JULY 2011
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RAILWAYS AFRICA / FOREWORD
Foreword
In a nutshell, according to Business Day: “poor service levels and declining usage have become a self-reinforcing cycle.” High-level resolutions to move freight off the roads and back to rail, noble though they are, become more difficult to achieve by the day. Transnet doesn’t have the capacity to carry more goods. It has new electric locomotives certainly, but they’re confined largely to the ore and coal lines. The handful of new diesels doesn’t help much, not when two-decades’ worth of backlogs are taken into account. Until 2011, no main-line diesels had been acquired for close on thirty years and many older units have been written off. The passenger situation is dismal. Intercity services are little more than skeletal, due – Prasa explains - to a critical shortage of motive power and coaches. Metrorail’s position is tragic. Much of its commuter fleet is thirty years old - and more - and of that, over a quarter is unusable and out of use. There hasn’t been a single new coach in twenty years. These unhappy facts come not from imaginative newspaper reporting but from the horse’s mouth, if Lucky Montana will forgive the expression. The thing to worry about is this: the same story was in the news twelve years ago. The only difference is that matters have got a great deal worse. Big figures are promised currently for new rail investment - in locomotives, rolling stock, signalling and other essentials. It’s great news – but much of what is to come will be taken up working off that formidable backlog - so don’t expect visible impact any time soon.
There’s an old saying that you can’t solve problems by simply throwing money at them – and in any case, Transnet concedes there isn’t going to be nearly enough in government sources to meet every need. So one of the thoughts we’re hearing envisages infrastructure staying with government but operations being subcontracted to private initiative. The argument may make sense, but I don’t see this happening. Ten years ago, Spoornet spent millions on high-powered international consultants who predictably recommended private sector involvement in the railway. Equally predictably, toothand-nail trade union opposition put paid to any implementation. So where does this take us? For one thing, there’s little point proposing things the unions are going to veto. And nobody – in Africa at any rate - cares to know that the world’s most efficient railways are in America and run by private enterprise. Nor that in Britain, initial hiccups following privatisation of passenger operations have given way to boom conditions, record patronage and difficulty in meeting growing demand. As for this concept of state-owned tracks run by private endeavour – it’s been tried in Africa in recent times (Kenya and Sénégal spring to mind), without conspicuous success. There’re reasons for this obviously, but nothing to suggest that similarly unhappy results wouldn’t be experienced here. So we need other ideas, and we’d better find something soon.
BARBARA SHEAT Publisher / Railways Africa
JULY 2011
Thoughts about “separating” Transnet functions were in the news recently. The thinking isn’t new, but the people currently putting forward these ideas are concerned that the need to do something meaningful is steadily becoming more pressing.
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PUBLISHER Barbara Sheat EDITOR Rollo Dickson DESIGN & LAYOUT Grazia Muto ADVERTISING Kim Bevan SUBSCRIPTIONS Kim Bevan CONTRIBUTORS Anton van Schalkwyk Dave van der Meulen Eugene Armer Geoff Cooke John Batwell Leon Zaayman Roderick Smith
ISSN 1029 - 2756 Rail Link Communications cc PO Box 4794 Randburg 2125 Tel: +27 87 940 9278 E-mail: stationmaster@railwaysafrica.com Twitter: railwaysafrica Website: www.railwaysafrica.com
The copyright on all material in this magazine is expressly reserved and vested in Rail Link Communications cc, unless otherwise stated. No material may be reproduced in any form, in part or in whole, without the permission of the publishers. Please note that the opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publishers of Rail Link Communications cc unless otherwise stated. While precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information, neither the Editor, Publisher or Contributor can be held liable for any inaccuracies or damages that may arise.
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July 2011 Railways Africa
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Contents TRANSNET FREIGHT RAIL The TFR National Command Centre Transnet Freight Rail’s Trail-blazing African Showpiece Forty or so years back, one would have expected to see Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) semi-circular-shaped, multi-terraced, 24/7 operational control centre on a black-and-white, visionary television episode of Star Trek!
