520mm gauge railway from its present terminus, Kosice in Slovakia, to an international logistics terminal in Vienna,

Contemporary rail is a successful high-capacity transport mode, pursuing market spaces in which it is inherently competitive, and exiting those in which it is not. It requires substantial infrastructure investment to support the heavy axle load and/or high-speed that underpin its competitiveness, Contrary to colonial rail, cheap it is not. This in turn requires selection of corridors that offer sufficient traffic volume to support an adequate return on that investment.

Note that Transnet Freight Rail has properly structured itself around corridors. However, contemporary rail does not support branch-lines inherited from times when cheap was the overarching criterion, and animal-powered overland transport the only alternative. Unfortunately, much South African rail infrastructure dates from that era. Will those who hold that slow, light trains on narrow-gauge legacy infrastructure are still worthy competition for contemporary trucks, on multi-lane highways with ubiquitous origin and destination access, please stand up?

COMPELLING INSIGHT FROM ORIGINAL RESEARCH www.railcorpstrat.com

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Railways Africa March 2011

19

INDUSTRY COMMENT Rail’s economic role is thus comparable to that of freeways—in the most advanced countries they comprise <<5% of the road network, yet leverage a proportionately much larger economic contribution. South Africa and Africa do not need their entire legacy rail network - the world has many moribund or derelict branch-lines. Despite good intentions, nothing has yet come of South African branch-line concessioning. Is there compelling reason why this country should fare any better than many other narrowgauge concessions that are at best pedestrian? A competitive standard-gauge network would thus be very much smaller than the existing one. Note that this article adopts a freight focus outside urban areas - high-speed rail is incompatible with colonial legacy infrastructure.

As agriculture becomes less labour-intensive, rural populations migrate to cities. All developing countries experience this phenomenon, which South Africa knows well. Cities grow faster than rural areas, and some develop into megacities, concentrating both freight and passenger traffic on intercity routes. Of the world’s 100 largest cities, 73 are in developing countries, of which eleven (Cairo, Lagos, Kinshasa, Khartoum, Luanda, Alexandria, Abidjan, Johannesburg, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Kano) are in Africa.

The continent has leapfrogged the world in mobile telephony and applications such as low-cost banking - many Africans have no need for fixed line telephony. Why should it not now leapfrog to inherently competitive rail? Of course, many challenges lie ahead.

For example, local manufacture of locomotives has been mooted to supply local requirements, create jobs and export locomotives.

While we may be impatient for results, to what track gauge should we build locomotives? We need to change gauge, and many possible purchasers are changing or have already done so. This requires circumspection rather than haste.

The track gauge question will not go away Africa is ascendant at long last. But it does not yet have a continental railway network. All other continents (except South America, which is a topic for others) have standard or broadgauge rail networks, which offer continental networkability and, for Eurasia, intercontinental networkability. Rail cannot contribute rightfully to an economy if it is not inherently competitive: It is unsustainable and owners are unable to invest to keep it current.

The effects are profound: • Citizens do not enjoy affordable, safe mobility to maximise employment opportunities and leisure pursuits.

• Exporters cannot satisfy all demands, because rail capacity falls short.

• Desirable road-to-rail shift remains elusive, because rail is not competitive.

• Greenhouse gas emissions remain high, because rail’s comparatively low energy consumption means nothing if the traffic is actually on road.

It is now time to get real. Transnet’s new group CEO Brian Molefe has been appointed for his understanding of capital markets and asset management, which will be invaluable as the company moves forward with its massive infrastructure development programme. The risks are immense: investments in assets that are not inherently competitive will ultimately be discounted to firesale prices if privatisation proves to be the last resort. May he rise to the high challenges that face him. Of course, the same goes for leaders in the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) and the Departments of Transport (DoT) and Public Enterprises, and for all the good people and businesses that form the groundswell of public opinion.

RAIL VEHICLE SYSTEMS

International Railway Industry Standard

GM571_PRESSLINK

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The moment of trust. From the efficient transport of its freight to the safe arrival of their loved ones, South Africa trusts the railroads. And the railroads put trust in Timken.

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CEDARA TUNNELS

The 6km Cedara Tunnels Opened 50 years ago; the longest in South Africa until 1989

by Bruno Martin Approach from Cedara, September 1957.

HISTORIC BACKGROUND

In the years following the end of the Second World War, extensive track duplication and grade-easing works on South Africa’s main railway lines were carried out on a grand scale in order to cope with the burgeoning volume of traffic. The biggest and most expensive project at the time was the reconstruction and doubling of the Natal main-line between Boughton (Pietermaritzburg) and Umbulwana (Ladysmith). The alignment diversions entailed civil engineering works of considerable magnitude and culminated with the opening of the Cedara twin tunnels towards the end of March 1960. These remained the longest on the South African rail network until relegated to second place in March 1989 by Tunnel 4 (Hexton)* on the Hex River Pass deviation between De Doorns and Kleinstraat in the Western Cape Province.

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Railways Africa March 2011

The sinuous and heavily graded railway alignment between Pietermaritzburg and Ladysmith was a difficult one to operate, right from the outset when it was opened in 1886. Sections that challenged operations most of all required reconstructing on more than one occasion before the present day double-track alignment was achieved at the start of the 1960s. Shortly after Union in 1910, grade easing was initially gained as a trade-off by lengthening the track distance and by adding curvature, albeit on a wider radius. The most notable section to be reconstructed in this manner was taken into use in 1914, to bypass the notorious Highlands summit between Mooi River and Estcourt.

Halving the steepness of the inclination came at the expense of trains having to travel 11km further, but now a single class 14 locomotive could haul the same load which had previously required three locomotives – one in front, one mid-train and one banking.

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CEDARA TUNNELS Branch line to Howick opened 1911 (abandoned 199?)

Longest Railway Tunnels

Merrivale (Howick)

1891 - 1914 1914 1916 1917 - 1944 1944 - 1954 1954 - 1960 1960 - 1989 1989 - 2009 2009 -

24km 1048m

(188

4) 20km 1051m

Cedara (Riet Spruit) (Cedara) (Aradec) 1884 24km 1079m 1916 29km

Cedara - Merrivale deviation & connecting line to Hilton (Road) via Leonards opened 1915 (abandoned 199?)

(Leonards) 22km 1108m

Town Hill Deviation

6)

19 023 s (6 nel un -50 in T -in Tw de: 1 Gra

Pietermaritzburg - Cedara Opened 1916 Grade: 1-in-50 compensated 151m (495 ft) minimum radius curves Summit: 1097m (Hilton Road Tunnel) (Teteluku) Length: 27km (16 M 66 ch) 17km 930m Electrified in 1926 (3kV DC) Braeside - Cedara closed 1960 Victoria Tunnel (98m)

60

(Kettlefontein) 22km 1015m

m)

(Boshoff's Road) 15km 1038m

(Winterskloof) 13km 1008m (Braeside Signal Cabin) 14km 872m

Horseshoe curve 151m (495 ft) radius

0 196 DT 16 19

(Sweetwaters) 11km 969m

6km 785m

(Zwaartkop) (Blackridge) 8km 901m (9km) 835m Connecting line (Broomfield)

Henley Dam

DT 1916

Henley

0

COMPILED BY BRUNO MARTIN 09/2010

1

LADYSMITH

PIETERMARITZBURG

2km 747m

(1884-1916)

6km 788m

Ms un du zi

179km

(Rushbrook) 4km 742m

opened 1916 (Grange) (Braeside) (aband. 1987) Horseshoe curve 151m (495 ft) radius

4km 630m

106km DURBAN 0.0km 676m

Boughton

) 84

(18 and. (ab 7) 198

opened 1884 to Howick (Merrivale) Grade: 1-in-30 uncompensated 91m (300 ft) minimum radius curves Summit: 1129m at Hilton Road Station Camp - Braeside abandoned 1916 All routes electrified in 1926.

Boughton - Hilton abandoned 1987

1 (19 1960) sed (clo

ra

Longest rail tunnels in South Africa from 1960 until 1989

Original Natal Main Line

(Duncairn) 25km 1068m

(Hilton) (Hilton Road) 20km 1129m

da Ce

Cedara Twin Tunnels

(1) Extended by 67 metres in 1917 (2) Hex River Tunnel No.4 (3) Park Station to Marlboro portal (opening 2011)

Hilton Road Tunnel (831m)

(Depot) 4km 642m

(Camp) (Napier Junction)

Pentrich Engine Sheds Masons Mill Marshalling yard

2

kilometres

(1880)

Cedara - Merrivale DT deviation opened 1922

Laings Nek 674 metres Stockton 800 metres (1) Hilton Road 831 metres Delville Wood 914 metres Hobbs Hill 976 metres Groenheuwels 1338 metres Cedara 6023 metres 'Hexton' 13301 metres (2) 'Gautrain' 14732 metres (3)

5km 658m

LEGEND Present Main Line alignment Original Natal Main Line (dismantled)

6023m

Tunnel, length in metres

Town Hill deviation (dismantled)

(1880)

Single track & year of opening

Abandoned connecting lines

DT 1906

Double track & year of opening

Other operational lines

(Braeside)

Site of station or siding

15km

Distance in kilometres from PIETERMARITZBURG

Main station, siding or halt

1630m

Height above sea level (metres)

Former name

CEDARA TUNNELS Approach at Boughton from Pietermaritzburg, September 1957.

The Town Hill deviation, which provided an alternative route in 1916 to surmount the escarpment north of Pietermaritzburg, only increased the distance to Cedara marginally, but offered a far gentler climb than the original alignment opened in 1884. Here, the trailing load for a single Mallet locomotive was increased from 275 tons to 500. By the early 1920s, an entirely new alignment, partially doubletrack, was taken into use from Merrivale to Nottingham Road. Large portions of abandoned trackbed of the original mainline were adapted to accommodate the rebuilt Durban-Johannesburg main road.

By 1924, the rebuilt sections from Pietermaritzburg to Boughton, Cedara to Quail (Hospital siding), Lions River to Dargle, Balgowan to Caversham, Ennersdale to Frere and Umbulwana to Ladysmith amounted to 41km of double-track which left a further 138 km of single track to be duplicated. The overhead catenary wires carrying the current for 3kV DC electric traction was strung, section by section, first from Daimana (Ladysmith) to Estcourt and on to Mooi River in 1925 and then through to Masons Mill yard (Pietermaritzburg) by 1926.

A 25-year reconstruction hiatus ended in 1949 when work resumed to fill in the gaps between all single-line sections between Tweedie and Rosetta. This track duplication was completed in 1953. Further up the line, the double-track alignment between Estcourt and Ennersdale was brought into use in 1955. In the same year, work on

24

Railways Africa March 2011

doubling the Frere – Colenso section was also finished. The only remaining unaltered section of the original main-line alignment was eliminated in 1956 when an 11km section of double-track was opened from Rosetta to Mooi River.

In 1957, an entirely new double-track alignment, some 32km in length and embodying two sets of twin tunnels with a combined length of 9,586 metres - and a new bridge over the Bushmans River - was completed to replace the circuitous singletrack route through the Stockton tunnel between Mooi River and Estcourt. Also during 1957, the 16km section of doubletrack from Colenso to Umbulwana was opened. It included two sets of twin tunnels and a new bridge over the Tugela River, This left rebuilding the Boughton-Cedara section north of Pietermaritzburg as the last to be tackled.

When work started on this section in April 1955, two routes were in operation. The original single-line with its uncompensated 1:30 grade on 91 metre radius curves branched off at Boughton. This was used almost exclusively for local traffic. The Town Hill deviation, opened in 1916 on a grade of 1:50 (compensated for 151 metre minimum radius curvature) was doubletracked from Pietermaritzburg to Boughton from the start. It remained single-track thereafter to Cedara.

Both routes were operated by electric traction from 1926. Various alignment options were investigated, including laying

a second track alongside the existing line around Town Hill, but in the end it was decided to opt for the most direct route by tunnelling under the escarpment.

The ₤4.4-million tunnelling project was undertaken departmentally with a workforce of 1,000 men.

In September 1955, work began on excavating the approach cuttings and installing the services and facilities needed in preparation for the tunnelling.

A geological survey based on the results gathered from boreholes sunk along the centre line of the Up tunnel allowed geologists to predict the formations which would be encountered.

The two bores were driven simultaneously from both ends through alternating layers of dolerite and sandstone with some shale and clay in places. Each bore was built to the standard profile having a circular arch of 2.2 metres radius on side walls of 3.4 metres height and 4.5 metres wide, spaced 30.5 metres apart and linked with crosscuts at 804 metre intervals for maintenance and ventilation. Some 367,000 cubic metres of spoil was excavated and 84,000 cubic metres of concrete poured for the lining, which ranges in thickness from 304 to 914 mm.

CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS • March 1956: Work started on the Cedara Up tunnel. Shaft excavated above tunnel.

• April 1956: Cedara Up tunnel heading started in both directions from the shaft.

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CEDARA TUNNELS • August 1956: Excavations from the Cedara Up tunnel and the north heading from the shaft holed through.

• September 1956: Work on the south heading of Cedara shaft stopped.

• November 1956: Work started on Cedara Down tunnel.

• 17 July 1958: Up tunnel holed through with a closing error of 57mm in line and 32mm horizontally. Of the total length of 6,022.8 metres 3,014.4 metres were excavated from the south portal and 3,008.3 metres from the north portal.

In addition, 612.6 metres and 416.9 metres of emergency concrete lining had been completed from the two portals respectively.

• September 1958: Work started from the south portal on concrete lining of the Up tunnel.

• November 1958: Work started from the north portal on concrete lining of the Up tunnel.

• 21 November 1958: Down tunnel holed through with a closing error of 38mm in line and 22mm horizontally. Of the total length of 6,022.8 metres, 3,206.5 metres were excavated from the south portal and 2,816.3 metres from the north. In addition, 907.7 metres of concrete lining from the south portal and 408.7 metres from the north was needed to support bad hanging.

• March 1959: Work started from the north portal on concrete lining of the Down tunnel.

• April 1959: Concrete lining of the Up tunnel complete. Altogether 3,579.5 metres were done from the south portal and 2,443.3 metres from the north.

• May 1959: Work started from the south portal on concrete lining of the Down tunnel.

• October 1959: Concrete lining of the Down tunnel complete, 2,715.1 metres were done from the south portal and 3,307.7 metres from the north.

• 28 March 1960: Tunnels officially opened to traffic by minister of transport B J Schoeman at a ceremony held at the southern portals. A special train conveying dignitaries from Durban and Pietermaritzburg then passed through.

Interior of Down tunnel, 1.7km from the Boughton entrance, with work proceeding on the rock face in the background. (Photos Charles Parry)

As a consequence of the closure of the Town Hill line, the stations at Teteluku and Ketelfontein - and Duncairn halt near the south portal of the 831 metre Hilton Road Tunnel - were no longer needed. The opening of the Cedara tunnels brought to a close the duplication project which shortened the way from Pietermaritzburg to Ladysmith by 29.3km eliminated 8,352 degrees of curvature (equivalent to 23 complete circles) and required 10 fewer stations to staff. The combined length of all tunnelling (nine twin bores and one doubletrack) amounted to 27.9km. The total cost of building the tunnels and associated trackwork amounted to ₤11 million**.

THE BOUGHTON ACCIDENT A spectacular accident occurred on 17 April 2005 when a northbound container train headed by three Class 6E locomotives was left unattended at Cedara. Starting on its own volition, it ran back through the tunnel, eventually colliding with a stationary goods train at Boughton. Loaded with granite, this had stopped clear of an earlier derailment.

Some 50 goods wagons lay strewn on both sides of the line over a distance of nearly one kilometre. It took a week to rebuild the track during which the main JohannesburgDurban line remained closed. The total cost of the disruption ran into tens of millions of Rand.

The tunnel reduced the length of track needed for the 1:50 grade ascent from Pietermaritzburg to Cedara by 6.8 km References: SCHMIDT, N F B. The construction methods used on the twin railway tunnels near Pietermaritzburg. The Civil Engineer in South Africa, June 1961, pp 99-113.

New Twin Tunnels on the Natal Main Line. African Roads and Transport, Nov/Dec 1956, pp 179.

Natal Witness, 29 March 1960.

HEYDENRYCH H & MARTIN B. The Natal main-line story, HSRC Publishers, 1992.

RHIND, D M. Hex River Tunnels. S A Rail, vol 29, no 3, May-June 1989, pp 68-70.

Notes: ** In 1960, South Africa’s currency units were still pounds (£) shillings (s) and pence (d). In 1961 one pound became two Rand, but the relevance between past values and the present has been lost due to the effects of inflation. *

26

Hexton will be displaced from its top spot when Gautrain’s main line from Johannesburg’s Park station to Hatfield is taken into service later this year. The length of tunnel from Johannesburg’s Park station to the Marlboro portal is 14,731.7 metres according to the Gautrain website.

Railways Africa March 2011

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

Side Frames • Bolsters Yokes • Cast steel monobloc wheels Draw-gear components Centre plates

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

Passenger car castings: • High speed, high stability radial axle bogies for motored and unmotored passenger vehicles • Self steering bogies • Fully machined frames ready for assembly into bogies, including the fitting of bushings and wear plates • Integrally cast brake hanger brackets and mounting for auxiliary equipment Tel: +27 11 842-9303 • Fax: +27 11 842-9710 Website: www.scaw.co.za

Scaw manufactures castings under licence to various licensors, but is an open foundry with the capability to undertake work according to individual customer requirements. The company has produced thousands of sets of steel castings for freight cars for both the local and export markets. These include side frames and bolsters that have been approved by the Association of American Railroads for use on North American railroads.

Scaw supplies globally and also offers nationwide distribution in South Africa through its strategically located branches throughout the country.

SCAW METALS GROUP

SPECIALISED SERVICE

HAZMAT John Batwell Explores A Transnet Freight Rail Speciality Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) offers unique and specialised total logistics and supply chain services to major players in the local and regional chemicals’ industry. Dedicated chemical freight trains run on a regular schedule, with the service determined by the cost efficiency of the specific freight logistics solution.

Fuel movement inland from Durban on Natcor, February 2011. Photo: R Fincham.

To optimise the use of the specialised wagon fleet and free up capacity, Transnet collaborates with its customers on projects such as:

* White Mamba collaborative – bulk liquid train from

*

*

Secunda to Richards Bay five times a week. Turnaround time has been reduced from 14 days to four.

Green Mamba collaborative initiative – bulk liquid train from Secunda to Durban twice per week. Turnaround time has been reduced from 12 days to seven.

Butadiene gas train, once weekly from Richards Bay to Newcastle.

A variety of vehicles is used, including open wagons, flat trucks and highly specialised tankcars for hazardous, non-hazardous and dangerous commodities.

Chemical Industry’s contribution to the economy The chemical industry contributes more than R12 billion per annum to the South African economy. It is highly complex and diversified, ranging from low unit-value bulk chemicals to high unit-value but small-volume and very specialised compounds. The industry is at

28

Railways Africa March 2011

an important stage, with natural gas from Mozambique providing a significant new feedstock. Sasol is the leader with its oil-fromcoal project, which led to the development of unique technological capabilities. The challenge for the industry is to become globally competitive and produce more chemicals for export.

Highly varied commodities Chemical products of a wide variety in gaseous, granular or liquid form are well suited to rail transport. These include: • • • • • • • • • • •

Solvents, olefins and surfactants Chemicals packed in containers Acids – eg phosphoric, sulphuric, hydrochloric, tar (and others) Alcohol – eg ethanol, hexanol and nonanol Gases - eg butadiene, hexane, propylene (and others) Anhydrous ammonia Caustic soda Ammonium nitrate Sulphur Fuel - eg jet fuel, diesel, petrol and many other chemical commodities.

www.railwaysafrica.com

SPECIALISED SERVICE The total number of different materials conveyed by TFR is thirty-two. A variety of rolling stock is used for conveyance, with the most hazardous commodities moving in tankcars.

The South African petroleum industry is valued at R29.9 billion annually, contributing 3% to the country’s GDP. TFR’s look-in in transportable volume stands at 40%. The rail division offers three different services.

First, MegaRail comprises a dedicated jet fuel rail service from Durban to OR Tambo Airport in Gauteng. Secondly, FlexiRail offers block train traffic movements from Krugersdorp to Botswana, Pretoria to Zambia and Sasolburg to Beitbridge. The third is AccessRail which comprises small consignment loads transported within a mixed freight train load. The FuelRail tankcar fleet stands at some 4,000 vehicles with some dedicated to specific commodity, while others are interchangeable.

Hazardous material transport: safety procedures The transporting of hazardous materials calls for specialised handling by staff.

TFR ensures that its employees are appropriately trained, commensurate with their duties in dealing with dangerous/ hazardous materials: a) b) c) d) e)

identification and classification packaging requirements loading profiles/specifications labelling and marking general hazards presented by the various classes of dangerous goods and their safe handling procedures f) segregation of loads and compatibility g) placarding h) rolling stock suitability and service worthiness i) loading and offloading j) occurrence management, including contingency planning and emergency preparedness k) Railway administrative personnel interfacing with train operations staff in the field Transport of dangerous goods is regulated to prevent accidents, as far as possible,

to persons or property and damage to the environment. In South Africa, legislation (with reference to South African Bureau of Standards codes of practice) is prescriptive in specifying the duties and liabilities of consignor, consignee and carriers. One of the primary requirements of transport documents and/or systems is to convey the fundamental information relative to dangerous goods being offered for transport. Therefore, if a consignor does not declare the hazard/danger of a product/commodity or the carrier does not have the information available to transport the product/commodity safely, or is not available in emergency situations, this can be regarded as a criminal offence in terms of a number acts of parliament, dating back as far as 1956.

The Rail Safety Regulator Act - Act 16 of 2002 - was promulgated on 5 August of that year and proclaimed by the president on 20 September to oversee the safety of the railway industry. One of the functions of the Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) is to

“The chemical industry contributes more than R12 billion per annum to the South African economy.”

Crime along the line of rail remains a thorn in the flesh of Transnet Freight Rail. Photo: Transnet.

www.railwaysafrica.com

Railways Africa March 2011

29

SPECIALISED SERVICE act as the competent authority for the transportation of dangerous goods by rail.

Internal versus over-border rail movements Under the leadership of the RSR and countries in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), railway administrations compiled the Southern African Development Community hazardous materials handbook. This is used by all railway personnel involved in the acceptance, handling, loading, offloading, storage and conveyance of hazardous materials from one country to or through another country.

The instructions contained in this manual apply to all hazardous materials tendered for conveyance across borders by rail within the SADC countries and are in conformity with international codes of practice and standards as adopted by all member railway administrations.

Problems: market share, security and possible PPPs Though logically TFR should enjoy the lion’s share of the market in moving commodities that ideally lend themselves to rail transport, this is far from being the case.

Road transport enjoys a 60% market share in conveying fuel alone. Door-to-door delivery still calls the shots in speed of service and minimal serious delays. An increase in rail-oriented crime has not proved good to rail’s image as a result of tardy delivery.

The theft of cable on electrified routes has made up about 70% of incidents of crime and vandalism across the railway system.

Trains can be stranded for long hours as a result. A “double whammy” is then the theft of product from the train loads while stranded.

this past season caused the collapse of embankments and formation failures, leading to the closure of two lines affecting the transport of export fuel to Botswana.

An upside to Transnet Board’s five-year development plan is a proposal to enter PPPs (public-private partnerships). This would see the creation of openings for private companies to invest in specialist equipment such as chemical rolling stock typically for the benefit of a single customer.

TFR was looking last year at a R500 million spend on security over the two year period 2010/11. Heavy summer rains

Hazardous materials’ movement over the border – in this case Zimbabwe. Photo: G E Cooke.

30

Railways Africa March 2011

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AFRICA UPDATE

AFRICA UPDATE ALGERIA HIGH PLATEAU RAILWAY Construction is to start soon on the 153km east-west Saida-Tiaret section of Algeria’s High Plateau line. The country’s development agency Anesrif has awarded a 36-month, €417m design and build contract to a joint venture in which Italian contracting firm Astaldi has a 60% stake. The contract includes 41 bridges and viaducts, 35 road overbridges, two passenger stations and two freight yards.

The route is a continuation of the 120km Moulay Slissen-Saida section for which Astaldi is general contractor

ANGOLA CFB REHABILITATION PROGRESS The Angolan government is spending $US200 million rehabilitating the 1,344km Caminhos de ferro de Benguela (CFB).

Linking the port of Lobito to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the line has been out of action since the outbreak of the Angolan civil war. According to deputy minister of transport José João Kuvingwa, CFB might resume full operation in the first half of 2012. In terms of orders worth $89m, China is to supply eight locomotives, 766 coaches and 94 wagons, and will train CFB staff.

telecommunication. The Angolan government has invested more than $US300 million in the rehabilitation of this railway, the Angolan news agency Angop reports.

BOTSWANA BOTSWANA-NAMIBIA COAL LINE Construction of the new 1,500km Trans-Kalahari railway connecting Botswana’s Mmamabula coalfield with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay is expected to start in 18 months. It will take five years to build with costs expected in the range $US5-9 billion.

Twenty-one consortiums have submitted bids for the project, including Canadian-listed CIC Energy Corporation. Botswana and Namibia aim to appoint a successful bidder by mid-2011. A pre-feasibility study funded by the World Bank was to be completed by March.

There is a possibility of a future connection to the Waterberg, reputedly South Africa’s future major coal mining area.

EGYPT EGYPT’S TRAINS RUNNING AGAIN Train services resumed in Upper and Lower Egypt on 5 February, after five days’ s uspension due to the wave of nationwide political protests. To comply with curfew orders, the Egyptian Metro Corporation announced that Cairo’s metro would operate between 06:00 and 19:00.

STRIKES INCLUDE RAILWAY A wave of strikes across Egypt has included the railways, which have now promised permanent contracts for temporary workers, a primary cause of contention. The strikes continued despite two public warnings from Egypt’s new military rulers urging strikers to return to work “at this delicate time”. Altogether, the strikes and the 18 days of successful protests against the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak cost Egypt’s economy more than $US1.7 billion, according to estimates released by the official government statistics agency. The sum included losses in the tourism, manufacturing and construction sectors, according to the report published by Mena, the state news agency.

Strikers have different priorities but coalesced around a central demand that the government raise the minimum wage to E£1,200. The rate had remained fixed at only E£35 per month since 1984.

GHANA ACCRA-TEMA LINE The Accra-Tema railway was planned as a result of rapid population growth, in particular the workforce of both Accra, Ghana’s capital city, and Tema, a town 24km distant in the Greater Accra region. This led to heavy traffic congestion, high road maintenance costs, increased fuel consumption and environmental pollution.

Passenger train at the new N’dalatando station, Caminhos de Ferro de Luanda (CFL).

NEW STATION IN HUILA PROVINCE On 6 March, the governor of the southern Huila province, Isaac Maria dos Anjos, laid the foundation stone for the building of a new station for Caminhos de ferro Namibe (CFN), formerly known as the Moçamedes Railway. The construction of the 3,200m2, two-floor building is being carried out by the Chinese Hyway-Construções Lda Company. It will provide for offices, waiting rooms and the department of signals and

32

Railways Africa March 2011

After abandonment for almost two decades, the Ghana railway system has been through a major transformation. In October 2010, President John Atta Mills officially launched a diesel passenger train service on the revamped Accra-Tema line, and travelled on the inaugural journey.

Two diesel multiple units (DMUs) are in use. Supplied by China CNR Corporation’s Tangshan plant, each train comprises a motor coach and three or more trailers depending on requirements. The two trains have capacity for 1,200 travellers each. A total of $US8m was paid to the suppliers between 2007 and 2008, and $13.7m on arrival of the DMUs in March 2009.

Features include low fuel consumption, automatic door locks, facilities for the handicapped and an automatic passenger information system. The driver has communication with the conductors and ticket collectors.

The project to rehabilitate the existing Tema-Accra and Accra-Nsawam suburban railways and construct new lines commenced in December 2004. It included the building of two large

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AFRICA UPDATE GUINEA TRACK RELAYING IN GUINEA Brazilian mining giant Vale SA has started laying track on the 330km Conakry-Kankan railway in Guinea.

A statement released by Vale explains it is refurbishing the line as part of an accord with the Guinea government, to contribute to the country’s social and economic development. Reconstruction of the line, run by the Guinea government but out of operation since 1983, is part of Vale’s commitment to developing Guinea’s Simandou iron ore province, the company explains. culverts at Baatsona, the reconstruction of two broken bridges at Nungua and Baatsonaa, and the installation of a signalling and telecommunications system.

The first phase was inaugurated in December 2007 by the then President JA Kufuor at Asoprochonaa, near Tema. The government financed phase 1 with a loan of $US5 million, $500,000 from matching funds and $2.58m from the HIPC (Heavily Indebted Poor Countries) funds. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) granted a loan of $5m in 2005.

NEW LINES IN GHANA The Chinese companies CMEC and CMC are to start work in April 2011 on the $US990 million railway extension project in Ghana, to run from the central business district (CBD) of Accra to Avenor, for completion in 2012.

Construction on the more extensive Nsawam-Kumasi and EjisuTamale-Paga new line projects, worth $6 billion, are also expected to begin this year. A new branch line to Yendi is included. Completion will add 1,200km of rail to Ghana’s network. New trains running at 160km/hr are envisaged, according to www.ghanaweb.com.

BURKINA FASO

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RVR EXPANDS NAIROBI COMMUTER SERVICE Rift Valley Railways has increased the frequency of its commuter services in Nairobi and has introduced a new route. Chief Executive Brown Ondego says the improvements will help cope with growing demand in the city. Trains are operating from 05:00 to 19:00 on weekdays.

Areas benefiting are Kahawa, Dandora, Embakasi, Ruiru, Kikuyu, Kitengela, and Athi River. According to Ondego, service frequency has been increased from 8 to 18 daily commuter trains - a 125% improvement. In addition, a new route has been introduced from Nairobi CBD to Athi River that includes a halt at Kitengela. A fare of 50 shillings applies, unlike the arrangement on other routes where tickets are priced on a zonal basis, though still remaining the most competitive transport option in terms of shillings per kilometre.

Kenya is seeking an operator to manage its Nairobi commuter railway system which is to be upgraded and expanded at a cost of $US100 million by next year. State-owned Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) and London-based private infrastructure development trust InfraCo Ltd have put up an international tender for an operator to help in developing the railway system and eventually manage it when completed. Private consortium Rift Valley Railways’ five-year concession agreement to manage passenger rail services in Kenya ends this year.

Nairobi residents who use rail transport at present face an unreliable though cheap service. According to the official tender announcement, “The new system is expected to comprise 10-15 commuter trains initially, operating over four lines, one of which will be a new express link to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from the Nairobi Central Station.”

Secondi

KRC managing director Nduva Muli says the existing 61km route length is to be expanded to 176km. It will entail the replacement of the current locomotive-hauled trains with dieselelectric multiple units, “said to be more suitable and efficient for passenger carriers.” KR statistics show that the present trains

Railways Africa March 2011

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Prestea Tarkwa

Humi Valley

Takoradi

34

Shai Hills Tema

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KENYA

KENYA SEEKS NAIROBI OPERATOR

TOGO

Sawila

In April 2010, Vale announced it would invest in Simandou, which it says will be the largest integrated iron ore mine and infrastructure project yet developed in Africa. Vale has programmed investments of $US861 million in the project in 2011. Vale’s Simandou project, being developed together with a local partner, foresees initial production of 15 million metric tons of iron ore in 2012, rising to 50 million tons a year in 2020. The Simandou project will have its own dedicated rail line leading to a maritime terminal on the coast of Liberia, Vale says.

Nsawam Accra

AFRICA UPDATE on the construction of the new 550km line between Sirt and Benghazi in Libya. Worth €2.2 billion, the contract includes the building of six major stations.

In late February, RZhD president Vladimir Yakunin gave the assurance that: “the safety of our employees is one of the priorities at Russian Railways. The company knows the exact location of all its staff abroad, and all of them are safe. We are working closely with Russia’s ministry of foreign affairs and the Russian embassy in Libya to identify options to ensure the safety of our employees.”

The substance of this article appeared in the East African, together with this photo of a UK dmu captioned: “A modern locomotive with diesel electric multiple units.”

carry about 19,000 people a day in 41 carriages, bringing in $US5,937.50.

On 4 March, the unrest “front line” reached the Russian construction base at Ra’s Lanuf, halfway between Benghazi and Surt. Work on the Libyan coastal main-line from Ras Ejder on the Tunisian Border through the capital city Tripoli to Benghazi came to a halt as workers left to escape the civil war.

“We want to modernise the infrastructure, improve the rail quality, build new stations and then we will be providing infrastructure that encourages other transport mode interactions such as park-and-ride,” Muli says. KRC and InfraCo signed a partnership agreement in 2009.

Al Kuma

The “park and ride” concept will see commuters parking their cars at the nearest station and riding into the city from where they can either walk to their destination or connect by public transport. The project will therefore see KRC and the developer investing in major parking areas and commercial hubs at main stations. This will earn income through property rent, thus increasing profitability.

In terms of the arrangement, InfraCo will fund the initial cost of the project and later recoup the money - if the project proves successful - by selling its interest to the private sector. If it fails, the money used will be written off as a grant to the Kenyan government, meaning Kenya Railways bears no risk in implementing the project.

LIBYA CHINESE CONSTRUCTION HALTED State-run China Railway Construction, which has evacuated most of its employees from Libya, says billion-dollar projects are in jeopardy. A statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange explained: ‘’Due to increasing turbulence in Libya and attacks against some of the company’s camps, all projects of the company have been suspended. Given the uncertain situation...the preservation of equipment and materials on site and subsequent development remain unclear.”

The company’s three projects in Libya have a total contract value of $US4.24 billion. Only about a sixth of the work, or $686 million’s worth, has been completed, according to the statement.

The remaining $3.55 billion’s worth of contracts accounted for 2.3% of the company’s total outstanding contracts globally, it said.

The media reported China launching an “air, sea and land operation, to evacuate more than 30,000 citizens from Libya, working mainly in the oil, rail and telecom sectors.

RUSSIAN CONSTRUCTION HALTED Rossiiskie Zheleznie Dorogi (RZhD – the Russian State Railway) had 204 specialists from the company and its affiliates working

36

Railways Africa March 2011

Sabha

MOZAMBIQUE NACALA LINE COST Rehabilitation of the railway between Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre and the Mozambican port of Nacala, in Mozambique’s northern province of Nampula, will cost $US231 million, of which $8 million is to be reserved for emergency repairs.

The estimate was given by Victor Lungu, director of the planning and transport department in the Malawian ministry of transport and public infrastructure, based on the findings of a study financed by the European Union. The study found that after rebuilding the line, trains would be able to complete the NacalaBlantyre journey in 38 hours at speeds between 50 and 70km/h, compared with the current journey time of between 5 and 7 days - at speeds restricted to 20km/h due to the state of the line.

SENA LINE - FURTHER UPGRADE Caminhos de ferro do Moçambique (CFM – the state railway & ports) has unveiled plans to spend $US285 million to rehabilitate and expand the Sena railway in a bid to handle coal exports from the western province of Tete to the coast. Around $85 million will be used to further rehabilitate the Sena line to carry six million tons of coal annually by 2011, with a further $200m earmarked to increase the railway’s capacity to 12 million tons in 2014.

The Sena line connects the town of Moatize in the Tete coal basin to the port of Beira.

www.railwaysafrica.com

CFM expects the current rehabilitation work to be completed before the end of June 2011, despite Ricon, the responsible Indian consortium, falling behind deadline.

Another $400m is to be spent to increase the throughput capacity at the port of Beira from 15 million to 18 million tons by 2013 or 2014.

Brazilian mining titan Vale expects to start shipping coal by early July 2011, and Australia-based Riversdale Mining expects to begin in September. Vale has reserved rights to ship four million tons on the Sena line, and Riversdale has reserved the remaining two million tons of capacity.

ZAMBIA

MALAWI

Lake Malawi

TANZANIA

Lichinga

MOZAMBIQUE

Chipata Lilongwe

Cabora

Bassa D

Nacala

Cuamba

am

Nkaya

Monapo

Entre Lagos Nampula

ZIMBABWE

Za Tete m be si R ive r

Chiromo Mocuba

Mutarara

Morrumbala

Vila de Sena Caia Inhamitanga

To Harare

Lumbo

Blantyre

Moatize

Quelimane Marromeu

Indian Ocean

Manica Mutare

0 Dondo

150

300

450 Km

Beira

To Bulawayo

SOUTH AFRICA kw

U

Re

Cho

Inhambane

MOZAMBIQUE NEEDS RAIL WAGON INDUSTRY According to minister for transport and communications Paulo Zucula, quoted by the Maputo press, the Southern African region has a market and needs that justify creating a rail wagon manufacturing industry in Mozambique. The minister was speaking during an official visit to Mozambique by the Portuguese minister for transport and communications, and the signing of an agreement to set up an industrial unit in the country by Mozambique and Portugal.

No dates were given but Zucula said Mozambique is “interested in making it happen as soon as possible”. This is because, as well as the prospect of providing the country with the rail trucks it needs to deal with transporting coal mined in Tete province, there are regional rail transport demands to be met.

Botswana is developing its coal reserves, and countries such as neighbouring Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi are increasing their investment in railway systems. South Africa is currently the only country capable of supplying railway wagons.

In terms of the deal signed by Zucula and Mendonça, Mozambique’s rail and port management company Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) and Portugal’s rail equipment maintenance company Empresa de Manutenção de Equipamento

www.railwaysafrica.com

AFRICA UPDATE Ferroviário de Portugal (EMEF) are to be responsible for setting up the company.

“We believe that in the next 40 to 50 years there will be no market problems for rail trucks, as only South Africa produces them, at a time when we have information about so many orders that they are unable to meet them any more. Therefore, there is a market to make the company viable,” said Zucula, for whom investing in Mozambique equates to investing in the Southern African Development Community.

Mozambican government projections point to the country needing at least 600 wagons over the next five years to transport coal from Tete from mid-2011.

PROPOSED SWAZILAND-SA CONNECTION Swaziland Railway (SR) is currently engaged in talks with its South African counterparts on a proposed new railway link between Lothair (in Mpumalanga, endpoint of an existing branchline from Ermelo) and Matsapha.

SR CEO Gideon Mahlalela says discussions are ongoing and there is cabinet support for the line. As the iron ore mine at Ngwenya is likely to open, the line he says would be viable.

Swaziland, Mahlalela points out, is a rich country as it boasts numerous mineral deposits. Conceding that the poor are poor, he points out that only government commitment can change that.

UGANDA UGANDA PASSES OUT ARMY RAIL ENGINEERS

NIGERIA ABUJA-KADUNA RAIL PROJECT IN NIGERIA The China Civil and Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) has commenced building the new $US874.3 million Abuja to Kaduna railway in Nigeria, a distance of nearly 200km. In December 2010, the Nigerian government secured a concessionary loan of $500m from the Chinese government towards the three-year project.

LAGOS-ILORIN SERVICE STARTS The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) commenced passenger trains operation between Lagos and Ilorin on 23 March. In accordance with instructions by minister of transport Alhaji Yusuf Suleiman, passengers were carried free for the whole of the first week. Departure from Lagos is at 09:00, arriving in Ilorin at 19:00. The train returns on the following day. Intermediate stops include Iddo, Agege, Ijoko, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Iwo, Ede, Oshogbo, Ikirun, Inisha and Offa.

MOZAMBIQUE

SWAZILAND REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

N

MANANGA PIGGS PEAK

TSHANENI MHLUME

MHLUME SIMUNYE MILL

Hhohho

KADAKE

MLAWULA

MGWILI EHLANE MBABANE

MALOYO

SITEKI MANZINI MATSAPHA

LUBHUKU

Lubombo

SIDVOKODVO

to Lothair

PHUZUMOYA

SWAZILAND

BIG BEND

HLATIKULU

Shiselweni

10

20

30

40

50

Kilometres

38

The university, bought from the defunct Lugazi University in 2010, equips soldiers with civil works skills, according to college head Brigadier Timothy Sabiiti Mutebile. He says the institution is to become a fully fledged university of science and technology, specialising in military engineering sciences, development and research.

Mutebile says Uganda was chosen by the East African Community to host the military engineering school, the first in Africa.

President Museveni was quoted saying: “I has been wondering why Africans cannot build their own railway system. I became determined that we will do it, but I was busy with the problem of conflicts on the continent”. He said the problem with Africans was an inferiority complex, which hinders them from looking at their ability and only look for help from elsewhere.

The President said it had been decided to use the army to build the railway and ask Murungi to train the engineers.

Museveni said there is a need to have a railway link with Southern Sudan. He said the government would acquire equipment for the military to help them in the civil works, to be included in the next budget. “I can see that in future the UPDF Engineering Brigade can be contracted to work in other African countries,” Museveni said, promising a law to enable the military engineering brigade to bid for contracts along with other contractors.

MPAKA

SIPHOCO

0

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has passed out the first batch of 47 pioneer Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) railway engineering students from the National University of Science and Technology at Lugazi. The graduates subsequently joined the reconstruction project between Mbale and Soroti on the 503km Tororo-Pakwach line, out of service for more than 20 years.

Railways Africa March 2011

ZAMBIA NEW ZAMBIAN MINE RAILWAY PLANNED Steel producing firm Universal Mining and Chemical Industries has allocated $US100 million towards the construction of a new railway from Zambia’s Lusaka westwards to the Mumbwa district – about 170km. The funds will be mainly used for feasibility studies, geological investigations and exploration works, which are expected to commence this year. The main objective is the conveyance of iron ore for export.

NTSOKO

ZAMBIAN NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY

LAVUMISA

The private-initiative Zambian North Western Railway project, dormant for some years, is being revived. Intended to link existing lines on the copperbelt with north-western Zambia, it will facilitate the transport of copper and other minerals, including uranium currently being stockpiled by Equinox Resources,

www.railwaysafrica.com

AFRICA UPDATE owners of the Lumwana Mine in Solwezi near the border with Angola. It is hoped to complete construction of the 405km line in two years. Project chairman Enoch Kavindele expects costs in the region of $US500 million. Ultimately it is intended to extend the line to meet Angola’s Benguela railway, to provide a shorter route to the Atlantic and markets in Europe.

NRZ has been hamstrung by massive inter-parastatal debt,” the Financial Gazette writes. “A report by the World Bank recommended in 2009 that NRZ should decommission two thirds of its aged tracks, and implement an extensive rehabilitation programme.

“The company has been a victim of serious vandalism.

Government last year allocated $US15 million for track, wagon and locomotive rehabilitation and refurbishment programmes at the NRZ. But finance minister Tendai Biti said ‘requirements for NRZ infrastructure rehabilitation and maintenance far exceed budgetary capacity. Hence, the 2011 national budget interventions will be limited to on-going basic refurbishment programme of wagons, locomotives, track and signal systems to sustain current capacity’.

“For decades, Bulawayo, which is the headquarters of the NRZ, had thrived on the company’s strength to provide employment.

But today, NRZ - once the biggest employer in Matabele-land - is barely surviving.

Zambian scene in 2006. Photo: Dietmar Fiedel.

ZIMBABWE NRZ FREIGHT STATS PLUMMET The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) reports a decline in goods carried to two million tonnes in 2010 from 18 million tonnes shipped in 1998. A government report says declining volumes following a plunge in industrial output have resulted in staff numbers at NRZ’s Bulawayo headquarters dropping to 2,000 in 2010 from 8,000.

“Apart from the rapid slide in industrial output, which sustains operations in large logistical companies across the globe, the

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

“The parastatal has been trying to reintroduce steam trains and is rehabilitating its diesel locomotives to remain afloat after 10 years of vandalism to its infrastructure - from signalling equipment to electricity cables. In May last year, it was estimated that 36% of the NRZ’s diesel locomotives were in service and that only 64% of its wagons were operational.

“At the time, reports said more than $US10 million was required to resuscitate the electrified route from Dabuka to Harare.

But without a proper monitoring system in place to reduce vandalism, NRZ public relations manager, Fanuel Masikati told the Financial Gazette, it would be unwise to reintroduce electric trains.

The threat of vandalism, he said, was still high.”

PO Box 9375, Centurion 0046, South Africa

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

SA RAIL NEWS

SOUTH AFRICAN

RAIL NEWS TRANSNET’S NEW CEO In March, Brian Molefe (43) was appointed group CEO of Transnet. Chris Barron, writing in Business Times, says the man may know nothing about trains, “but he has learned a lot about politics. And that, said observers when the equally inexperienced Maria Ramos was appointed, is the most important qualification.”

The new CEO, Barron notes: “was earmarked for greatness by the ANC before it came to power in 1994. He quickly became one of the new government’s brightest young stars, and deservedly so.

He had solid academic qualifications, and is intelligent, thoughtful, personable and confident.

“In 2003, aged 36, he became one of the most influential people in the country when he was put in charge of the Public Investment Commission (now the Public Investment Corporation), which managed a fund of more than R300 billion of public employees’ pension money. Under him, the fund grew to over R800 billion, and he used his position to become one of SA’s most prominent players.

“He was a regular at Davos where the who’s who of the world’s richest and most powerful met yearly to pontificate.

He was a prized participant in then finance minister Trevor Manuel’s brainstorming sessions on South Africa. In recent times Molefe lost his position at the PIC and seemed to have fallen from favour.

However there is no question about it – he is back in the big time now.

Footnote: South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) president Ezrom Mabyana told the press: “We don’t welcome Molefe’s appointment.” The union is happy he is black, but does not think he “understands” Transnet. Sunday Times staffer Brendan Boyle recalls that Molefe’s wife Portia was director-general of the department of public enterprises under former president Thabo Mbeki.

“ has solid academic qualifications, and is intelligent, thoughtful, personable and confident.

”

NEW TRANSNET EXECUTIVE The recent finalisation of its new executive ended nearly two years of uncertainty, Transnet says, following the departure of Maria Ramos to Absa Bank early in 2009.

Taking effect on 31 March, the new exco comprises CEO Brian Molefe; Siyabonga Gama - reinstated as Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) CEO despite dismissal in 2010 ; chief risk officer Virginia Dunjwa; group executive for planning and monitoring Mark Gregg-MacDonald; human resources and strategy head Pradeep Maharaj; Transnet Pipelines CEO Charl Moller; Transnet National Ports Authority CEO Tau Morwe (who has been acting head of TFR); group executive for Transnet capital projects Moira Moses; group executive commercial Khomotso Phihlela; Transnet Port Terminals CEO Karl Socikwa (in acting capacity until now); executive responsible for legal, corporate and public affairs Zola Stephen; Transnet Rail Engineering CEO Richard Vallihu; and acting group chief financial officer Anoj Singh – who has been acting since predecessor Chris Wells became acting CEO two years ago.

According to Molefe, the new exco will be tasked with “prioritising customer service”. The group plans to spend R110 billion on capital projects up to 31 March 2016.

40

Railways Africa March 2011

www.railwaysafrica.com

SA RAIL NEWS

ANOTHER 32 CLASS 15E LOCOS Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) announced on 2 March it had placed an order for 32 additional new class15E locomotives for its 861km Sishen-Saldanha iron-ore railway, in line with the targeted capacity boost to 61 million tons a year. The $US230 million order was placed with Venus Railway Solutions, the local blackempowered subsidiary of Japanese company Mitsui.

The contract specifies a minimum local content requirement of 50%. The locomotives are to be built at Union Carriage & Wagon (UCW - a Murray & Roberts subsidiary) in Nigel with some components supplied by other local entities. Production is to begin in December 2011, with delivery of the first unit by May 2012 and the last by August 2013.

engineers, students and apprentices, as well as operating a welding school to produce nearly 700 welders, with the majority of beneficiaries being historically disadvantaged. On 2 April, a welding school is being opened at UCW. TFR accounts for roughly half of the Transnet group’s R110 billion spending programme over the next five years in expanding capacity and improving infrastructure. This is in addition to the R73 billion spent over the last five years.

Recently appointed Transnet CEO Brian Molefe says service levels are expected to improve significantly as TFR progressively implements its fleet renewal strategy. To date, 68 new locomotives have been placed in service – 28 class 15E (50kv AC) on the iron-ore line and 40 dual-voltage class 19E (25kV AC and 3kV DC) on the coal line to Richards Bay. In addition to the local manufacturing, there are stringent skills transfer and development targets. These include training of

Class 15E loco (Co-Co, 4,500kW , 6,000hp, 50kV AC) at Saldanha. Photo Andre Kritzinger.

TRANSNET’S NEW CLASS 43 LOCOS In a ceremony held at its Koedoespoort manufacturing facility in Pretoria on 21 February, Transnet Limited took delivery of the first two of the 100 locomotives it is purchasing from General Electric South Africa Technologies (Gesat) - the local arm of General Electric (GE). Transnet and General Electric entered into an agreement for the supply of 100 model C30ACi diesels - the first AC main-line diesel locomotives to be introduced

www.railwaysafrica.com

in sub-Saharan Africa. Three of these generate the same hauling power as four of the older models currently in use, saving approximately 600,000 litres of fuel a year. These units, to be used both on the export coal line and general freight business of Transnet Freight Rail, are part of the group’s fleet renewal plan and R93.5 billion, 5-year capital investment programme.

In terms of the agreement, GE will build the first 10 diesels at its plants in the United States, while the remaining 90 will be assembled at Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) manufacturing facilities in Koedoespoort. GE will supply all major components including engines, alternators and other hardware. TRE will be responsible for the complete assembly as well as sub-assemblies.

Railways Africa March 2011

41

SA RAIL NEWS GAMA REAPPOINTED CEO OF TFR In March, it was announced that Siyabonga Gama has been reappointed CEO of Transnet Freight Rail (TFR). The posts of Transnet group CEO and TFR CEO are the parastatal’s two most senior positions.

BRANCHLINE CONCESSIONING An official Transnet announcement says: “Following submissions of Expression of Interest, the latest development on the concessioning process is that: *

Transnet’s newly appointed Board of Directors is being briefed on the branchline concessioning process and preparations are under way to issue a Request for Proposals (“RFP”);

According to a 29 June 2010 statement, TFR CEO Gama, suspended since September Transnet Freight Rail 2009, was to be immediately CEO Siyabonga Gama. dismissed. This course was recommended by Mark Antrobus SC, who chaired a disciplinary inquiry. Gama was found to have awarded an R18m contract to a firm that happened to be linked to communications minister Siphiwe Nyanda. This was irregular; his authority was limited to contracts less than R10m. He was also found to have failed to comply with conditions for an R800m contract for refurbishing locomotives. A charge added during the course of the hearing arose from “sustained public attacks mounted by Gama, through his attorney, on the company’s board and executive,” according to Transnet spokesman John Dludlu.

*

The RFP is the competitive bidding phase in which Transnet will provide detailed information about each branchline opportunity and request the submission of formal proposals for the award of concession rights;

*

Transnet remains committed to involving the private sector in unlocking the potential of the branchlines so as to provide a responsive economic transport infrastructure;

*

Interested parties are advised that Transnet Freight Rail cannot accede to requests for assistance in conducting infrastructure assessments and engagements with customers.

The forthcoming RFP process will facilitate site visits by bidders and sufficient time will be provided in the RFP period for bidders to assess the market opportunities;

In February 2011, Gama was appointed as an executive in the office of Transnet’s chairman. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) reportedly expressed concern over Gama’s return to the group, saying he had endorsed “suspect” deals.

*

Branchlines that are currently operational will, in the interim, continue uninterrupted and will be maintained to the required standards throughout the concessioning process; and

*

Transnet reserves the right to withdraw or to suspend or to terminate any of the processes forming part of the proposed branchlines procurement process at any time and from time to time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate or reimburse any party or person.”

The Transnet board - newly appointed group CEO Brian Molefe told Engineering News - decided that the sanction against Gama had been too harsh: “He was not found guilty of corruption, or theft, or dishonesty. He has got a lot of experience in rail, which I need at the moment.” He added that Gama had received a final written warning.

Queries can be sent to branchlines@transnet.net

PRASA RAIL RENEWAL WORKSHOP On 5 April, the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) is holding a one-day workshop in Midrand, to gauge the rail industry’s ability and interest to assist in its rolling stock renewal programme. In terms of an envisaged “market engagement process”, market feasibility studies are to be carried out by Prasa in partnership with the Department of Transport (DoT), the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Treasury and rolling stock manufacturers (and financiers) on the fleet renewal programme.

The workshop aims at determining the market’s ability “to supply adequate quantities of rolling stock suitable to local requirements, at the same time measuring the potential appeal to financiers of providing long-term finance.”

According to the DoT, “the process will interrogate the market potential to produce at least 300 passenger coaches a year”; the possibility of “maintenance or significant/whole life support” for manufactured coaches; the interest in Prasa’s fleet renewal programme of companies “with production lines in at least three countries”; as well as companies’ prior South African trainbuilding and maintenance provision experience, or “willingness to transfer technology to a South African production facility”.

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Railways Africa March 2011

Six years have gone by since TFR CEO Gama announced the proposed concessioning of branchlines at the 2005 Africa Rail conference. During this time, the vandalising of branchlines escalated (some were literally stolen) leaving little chance of revival. Too much talk, as usual; far too little done. Photo: Jacque Wepener.

www.railwaysafrica.com

SA RAIL NEWS TRANSNET CAPEX PLAN New Transnet CEO Brian Molefe, addressing the business community in Durban, outlined rolling capital investment plans to 31 March 2016. During the five years, R110.5 billion is to be spent on rail, ports and pipelines. The aim, he explains, is to improve performance in South Africa’s logistical system, which “currently constrains export-led growth”.

Particular attention, Molefe promised, is to be given to backlogs in rail and to boost operations at Pier 2 in the Durban container terminal, “which is currently underperforming”.

The bulk of the five-year expenditure is to go to Transnet Freight Rail (TFR). Some R63.7 billion is to be spent on “growth and maintenance projects”, of which R16.4 billion is earmarked for the coal export line from Ermelo to Richards Bay. A further R11.4 billion is to be spent on the iron-ore export line from Sishen to Saldanha.

The Transnet National Ports Authority will spend R23.2 billion and Transnet Port Terminals R5 billion. Transnet Pipelines will spend R15.1 billion and Transnet Rail Engineering R1.6 billion.

RAIL’S SHARE OF A HUGE BACKLOG Modernising and upgrading South Africa’s “creaking infrastructure” would cost up to R1 trillion over the next four years, but can no longer be delayed, parliament has been told. There are backlogs in water, electricity, sanitation, other infrastructure – and railways.

Economic development minister Ebrahim Patel puts the total annual expenditure on infrastructure over the next four years at R250 billion annually, an 18% increase on the state’s previous infrastructure spending estimate of about R846bn for the three years to 2013.

Altogether R470bn to be spent on road and rail combined, to stimulate sustained economic growth and generate many of the 5 million jobs government has promised to create by 2020 in terms of its New Growth Path. Transport minister Ndebele says R93bn is to be spent on commuter rail services and between R260bn and R300bn on intercity rail’s Shosholoza Meyl.

Financing options, to be discussed at an international investors’ conference in June, are to include “a combination of state, private sector and user funding.”

Transnet chairman Mafika Mkwanazi says the planned investments will increase the group’s volume capacity by an additional 70 million tons to 250 million annually. “In fact there is sufficient demand for an additional 80 million tons”, he says, and acknowledges that current lack of capacity is stifling economic growth and development.

“Molefe said the lessons learned in the delays and cost overruns on the Durban to Johannesburg pipeline project, the price of which had risen from less than R10 billion to over R21 billion, positioned Transnet as an ideal consultant for future pipeline

”

projects in the rest of Africa.

Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) CEO Lucky Montana says 8,600 new coaches are needed for commuter rail and more than 2,000-plus coaches for long-distance travel. Speaking at a media briefing, Montana said each coach would cost between R11 million and R12 million.

An 18-year programme is “in discussion with the departments of transport, trade and industry, public enterprises and the Treasury”, and it is hoped to have the first new coaches delivered in 201415. Montana’s envisaged strategy is to buy the technology from abroad and produce coaches locally once the production capacity has been developed. He expects this to take about three years.

[According to Business Day, “Prasa has 4,638 coaches for its Metrorail commuter operations, 97.5% dating to the late 1950s.” If the figure 4,638 has been correctly reported, the intention is evidently to almost double the fleet (to 8,600). In any event, the “97.5% dating from the 50s” clearly cannot be right, as elsewhere it is stated: “The average age of the coaches is more than 40 years, with 33% of the fleet being over 36 years and therefore uneconomical to upgrade and unsafe to operate.” – Editor] Prasa Group CEO Lucky Montana

Prasa CEO Lucky Montana: looking to buy 10,600 coaches at around R12 million each. www.railwaysafrica.com

Railways Africa March 2011

43

SA RAIL NEWS

ATLANTIC RAIL

KIMBERLEY YARD CONTROL

Tender overflow.

RailComm has completed installing an automation system at Transnet’s Beaconsfield (Kimberley) Yard. The system includes RailComm’s DOC® server-based, central-control system and 11 associated outdoor-rated control panels. Radio is used to communicate between the office system, control panels and power-operated sets of points, which are worked by RailComm’s universal switch controller.

The Atlantic Rail company’s steam excursions from Cape Town are going well. On 27 February, it was possible to run right through to Simon’s Town following reopening of the scenic single track south of Fish Hoek. Peter Rogers took the photos.

The train makes one intermediate stop at Kalk Bay (2km before Fish Hoek) and returns after a break of three hours at Simon’s Town.

The adult return fare is R220, children 3-12, R110. At a lesser figure the 72km operation (there and back) would not be viable because of the heavy costs involved - like R10,000 for the six tons of coal consumed on every trip. Excellent restaurant facilities and curio shops are to be found at Kalk Bay. At Simon’s Town there are restaurants and a fine museum which is opened on those Sundays when steam trains run.

GARRATT ON THE ROAD

Class 24 no 3655 heads the Atlantic Rail excursion at Kalk Bay.

On 14 March, ex-National Railways of Zimbabwe Garratt no 398 left Beaconsfield (Kimberley) for Durban, en route to New Zealand – by road. The 15th class engine (4-6-4+4-6-4, built by Beyer-Peacock in 1950) was conveyed in three sections by three abnormal load vehicles, overnighting at Senekal and Ladysmith.

The following account was posted on zimrail: “NRZ 15th class 398 stored at Beaconsfield by Steamnet 2000 since March 2008 finally departed on 14 March 2011. The loco is owned by Steam Incorporated of New Zealand, represented

by Russell Gibbard of Wellington.

Atlantic Rail’s running programme to the end of April can be found at: http://www.atlanticrail.co.za Phone 021 556 1012 E-mail info@atlanticrail.co.za Kalk Bay level crossing.

“Mike Du Plooy Consultants were appointed to manage the loading and move throughout from Beaconsfield to Wellington New Zealand, and Saxport were appointed by Mike for the logistics.

“The three-day operation to lift, load and dispatch 398 worked smoothly and thanks are due to TFR staff for tolerating and assisting during the operation, especially as it involved a blockade on an adjacent running line for 48 hours and switching off the 25kv overhead for the loads to exit the depot.

End of the line.

“Good progress was made on the Sunday with the boiler unit loaded and clear by 11:00 but work dragged on, especially the welding and placement of rails onto lowbeds. The front unit was only lowered onto lowbed no 3 at 20:00. After clearance work it was midnight before the blockade could be terminated.

“Projected time frame: Sail from Durban 8 April, offload & reload Melbourne 28 April to 2 May, Auckland arrive 16 May.”

DURBAN AIMS FOR OWN GAUTRAIN Durban is set to get its own Gautrain in terms of a wide-reaching public transport plan soon to be officially tabled at the

44

Railways Africa March 2011

www.railwaysafrica.com

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

GM521_TRE Presslink

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Email: sales@transnet.net

SA RAIL NEWS eThekwini municipality, followed by a full-scale public participation process. Transport authority head Thami Manyathi says the plan is “90% complete” and is to be tabled by May. A rapid rail network, “much like the Gautrain” is envisaged to link Umhlanga and King Shaka International Airport.

MIDDLETON ON GAUTRAIN Dr John Middleton of the World Bank, writing in his personal capacity, observes: “Quite a lot of comment on Gautrain recently which I cannot resist adding to: ‘Gautrain is built and operated by a commercial company.’

“Yes it is and as a commercial company it’s far from a ‘financial disaster’, in fact its doing very well. Why - because its all underwritten by the government. The deal that the operating consortium got was so sweet they will never be out of pocket. However, whether the government will ever get a return on its investment is highly debatable.

“Having said that I rode it from the airport for the first time in January and very nice it is too, clean and all works very well (you also get an unusual view into Kelvin Power Station where their two Hunslet diesels are visible from the train; these were never visible from outside the fence before).

“You do feel as if may be got off in the wrong city as the ambiance is more 09.30 London to Brighton....(the same type of train for those who haven’t a clue what I am on about)”

MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: NO PRIVATISING Newly appointed South African minister of public enterprises Malusi Gigaba, 39, told Sunday Times writer Brendan Boyle he does not expect any change in the corporatisation of the big enterprises like Transnet and Eskom, and he rules out privatisation, which, he says, “wasn’t in the mind of the government at present or in future.”

Gigaba said he believed the boards and management of the corporations all accepted “they must amend the Trevor Manueltaught discipline of the bottom line and tweak their corporate strategies to support the government’s interventionist policy of using the share of the economy it owns to boost growth and employment.”

NO SPENDING ON SA HS RAIL - YET Bantu Holomisa from the United Democratic Movement (UDM) was reported recently saying: “Recent statements by the Minister of Transport, Mr Sbu Ndebele, about his department’s plan to spend billions of Rand on luxurious speed trains and related projects for rail routes linking Johannesburg to Cape Town, Johannesburg to Durban and Johannesburg to Messina, leaves the UDM perturbed by the government’s lack of prioritisation. We are particularly troubled by the reports that, as usual, there are certain politically connected companies and individuals who stand to benefit from these projects....”

The minister responded: “We wish to categorically state that, except for the Gautrain, to date not a cent has been spent on the

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Railways Africa March 2011

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www.railwaysafrica.com

SA RAIL NEWS roll-out of any high-speed rail project in South Africa. Cabinet approval will kick-start a process including a feasibility study on the viability of high-speed rail. The Department of Transport intends to call for expressions of interest in July 2011. In June 2011, we will also be hosting an investors’ conference to consolidate the interest in our transport infrastructure projects, including high-speed rail.

There is no way that anyone could know, before we have even called for expressions of interest, that they will win the right to construct any rail project.

“As the first country in Africa likely to have such a project, we owe it to the people of this country and the continent that our proposed green field long-distance high-speed rail sets high procurement, transparency, technical and safety standards for the rest of Africa.”

[As pointed out before, the minister’s assurances would have more credibility if the facts supplied to him were correct.

South Africa is not going to be the first country in Africa to have a high-speed railway - Morocco is well advanced in building one.

Gautrain’s 160km/h does not qualify as high-speed in world terms and in any event Morocco has had trains running that fast for some time. - Editor]

MARIJUANA AT ESSELEN PARK On 19 February, the Tembisa Trio Cluster reservists confiscated a “huge number” of dagga plants in Esselen Park – the one-time prestige railway training college. A Kempton Park paper quoted Constable Barbara Ferreira saying they decided to patrol the houses in Esselen Park when they found a garden full of marijuana plants. “She said the street value could not be determined, but they filled two cars and a bakkie.”

The story reminded many retired railway enginemen that the police routinely arranged for seized dagga to be burned in the fireboxes of steam locomotives. There was no residue whatever left – and drivers swore their steeds performed better on a high!

CAPE TOWN’S PUBLIC TRANSPORT CRISIS The full extent of Cape Town’s public transport crisis was highlighted at a late February special meeting of Metrorail, city and provincial transport officials, the chamber of commerce and law enforcement agencies.

Facts as presented: • Metrorail transports 56% of commuters in the city who use public transport. To do the job it needs 120 trainsets but has only 85, with six spare sets. When 14 sets were taken out of service on 14 February after a major onslaught by copper thieves it was left with only 71 – about 60% of the coaches actually required.

Running ahead of schedule – one guess why!

AUCTION OF ELECTRIC LOCOS Advertised in the Sunday Times on 11 March: “Locomotives and sundry equipment.......five x 8E & 5E 80 ton electric locos (Siemens & Metropolitan-Vickers), two x ES shunting locos, 40t ore carriers. 23 x spare traction spare motors, bogies, wheelsets, compressors, vac pumps, blower motors. Frames, coach (office), switches, resistors, capacitors etc”

• In the last two years the number of passengers has increased by 20% and further increases are expected as fuel prices go up. Coaches in the 14 trains damaged were stripped of copper cable and copper wire in the motor coach engines.

• The copper is sold to a network of dealers and most is exported.

Attacks on the signalling system and points machines appear to be deliberate acts of sabotage.

Class 8E electric shunting locos (3kV DC) at Krugersdorp in 1993. These units date from the mid-eighties.

“METRORAIL IS A MESS – COSATU”

Metrorail crisis in Cape Town: 120 trainsets needed, only 85 available (of which 14 were knocked out on 14 February by vandalism).

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“Metrorai;,” said Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven on 16 February, “is a mess”. Photo: Andre Kritzinger.

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SA RAIL NEWS SHOSHOLOZA MEYL CURTAILED AGAIN

The following Premier Classe trains continue to run:â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - Cape Town and return (twice weekly) â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - Durban and return (once a week - but subject to demand)

UMGENI STEAM RAILWAY PROGRAMME

www.umgenisteamrailway.co.za Sunday 24 April 2011: Su Kloof â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Inchanga (08:30 & 12:30) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; steam Shosholoza Meyl intercity trains curtailed again. Photo: Jacque Wepener.

With effect from 14 February, the following sitter and/or sleeper trains were withdrawn until further notice:â&#x20AC;˘ Cape Town - Durban and return â&#x20AC;˘ Cape Town - East London and return â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Komatipoort and return â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Musina and return â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - MaďŹ keng - Kimberley and return â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - Kroonstad - Bloemfontein and return The only remaining sitter/sleeper services are follows:â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - Cape Town and return (provisionally daily, but this may be reviewed dependent upon the number of coaches available - the sleeper section is now reduced to just two coaches per trainset) â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - Durban and return (daily except Tuesdays) â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - East London and return (daily) â&#x20AC;˘ Johannesburg - Port Elizabeth and return (daily, but also subject to review pending rolling stock availability)

Sunday 1 May 2011: S Kloof â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Inchanga (08:30 & 12:30) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; steam (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Additional Easter long-weekend specialâ&#x20AC;?) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to be conďŹ rmed Sunday 29 May 2011: no trains (Due to Comrades Marathon).

Sunday 5 June 2011: Kloof â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Inchanga (08:30 & 12:30) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; steam LATE TRAINS TO SIMONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TOWN As from 28 March, Metrorail added three late evening trains on its Cape Town southern suburbs line. Departing the city at 19:30, 20:30 and 21:15, they stop at all stations to Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Town, and then return. This will assist a number of people who have to work late â&#x20AC;&#x201C; eg those on nursing shifts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who have been inconvenienced by the previous schedule, with the last train leaving Cape Town at 19:00. The city is to provide security at 10 park-and-ride sites and there is to be visible policing on the trains.

â&#x20AC;&#x153; You focus on your business, we will focus on your gas supplyâ&#x20AC;?

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Railways Africa March 2011

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www.railwaysafrica.com

SA RAIL NEWS Western Cape transport MEC Robin Carlisle was quoted in the press saying he hoped the move would help alleviate trafďŹ c congestion.

[At 19:30 in the evening? Oh come on! - Editor ]

OLD SAR CROCKERY From Jacque Wepener: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A friend brought us a handful of broken SAR crockery, picked up on an abandoned line near Theunissen. First we thought the Winburg branch, then we found out it was the old Orange Free State main-line alignment. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He took us there and we picked up a bagful, but we only scratched the surface - all along the old embankments lie hundreds of pieces of old crockery. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bruno Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s map shows the station to have been Elders. A person can make out the remnants of an old station and some loops - all the ballast still remains. We found a piece of rail in a fence embossed â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;CGR 1891â&#x20AC;&#x2122; [Cape Government Railways].

The line south of Fish Hoek to Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Town was reopened on 21 February 2011, following storm damage and high seas in November 2009.

Photo: Peter Rogers.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now we would like to know, why is all this crockery lying here?

Normally one ďŹ nds a couple of pieces but not for the length of an entire line for several hundred metres. The pieces are strewn over a vast area. Was this the site of an accident, did some train stand over here for an extended period of time, was this the place old dining car personnel cleaned out their saloons? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some items have blue trim - was this not old Blue Train crockery?

Plenty have a golden trim with the green trim, again this was not used on normal passenger trains, though we do have one such a plate that came off the breakdown train in Kroonstadâ&#x20AC;?.

Photographing at Simonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Town on 27 February, Peter Rogers speculated this might have been the real reason for the sea wall collapsing: a 5M2A motor coach with a 150+ metric tonne/axle loading!

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Railways Africa March 2011

49

GAUTRAIN RAPID RAIL LINK

Gautrain Construction Update Month End 28 February 2011 A) CONSTRUCTION

1. Underground Section

On 8 June 2010, Phase 1 of the Gautrain System was opened for commercial service. The first phase operations include the airport train service between Sandton Station and OR Tambo International Airport, a commuter service between Sandton and Rhodesfield - with an intermediate stop at Marlboro Station - as well as dedicated feeder and distribution bus services to and from the Sandton and Rhodesfield Stations. The Operations Control Centre, together with the Train and Bus Depot facilities located just south of Allandale Road in the Midrand area, were also completed as part of the first phase scope of works.

Within the southern portion of the Phase 2 tunnel section between Sandton Station and Johannesburg Park Station, the civil works are complete. Tracklaying within the completed tunnel is also approaching completion and has currently progressed southwards from Rosebank Station to the final section adjacent to the platform within Park Station itself. Test running of trains and testing of the signalling system between Sandton and Rosebank Stations commenced during January 2011 and is ongoing.

The remaining sections of Sandton Station required for the Phase 2 operations are now substantially complete. These works included completion of the podium slab over the station complex, the remaining parking facilities, the third platform to service the southbound line to the Rosebank and Park stations and an undercover municipal taxi terminus. The reinstatement of Rivonia Road, which also formed part of these works, was completed and the road was re-opened to traffic in its final twoway configuration during December 2010.

Monthly Construction Updates now focus on progress of the Gautrain Phase 2 works, comprising the underground section between Sandton Station and Park Station and the route between Midrand Station and Hatfield Station.

Laying of the tracks through the cut and cover at Johannesburg Park Station.

The underground works also include the construction of seven emergency access shafts located at intervals along the singletrack rail tunnel between Park Station and Sandton Station. These shafts will provide emergency services personnel access to the tunnels below. At the bottom of certain of these shafts there will be safe havens where passengers can gather in case of an emergency. Construction works at four of these emergency access shafts are substantially complete and are ongoing at the remaining three.

PARK STATION All structural works for the station and parkade are complete, including the concrete ventilation chamber at the northern end of the platforms and the cut and cover linking the station to the tunnel portal. Backfilling of the cut and cover structure commenced during January 2011 and is ongoing.

Within the underground station, internal finishes and mechanical and electrical (M&E) installations are well advanced and platform tiling is substantially complete. Ticket vending machines and fare gates have been installed on the concourse level.

At the parkade structure, works are substantially complete, with pavement canopy installation and the erection of shadeport structures on the top parking level currently in progress. Cladding of the structural steel entrance pavilion on the southern side of Wolmarans Street is substantially complete, with façade glazing to follow. Construction of the ventilation structure on the northern side of Smit Street is also approaching completion, as are the M&E installations within this shaft.

The reinstatement of Wolmarans Street and Smit Street is complete and both of these roads are open to traffic. Reinstatement of

Laying of the final tracks at Johannesburg Park Station.

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Railways Africa March 2011

The parkade at Johannesburg Park Station.

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GAUTRAIN RAPID RAIL LINK the two remaining roads bordering Park Station – Eloff and Joubert Streets – is also substantially complete, but these will not be opened to traffic until the station external works are further progressed.

Construction of the parkade at Rosebank Station.

EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT E1 (HILLBROW) At Shaft E1, all construction works and M&E installations – including the lift - are substantially complete, as are the external works and landscaping.

EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT E2 (THE WILDS, HOUGHTON) At Shaft E2, installation of the structural steelwork access structure within the shaft is complete, construction of the surface head house building has reached roof level and installation of the lift will follow shortly. Landscaping and external works will be completed within the next three months.

EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT E3 (RIVIERA)

Installed fare gates at Rosebank Station.

At Shaft E3, all construction works and M&E installations – including the lift - are substantially complete, as are the external works and landscaping.

EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT E4 (HOUGHTON) At Shaft E4, all construction works and M&E installations – including the lift - are substantially complete, as are the external works and landscaping.

ROSEBANK STATION At Rosebank Station, works within the underground station are approaching completion. The first Electrostar train arrived in Rosebank during January 2011.

Since then, test running of trains and testing of the signalling system along the route between Rosebank and Pretoria has been taking place and is ongoing.

The parkade structure is also substantially complete, with final finishings and installation of shadeport canopies on the upper parking deck in progress.

The phased reinstatement of Oxford Road adjacent to the station is ongoing. These road reinstatement works, which are being carried out on a phased basis to enable the two station entrances and the ventilation structure located on the western side of Oxford Road to be constructed, are scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2011. The reinstatements of Baker Street and the section of Oxford Road to

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the south of the station up to Bolton Road are ongoing. Works to both of the western entrances and the ventilation shaft are well advanced. The structural steel canopy structures have been erected, roof cladding has been completed and side cladding has commenced. Within the entrances, the escalator and the lift have been installed, stair tiling is complete and final finishes are in progress.

EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT E5 (DUNKELD, ROSEBANK) At Shaft E5, all construction works and M&E installations – including the lift - are substantially complete. Completion of the

external works and landscaping will follow in the coming weeks.

EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT E6 (ILLOVO) At Shaft E6, installation of the structural steelwork access structure within the shaft itself is complete, lift installation is also approaching completion and construction of the head house structure is well advanced. Reinstatement of the adjacent pavements will commence shortly and once all external works are complete, the temporarily closed lane of Melville Road will be re-opened to traffic.

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GAUTRAIN RAPID RAIL LINK EMERGENCY ACCESS SHAFT E7 (WESTERN SIDE OF RIVONIA ROAD, SANDTON) At Shaft E7, all construction works and M&E installations – including the lift - are substantially complete, as are the external works and landscaping.

2. Northern Section (Depot to Hatfield Station) DEPOT TO MIDRAND Between the Depot and Midrand Station, all construction works are complete, as are all railway installations. The overhead catenaries are energised and test running of trains to Midrand Station commenced during December 2010. Test running of trains, together with testing of the signalling system, is ongoing along the full section of the route between Rosebank Station and Pretoria Station.

MIDRAND STATION At Midrand Station, all works are substantially complete. Installation of street lighting along the new section of Grand Central Boulevard that provides access to the station from the Old Pretoria Road (K101) was completed during the month. Trains continue to run through the station on a regular basis en-route to and from Pretoria, as part of the current testing procedures.

MIDRAND TO CENTURION, INCLUDING VIADUCT 4 OVER RIETSPRUIT AND OLIFANTSFONTEIN ROAD SOUTH From Midrand Station to Centurion, all construction works and railway installations are complete. The overhead catenaries are energised and test running of trains, together with testing of the signalling system along this section of the route, is ongoing.

CENTURION AREA, INCLUDING VIADUCT 5 OVER THE N1 AND BEN SCHOEMAN HIGHWAYS AND CENTURION STATION Construction of all three of the Centurion viaducts is complete.

These comprise Viaduct 5b - the balanced cantilever viaduct crossing the N1 and the John Vorster Interchange, Viaduct 5c the approximately 3 km long segmental viaduct that carries the elevated Gautrain railway lines through Centurion and supports the Centurion Station platforms midway along its length and Viaduct 5d - the second balanced cantilever viaduct – that crosses the Ben Schoeman highway and the Jean Avenue Interchange.

The overhead catenaries are energised and test running of trains along this section of the line, together with testing of the signalling system, is ongoing.

At Centurion Station, all structural and building works are complete. Within the station buildings, internal finishings and M&E works are also substantially complete. The overhead catenaries through the station up to Pretoria are energised and test running of trains through the station, which commenced during January 2011, is ongoing.

Externally, carpark construction is well advanced, with asphalt paving, roadmarking and the erection of shadeport structures substantially complete to the park and ride area. Roadworks at the bus terminus area and the West Street entrance are also approaching completion. The bus management building and the perimeter palisade boundary wall are both substantially complete.

Pedestrian paved areas within the station boundary are well advanced and completion of external pavements and landscaping will follow in the coming weeks.

The facade at Centurion Station.

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Railways Africa March 2011

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GAUTRAIN RAPID RAIL LINK CENTURION TO PRETORIA, INCLUDING VIADUCT 6 OVER EEUFEES ROAD Civil construction works along this section of the route - which include extensive earthworks, a number of bridges, U-shape structures through the military area and Viaduct 6 crossing Eeufees Road - are substantially complete. Remaining works include completion of drainage channels and maintenance roads, trimming of embankments, topsoiling and landscaping. All railway installations are complete. The overhead catenaries are energised and test running of trains, together with testing of the signalling system along this section of the route, is ongoing.

PRETORIA STATION AND SATELLITE BUS DEPOT Laying of bricks for the pavement at the Centurion Station parkade.

Installation of the net-shading inside the parkade at Centurion Station.

At Pretoria Station, all works within the station are substantially complete, including the platform tiling. All railway installations are also complete and the overhead catenaries into the station are energised. Test running of trains, together with testing of the signalling system between Rosebank Station and Pretoria Station, commenced in mid-January 2011 and is ongoing.

Externally, the car park and the bus terminal areas are well advanced, as is construction of the perimeter palisade boundary wall and the refurbishment of the heritage house, which will accommodate the bus management offices. Construction of the station ingress and egress routes is substantially complete, as are the various municipal road upgrades and widenings adjacent to the station.

The facade at Pretoria Station.

Construction of the Pretoria satellite bus depot is ongoing. This facility is located to the north of the CBD, in the vicinity of the Pretoria Zoo. It is the base from where the fleet of Gautrain feeder and distribution buses that will serve the three stations in the Tshwane area will operate. Maintenance work and major servicing of the buses, however, will take place at the already operational Gautrain Bus Depot, which is located adjacent to the Train Depot and Operations Control Centre in Midrand. Construction of the guardhouse, the office building, the workshop and the utility buildings is well advanced and the concrete hardstand areas are substantially complete.

PRETORIA TO HATFIELD, INCLUDING VIADUCT 7 OVER NELSON MANDELA BOULEVARD Viaduct 7 comprises a set of “Y-shaped” viaducts and flyovers that carry the Gautrain railway lines into Pretoria Station from the south and then across Nelson Mandela Boulevard and the adjacent Metrorail network towards Hatfield. Construction of all of these structures is complete and the installation of trackwork and associated railway infrastructure across the decks has also been completed.

The Pretoria Station concourse.

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Railways Africa March 2011

Between Pretoria Station and Hatfield Station, a number of bridges crossing the existing Metrorail line have been either widened or lengthened to accommodate the adjacent Gautrain tracks. All of these bridges have already been completed and reopened to traffic, with minor finishing works ongoing. The extensive lateral support works in cuttings, together with the earthworks and construction of the retaining structures necessary to widen the existing embankments, are complete, as is construction of dividing walls between the Gautrain and Metrorail lines. Erection of noise barriers and boundary fencing are also approaching completion. Tracklaying operations and the installation of associated railway infrastructure between

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GAUTRAIN RAPID RAIL LINK Pretoria and Hatfield, which commenced during October 2010, arewell advanced along the full length of this final section of the route.

View from parkade overlooking Hatfield Station and the Metrorail lines.

HATFIELD STATION At Hatfield Station, works within the station building and the parkade are substantially complete, apart from de-snagging and the finalisation of M&E testing and commissioning activities. Platform construction below the concourse slab is complete - including the platform canopy structures and cladding at either end - and the escalators between the concourse and the platform have been installed. Preparations for the start of platform tiling are in progress and this activity will follow once final tamping of the railway tracks through the station has been completed.

At the adjacent bus terminus area, the bus management building is substantially complete, the bus canopies have been erected and roof cladding to these structures will follow shortly. The Interlocking block paving to the traffic surfaces is substantially complete and paving of pedestrian walkways is well advanced. Final finishings and landscaping are the major activities remaining. Construction of the new Grosvenor Street bridge is complete and works on the bridge approach roads and surrounding municipal road upgrades are well advanced. This bridge, however, will only be opened to public traffic when station operations commence.

B) OVERALL PROGRESS Construction started at the end of September 2006. Gautrain will be completed in two phases: 1. The first phase was initially planned to be of a 45 months contractual duration, but was completed three weeks ahead of this, on 08 June 2010. It includes the network between the OR Tambo International Airport and Sandton and includes the stations at OR Tambo, Rhodesfield, Marlboro and Sandton, together with the Depot and Operations Control Centre located near Allandale Road in Midrand.

2. The second phase, being constructed concurrently, will be completed during 2011. It includes the remainder of the rail network and stations linking Sandton to Park Station in Johannesburg and the route from Midrand to Hatfield.

Toll-free call centre: 0800-GAUTRAIN (0800-42887246). The call centre is operational weekdays between 7am and 7pm with an answering system after-hours. Communities are reminded that regular Community Liaison Forums are held in affected areas.

Gautrain tracks (on left) between Pretoria Station and Hatfield. Intermediate Metrorail Station on the right.

The Hatfield Station facade.

The Hatfield Station concourse.

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Railways Africa March 2011

55

Your track maintenance eq Physical Address 12 Laser Park Square 34 Zeiss Road Laser Park Honeydew South Africa

Postal Address PO Boxt 4431 Honeydew 2040 South Africa

Tel: Fax: Email: Web:

+27 11 794-2910 +27 11 794-3560 info@yalejhb.co.za www.yalejhb.co.za

quipment and machine specialist

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.

JAPANESE QUAKE & TSUNAMI (1) Report by East Japan Railway Company on 14 March: On Friday 11 March 2011, Japan suffered an extremely severe earthquake (8.9 Richter), stronger than any other in Japan for as long as records have been kept. The earthquake caused an unbelievably large tsunami which brought destructionand especially heavy casualties to the eastern part of northern Japan along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Our station facilities, railway tracks, and rolling stock suffered enormous losses.

conventional lines (urban and regional trains) , in the regions along the Pacific Ocean coast that suffered massive casualties from the earthquake and the tsunami. In the western part of northern Japan where the damage and casualties from the earthquake and the tsunami were relatively limited, we have pretty much been able to resume our train operation on both Shinkansen and conventional lines, though a few sections are still closed.

As far as we know at this point, none of our customers or employees suffered casualties or serious injuries on our operating trains or at our stations. At least three of our regional line trains were washed off the track by the massive tsunami , but very fortunately, all the customers and our employees that were on the trains and at the stations in the devastated regions had successfully evacuated to safety. Also, no derailment was caused on our operating Shinkansen. However, we have not been able to confirm whether or not all of our employees who were not on duty that day and the families of all employees survived this tragedy, and we are very deeply concerned that there may be some who did not survive or have suffered injuries.

Several electric generation plants (both nuclear energy plants and thermal power plants) located in the eastern part of northern Japan along the Pacific coast were heavily damaged, and since then, there has been a serious shortage of electrical power supply for train operations.

Because of this, even in our Tokyo metropolitan area (within the 100km range from Tokyo) , we had to cancel, suspend or reduce a great amount of our train service, including Shinkansen trains.

By Monday morning 14 March we had checked our facilities and trains in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and were generally ready to resume normal service, starting with the first scheduled morning trains, except for the power shortage.

In the short term, there is no clear prospect as to when this enormous shortage of electrical power supply will be over. One fortunate aspect for us is that we have two electric generation plants (a thermal power plant and a hydroelectric power plant) of our own, and we hope that, by careful management of our overall electrical power supply including purchased electricity, we will be able to expand the number of trains that can be operated in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

On the other hand, there is absolutely no way for us to predict when we will be able to resume our train operation, both Shinkansen and

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Railways Africa March 2011

JAPANESE QUAKE & TSUNAMI (2) General status quo report, 14 March: JR East responded to the Japanese government’s request to cut power consumption by reducing train frequency on the Joetsu and Nagano Shinkansen, limiting train operations on some narrowgauge lines, and suspending services on other lines. However, the power cuts were not as extensive as originally planned, and JR East has been able to operate more trains than expected.

Nevertheless, only 20% of services were running on nine of its busiest lines.

All lines of the Tokyo metro are operating but with a reduced service.

Other private railways are reducing train operations by section and by time. As a result, trains are running in central Tokyo, but less frequently than normal or not at all in suburban areas. JR Central was forced to cancel some Tokaido Shinkansen services because of the difficulties faced by train crew reaching the depot in Tokyo.

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS Tokyo Electric Power Company estimates its generating capacity has been cut by 25% due to damage to power stations. Power cannot be transferred from the western Japanese grid because of a difference in frequency. Western Japan is on 60Hz compared with 50Hz in the east of the country.

In Sendai, the city’s north-south metro line has partially reopened, but some station exits are closed and lifts and escalators are not functioning until they are inspected. JR East planned to reopen the southern 158km section of the Tohoku Shinkansen on 15 March, between Tokyo and Nasu-Shiobara.

There was some good news from western Japan on 12 March when JR Kyushu opened the northern section of the Kyushu Shinkansen between Hakata and Shin-Yatsushiro, where it connects with the already-completed southern section to Kagoshima Chuo.

Passengers can transfer at Hakata to JR West’s Sanyo Shinkansen.

inspection by CCFB”, the CFM source told Diario de Moçambique.

“As a result the railway has gone into rapid decline, to the point where there are now derailments virtually every day”.

He said the state of the line is “deplorable” in some areas, with sleepers missing, and even a shortage of screws to tighten the rail fastenings. Added to this, the railway workers lack the basic tools to align the tracks properly. Derailments occur on both on main and secondary lines.

CFM chairman Rosario Mualeia wants the government to cancel the CCFB/Ricon lease. Ricon failed to finish reconstruction of the Sena line on time. But its inability to maintain the line to Zimbabwe, which was functioning reasonably well in 2004, suggests - Mualeia was quoted saying - that Ricon is unable to handle even fairly simple tasks.

DERAILMENT: 32 WAGONS On 21 February, 32 out of 108 wagons in a grain train hauled by three locomotives derailed east of Williston, Montana. Nobody was hurt but traffic was disrupted. Amtrak passengers were carried 640km between Minot, North Dakota and Havre, Montana, by bus.

RAIL AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

Containers after the tsunami – the domino effect.

GLACIER PARK: 19 OFF On 9 March, 19 out of 115 wagons in a Burlington Northern Sante Fe freight bound for Pasco, Washington State, derailed near Essex, about 72km east of Whitefish, close to Montana’s Glacier Park. The 33rd wagon left the line, followed by 18 others. The vehicles were carrying lumber, paper, plastics and boat products.

Amtrak’s Empire Builder passenger trains were halted and buses drafted in to convey travellers between Havre and Whitefish, past the accident. The derailment was initially believed to be caused by a snow slide.

46 DERAILMENTS ON BEIRA LINE Lack of maintenance on the Beira-Zimbabwe railway caused 46 derailments in just two months, according to a spokesperson for Caminhos de ferro do Moçambique (CFM – the state railway & harbours), cited in the Beira daily paper Diario de Moçambique.

CFM is unhappy with the Indian consortium Ricon, the majority shareholder in the Beira Railroad company (CCFB). The management of the entire Beira rail system – comprising both the line to Zimbabwe and the Sena railway linking Beira to the Moatize coal basin in Tete province - was awarded to Ricon in 2004, via an international tender process. Prior to Ricon taking over, CFM undertook some improvements on the line to Zimbabwe, which resulted in the number of derailments dropping from 169 to 53 in 2004.

CCFB/Ricon, which was supposed to continue this work, hired local companies to rehabilitate several stretches of track.

“Apparently this work was not done properly due to lack of experience on the part of the companies hired plus poor

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Railways Africa March 2011

The management of Caminhos de ferro de Luanda (CFL) is intensifying a rail awareness campaign addressed to people living along the line, and advising precautions to be taken while trains are running. This follows a recent incident when three children were involved in an accident with a suburban passenger train. Two died and the third was admitted to intensive care in the Josina Machel Hospital. CFL chief executive Osvaldo Lobo do Nascimento told the Angolan News Agency Angop that what he termed the “invasion” of railway property is out of police control, with fencing vandalised to obtain access.

COLLISION NEAR SPRINGS (1) Shortly before 22:00 on 2 January, a driver and guard were injured when their empty passenger train 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.

COLLISION NEAR SPRINGS (2) On 14 January 2011, two Metrorail trains collided near Springs, 47km east of Johannesburg.

There were no fatalities, but 95 passengers were injured, seven seriously. It is understood that the automatic colour-light block signalling was not functioning, and that verbal authorisation to the drivers was misunderstood.

TRUCK RAMS RAILROAD TRESTLE On 3 March, a semi-articulated truck crashed into a railroad trestle bridge in Greenwood, Johnson County, Indiana. Reportedly the roof of the trailer was “peeled back” due to insufficient clearance.

The truck driver left the damaged trailer in the parking area of a nearby school and drove away. No one was injured and traffic was not blocked, but the truck’s driver was traced and arrested, and charges are pending.

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THE FLOODS IN QUEENSLAND Catastrophic floods struck the Australian state of Queensland in December and January. On 31 December, Railways Africa correspondent Bruno Martin, who lives 35km east of the state capital Brisbane, reported: “The weather bureau predicted a wet Christmas – and Queensland faces the worst flooding crisis in its 150-year history.”

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. But as at 11 January it was still raining, with some threequarters of the state a declared disaster area and many people dead or missing. Worse was to come, when Brisbane - inundated by unprecedented floods – was itself labelled a disaster zone. Then on 2 February, Cyclone Yasi arrived….

Even before the floods proper started, heavy rains caused a serious derailment at Yukan, on the Goonyella line linking the Bowen Basin mining area to the coal terminal at Dalrymple Bay.

During all this time, the coal industry lost millions of dollars a day because of flooded mines and blocked railway lines. The accompanying photos (taken before the worst of the troubles), give some idea of the problems faced in restoring rail service. (Queensland Rail uses the same gauge as South Africa – 1,067mm).

Photos courtesy Natal Newsletter, Railway Society of South Africa.

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Railways Africa March 2011

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS ARM TRAPPED IN TRAIN DOOR The Chicago metropolitan transit authority Metra and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway are investigating an incident where a woman’s arm was trapped by the doors of a suburban train at a station in La Grange, a south-western suburb. The woman herself was still on the outside of the coach, but another passenger was able to activate an emergency switch as the train began to move. The woman was unhurt, WLS-TV Chicago reports. Metra says it will look at whether the train crew followed proper procedures.

[About 10 years ago, I saw a similar incident at Observatory station in Cape Town. A passenger ran to the train as it started, grabbed and held onto the vertical handrail, and was trapped by the closing doors outside the coach (with a foot on a ledge) until the next station (Salt River) was reached. Attempts by myself and others to activate the door mechanism failed. - Editor]

INDIAN ROOFRIDERS KILLED According to the Times of India on 1 February 2011, at least 15 people were killed and more than 50 seriously injured when over a thousand people returning from a recruitment rally of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), who were sitting on the roof of the Himgiri Express, were crushed by a low overbridge. The incident happened near Shahjahanpur, 130km from Lucknow. Following the mishap, a mob torched the carriage next to the one

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Railways Africa March 2011

on which the victims were perched. A relief train was rushed to the scene with additional railway police but “at least” two carriages were burned by then.

quoted Czech Rail Inspection agency spokesman Martin Drapal saying that initial findings suggest the driver of the passenger train was to blame.

FREIGHTS SIDESWIPE: 15 WAGONS DERAIL

BOMB BLAST ON COLUMBIAN MINE RAILWAY

One freight train that sideswiped another along Puget Sound near Tacoma in Washington state on 25 February resulted in the derailing of 15 wagons. Four were conveying sodium hydroxide. No injuries were reported, but hazardous material teams who attended sealed off a slight leak in one vehicle.

The 149km mine railway operated by coal giant Cerrejon - Colombia’s largest coal exporter - suffered its second bomb attack of 2011 just before midnight on 23 February. No casualties were reported and operations continued immediately afterwards. The attack by unknowns was the second in two months and the fifteenth against the Cerrejon railway since 1984.

On 19 January 2011, an explosion blew up a section of line.

ARGENTINA’S WORST IN 15 YEARS Four people died and 120 were injured when a passenger train crashed into another standing near the San Miguel station, about 30km outside Buenos Aires. Officials said 16 people remained in hospital, adding that the number of victims might rise during the clearing of debris.

According to planning minister Julio De Vido, the “emergency brake from the first train was unusable”. Media reports said the crash was the worst on Argentinian railways in 15 years.

The latest explosion occurred at kilometre 57 on the railway which connects the mine with the port of Bolivar. Colombia’s army attributed previous attacks to the “FARC’s 59th Front”, which operates in the area.

Cerrejon produces 32 million tons of coal annually, 90% being exported. The company is jointly owned by Switzerland’s Xstrata and British companies Anglo American PLC and BHP Billiton PLC.

CZECH HEAD-ON COLLISION A regional passenger service and a freight train collided head-on at the station in the Czech Republic town of Vodnany, killing one passenger and injuring 20 others.

Twelve of the injured passengers had to be hospitalised, while the others were treated at the scene. Associated Press

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.

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS

FLOODS DERAIL TRANSNAMIB TRAIN On 12 February, floodwater from Namibia’s Dabib River washed away the railway between Hardap en Salzbrunn, just north of Mariental , resulting in the derailment of a 17-wagon, Windhoek-bound train just before midnight.

According to a statement issued by TransNamib, about 4km of track was damaged. One locomotive and two wagons carrying cement fell over. The driver reported he reduced speed to a crawl because of poor visibility during a storm. “The train was almost stationary when hit by a wall of water which caused the first wagon to fall over.”

Four days previously, on 8 February, the main-line between Karasburg and Ariamsvlei was damaged by flash floods, stranding a 16-wagon freight train. Train operations to and from South Africa were suspended for almost a week. The Seeheim-Lüderitz line between Schackalskuppe siding and Ausnek was also washed away.

Flood damage in Namibia.

Flood damage in Namibia.

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RAILWAY HERITAGE

Preservation is A Vital Part of The Picture

By John Batwell

Reefsteamers, Germiston A new restoration project under way involves class 12R no 1947, a 90-year-old Baldwin-built 4-8-2 that was Germiston’s station pilot for many years. It carried the names Rosie and Vicki at various times and was plinthed later at Germiston shed.

The 12R locos were originally Hendrie’s 12 and 12B classes, rebuilt in the early thirties with standard no 2 boilers.

The two GMAM Garratts stored for Ian Welch of New Zealand are being relocated to Friends of The Rail in Pretoria for further caretaking (see below).

An Open Day was held by Reefsteamers at Germiston on 29 January with Sandstone’s class GMAM no 4079 operating the public shuttles to Boksburg East and return. In steam as well were class 12AR no 1535, 15F no 3046 and 25NC no 3472.

Friends of The Rail (FoTR), Pretoria In December, a FoTR working had to be terminated at Rayton, due to more theft of sleepers on the branch to Cullinan. On a second occasion, a bottleneck on the main line resulted in a Friends’ steam run ending at Greenview. The club suffered a R65,000 loss when a Valentine’s Day special was not able to get into section at all from Hermanstad. After a two-hour wait, the passengers had to be turned away.

Meanwhile, the three-year certification of the club’s class 24 2-8-4 no 3664 has been completed.

FoTR is taking over the staging of New Zealand preservationist Ian Welch’s two GMAM Garratts at the Hermanstad site.

These 4-8-2 + 2-8-4s, no 4135 (North British) and no 4148 (Henschel), ended their working lives in South African

Class 12R no 1947 is Reefsteamers’ next restoration project. Photo: N Newport.

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Railways Africa March 2011

During January, class 25NC 4-8-4 no 3442 re-entered service. Class 19D 4-8-2 no 3360 is receiving attention and should be back in working order soon.

these components and fitting them is going to take time. In the meanwhile, security has been stepped up, to try to prevent entry by thieves. Some locos will have to be taken out by road, either because of age and fragility, or the condition of wheels, but hopefully most will be able to leave by rail.

Sanrasm, Krugersdorp

Atlantic Rail, Cape Town

During a visit in mid-December, Reefsteamers took away a load of firebricks which had been stored in the firebox of a Garratt staged near the old workshops, together with other surplus items. Eskom sent a big crane and a couple of low-beds to collect the loaned Kitson 4-6-0T and Hunslet 2-6-0T locomotives, for restoration and repainting at Rosherville.

Similar attention is to be given to the Barclay 2-4-0T La Moye, Henschel 2-6-2T, Avonside 4-8-2T and the Umgeni 0-4-0 fireless, all of which are to be collected in due course. Eskom also removed three hoppers, some wagons, small pumps and valves as well as their wooden patterns which had been stored above the swaging machine.

Operations by Atlantic Rail in Cape Town have been well supported. Class 24 2-8-4 no 3655 worked a number of trains to Fish Hoek in December and January, and two in February, the second going on to Simon’s Town following reopening of the line along the False Bay coast. Over the Christmas week-end, the rolling stock suffered minor vandalism damage. The engine’s petticoat was replaced in late January.

industrial use, since when they have sat inactive at Germiston depot.

Rovos Rail, Pretoria

Atlantic Rail’s running programme to the end of April can be found at: http://www.atlanticrail.co.za Phone: 021 556 1012 E-mail: info@atlanticrail.co.za

Umgeni Steam Railway, KwaZulu Natal Friends of the Rail, too, visited Randfontein - to collect tubes, super-heater elements, a drop-pit jack and a big pile of firebricks, as well as flue tubes sent to Sanrasm for swaging (a long time ago).

The dump has been broken up at North Site. Locos here that Sanrasm will be endeavouring to retain are the small Davenport (0-6-0DM) and Ruston & Hornsby (4wDM) diesel shunters, an English Electric 0-6-0DE shunter and the Grafton steam crane. Inspection revealed that virtually all are missing essential components that need to be replaced before they can be hauled out. Sourcing

Class 24 2-8-4 no 3655 heads the Atlantic Rail excursion at Simon’s Town on 27 February.

Photo: Peter Rogers.

Umgeni Steam Railway has been looking after Dübs A tank no 133 – property of the North British Locomotive Preservation Group - at Mason’s Mill. It had been planned that the loco would leave South Africa in November 2010, but the vessel supposed to carry it to England was deemed unsuitable. A further potential shipping opportunity - out of Richards Bay in mid-January - was lost owing to time constraints.

Umgeni’s class 3BR no 1486 is now using the tender from class 19D no 2737.

Friends of The Rail’s North British-built class 24 2-8-4 no 3664 has been returned to service.

Photo: K R Wilson-Smith.

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REVIEW

PRIDE of ERITREA ISBN. 978-91-86275-54-9 Richard Grönstedt PO Box 72, A-130-37 Stavnas, Stockholm, Sweden gronstedt@swipnet.se Though Eritrea is no world leader – nor African leader for that matter – in the field of railways, it has had more coverage (certainly more photographs) in Railways Africa than many others.

This is largely thanks to Richard Grönstedt, whose name is a household word in our monthly list of contributors.

Last year, he published a very beautiful book: Pride of Eritrea, a collection of his outstanding photos of an unusual country, certainly by present-day world – or African - standards. Railways Africa readers have had many previews of Richard’s work in our pages though these come nowhere near the quality of images in the book.

Why Eritrea, a small country tucked away up in the north-east of the continent and well off most beaten tracks? Richard explains: “I trace some of my roots back to Eritrea. My maternal grandfather, Richard Sundström, born in 1869, was a minister of religion.” He studied tropical diseases in the United Kingdom, qualifying as a physician. Then, as a missionary with the Swedish Evangelical National Missionary Society, he went out to Gheleb, Eritrea, in 1898. In 1915 he was sent to establish a new missionary station in Cheren, but died of cancer in 1919 and was buried there.

“When I visited Eritrea in 2008,” Grönstedt writes, “I had two tasks: first, to find my grandfather’s grave and the missionary station in Cheren; and second, to study the reconstruction of the country’s railway, totally destroyed by Ethiopia during the war of liberation. As a result, I had to take a taxi journey for several hours from Asmara to Cheren. Like other Eritrean cities, Cheren was extremely well organised with a wonderful mix of old and new.

“I have visited some twenty countries in Africa over many years.

Of all these, Eritrea was the one where I felt completely safe during my entire stay, whatever the time of day or night. Unlike in other African countries, here order rules. Passengers get on the buses on the back platform, not through non-existent windows.”

“The Eritrean railway once

went all the way from the Red Sea port of Massawa to Agordat - 506km

”

on going for as long as Water supply for the steam they have the strength. locos is a big problem, And strength they do have! solved by ingenious means.

Standing and twisting the brake handle [on the wagons and coaches, descending steep grades] is a good way to develop muscles. These men have experienced many eras on the railway under both Italian and British rule. It is fascinating to experience their language skills. These real characters speak both Italian and English very well and appear to delight in speaking with visiting admirers of their railway.”

The Eritrean railway once went all the way from the Red Sea port of Massawa to Agordat - 281km. World War II put a stop to further progress towards the Sudan border and 31km of track already laid beyond were taken up in 1942. British forces displaced the Italians and after the war a misguided United Nations handed Eritrea to Ethiopia. A protracted war of liberation ensued, during which the railway was literally ripped up. After hostilities finally ended in 1991, work began on reviving the 118km Massawa- Asmara section. Former employees, though most were now elderly, were re-employed. Work stopped in 1998 during more trouble with Ethiopia, but eventually resumed, with the line reopening to traffic in 2002.

“These old workers,” Grönstedt observes, “who might have devoted fifty years of their life to the tracks, are allowed to keep

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Railways Africa March 2011

Ansaldo-built 0-4-4-0 Mallet, dating from the thirties, heads a charter train

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REVIEW There are no scheduled passenger services on the Eritrean railway, but enthusiast visitors are able to charter a diesel railcar or a steam-hauled train. Many make the long journey from Europe or America to do just that. Nowhere else in the world can one hire a complete train, double-headed with antiquated Mallet steam locomotives, and ride the footplate on a 2,300 metre climb up gradients as steep as 1:28, over 500 bridges and stone-built viaducts, through 30 tunnels, and clinging to cliff edges through stunning scenery.

The 950mm-gauge Ansaldo-built 0-4-4-0 tank locos date from the Italian occupation in the thirties. The Litterina railcars (one running, one used for spares) are not much younger.

Many employees started working on the Eritrean railway before the protracted war of liberation from Ethiopia. This Littorina diesel railcar driver is 85.

RED SEA

Keren

N

MASSAWA Agordat 50

Eritrea Railway

Baresa

kms 100

ASSMARA

END OF THE LINE

CORRESP NDENCE PPP’S – THOUGHTS FROM BRITAIN Dear editor I received an email this morning [25 February] about the April Railways and Harbours conference in Johannesburg and the fact that the programme will include a presentation on the latest thoughts about public-private partnerships.

When the awful Blair/Brown bunch came to power [in the UK], they started pouring our money down the drain with relish and when we needed our reserves with the banking fiasco (as much Mr Brown’s fault as anyone else’s) we found the cupboard bare.

One of the other great ideas that gentleman had was to trumpet public-private initiatives as the way forward to getting things done in the public sector, which set off a spree of hospital building programmes and refurbishing every school in the land.

The fact is that this idea was Brown’s wheeze to keep such spending off the UK balance sheet so that he could claim he was a brilliant chancellor and hide massive, unaffordable spending.

Combined with the incompetence of Brown and his cronies was the inability of his civil servants to draw up proper contracts.

The result is that buildings that could have cost the taxpayer £3 billion, for instance, will now cost some £30 billion and the people who are enjoying this largesse are the contractors. Nowadays it appears that if one of these places needs to replace a light bulb, the original contractor has to be called back to do the work. What should cost a few pounds now costs a few hundred!

Sheer brilliance. Whoever speaks at your conference, it would be interesting to learn whether Mr Brown’s enthusiasm for the idea of providing the public with value for money (don’t forget, he was Mr Prudence) is shared by others.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Railwaysy are named after countries A tradition theyy taught us in school; Like Nigerian g Rail Corporation.

Throughout Africa, this is the rule.

The French-speaking p g lands have examples Such as Chemin de fer du Mali.

Namibia coined its own version: TransNamib is neat, you’ll agree.

In the nineties, South African Railwaysy Broke ranks and stepped wayy out of line.

The network was rechristened Spoornet (You see, “nets” were the rage at the time).

Though rules are made to be broken, In this case results were obscure.

Of home ground no inkling was given.

It could have been Spain - or Darfur.

The world in due course ggot the message, g Thoughg it took umpteen yyears to sink in That Spoornet p (South African Railways) y Were one and the same, kith and kin.

What gives, you mayy ask – now - with Transnet (FR): A new, unremarkable con?

Nobody,y nowhere, will know what it is We’re all the way back to square one.

– David Buirski (by e-mail from the south of England) [When politicians anywhere stumble over what they perceive as a magic cure-all, they tend to run with it. By the time the costly chickens come home to hatch, the perpetrators will have moved on, and it is too late to do anything about it. – Editor]

THE NEW CLASS 15E Dear editor, I have doubts about the total quantity of new class 15Es now on order, as reported in the press. I understood that the very first order for 32 units was augmented by another 12 and UCW/Mitsui were expecting a further 18. I think that the “new” order for 32 actually comprises the old second order for 12, and then the last 18 has now become 20, giving 32 in all. The total number of units will thus be 32+32 = 64, as I see it, and not 76. At about R50 million a shot, somebody had better have their figures correct – Jean Dulez, Johannesburg

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Railways Africa March 2011

POSTSCRIPT TRACK MAINTENANCE Leon Zaayman’s article on page 12 is the first in a series on mechanised track maintenance. The reader is introduced to the multiple aspects of the subject, an activity without which there would be no rail traffic at all. In this month’s article, the significance is explained on an essentially theoretical basis. Subsequent articles will describe the role of each of the mechanised track maintenance machines used on the South African rail network, to ensure that the track is reliable, available, affordable and safe.

The next in this series, to appear in the April issue of Railways Africa, will deal with the topic where all maintenance starts - track condition monitoring and analysis. Unless the condition of the track is known, effective maintenance budgeting, planning and execution would not be possible.

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