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Features TRANSNET FREIGHT RAIL The TFR National Command Centre Transnet Freight Rail’s trail-blazing African showpiece PLASSERIAL The History of Tamping Machines
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Industry Comment Africa’s Turn
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Railways Africa July 2011
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RAILWAYS AFRICA / CONTENTS
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Africa Update Trains to Menongue by December
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RVR Performance Improves
30
Used Toronto Subway Cars for Lagos
34
Sudan-Chad Line Mooted
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34
Review Zimbabwe Steam Journey
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Railway Heritage SANRASM Krugersdorp
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Rovos Rail, Pretoria
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Atlantic Rail, Cape Town
45
Welcome Home Ceremony for D端bs A Tank
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End of the Line Information on Accident Sought
46
Not Much to Work On .... But How About This
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July 2011 Railways Africa
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TRANSNET FREIGHT RAIL
THE TFR NATIONAL COMMAND CENTRE Transnet Freight Rail’s Trail-blazing African Showpiece John Batwell reports on a recent visit……
Forty or so years back, one would have expected to see Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) semi-circular-shaped, multiterraced, 24/7 operational control centre on a black-and-white, visionary television episode of Star Trek! Just over three years ago, the imposing National Command Centre (NCC) in Transnet’s Parktown office block opened - an umbilical cord in so many facets of a well-greased, integrated railway operation. Based on CEO Siyabonga Gama’s visit to the United States last decade, the R90m NCC, launched on 4 August 2008, is based on observations gleaned from Burlington Northern and Union Pacific. From a seamless managerial point of view, the control centre has dovetailed into one physical complex the planning, operational execution and day-to-day trouble-shooting of four principal, geographically-oriented corridors – the Cape, Central, Natal and Eastern regions. Altogether these comprise 8,441km of electrified railway and 11,606km of non-electrified routing. The hardware running along any of these four management corridors consists of 813 diesel locomotives, 1,161 electric units and 115 types of wagons.
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Railways Africa July 2011
Each “corridor team” of designated personnel is responsible for: • • • • • • • •
Service planning An Integrated train plan A monitoring and deviation plan The provision of appropriate types of motive power and rolling stock Locomotive distribution Availability of infrastructure Customer care Security on the ground
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TRANSNET FREIGHT RAIL
Mr Pieter de Villiers, a NCC duty manager who is in essence the ‘Incident Commander’ following up on who and what needs to be deployed to the scene relative to the specific rail problem. Photo: J Batwell.
Teams of personnel run with the quirks, characteristics and specific rail transport profile of their individual corridors. In each, pre-planning and budgeting in terms of the product movement profile is executed well in advance. The 2012/13 business plan, for example, was expected to be in place by late August 2011. The budgeting process running in Transnet’s financial year (AprilMarch) embraces firm rail orders from customers. These are reviewed quarterly and hand-in-hand with the prospective motive power, wagons and crews required to fulfil customers’ tonnage expectations. This dovetails down to each customer with his weekly orders. The customer service managers run with the variable permutations within this operational component. Any new business that eventuates is reviewed at a weekly planning meeting. An Integrated Train Plan (ITP) is drawn up which covers the entire country and focuses on issues such as empty wagon distribution, types of wagons required, line occupation management and locomotive maintenance with resultant availability versus non-availability of relevant motive power. Varied types of freight services are offered: • MegaRail is made up of block load trains (all one commodity) on fixed days and times; • FlexiRail is, as the name suggests, “flexible” for things like seasonal rail traffic; and • AccessRail is dictated by specific days and times.
Major Maintenance Occupations When it comes to major railway maintenance occupations such as the servicing of the coal and iron ore corridors and Natcor (the Johannesburg-Durban high-volume line), this is built into train movement planning a good 12 months or even longer in advance. Other planned occupations of a particular rail section are in place 21 days in advance. Regional Operational Executives (ROEs) pull up the ITP to view the holistic situation applicable to their respective regions. A typical operational week at the NCC consists of seeing what new weekly business is at hand by 12 noon on a Wednesday. Two hours later, at 14:00, a “pre-doability” exercise is under way to determine the ability to meet the customer’s transport request and
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By the end of the current financial year, Transnet Freight Rail hopes to have achieved 219 million tonnes embracing all types of traffic. by Thursday morning at 11:00, the “doability” has been determined. Twenty-five hours later, at midday Friday, the ITP is signed off.
Dealing with the Unexpected Then there is the unexpected, expeditious think-on-one’s-feet trouble-shooting that can colour any operational day at TFR. Occurrences include derailments, cable theft, power failure, weather conditions (last winter’s snow in parts of the country was a case in point with stranded train crews helicoptered out!), permanent way problems such as a cracked rail, and signalling hiccups. In such situations, monitors are initially informed by staff on the ground at the particular incident. Transnet Rail Engineering and the infrastructure team are advised in the case of a derailment, for instance. Each department involved issues a reference number and the information trail passes to the particular corridor manager and then the duty manager. The latter is in essence the “incident commander” who follows up with who and what is to be deployed to the scene. This is just one aspect of what is termed deviation management. It is more broad-spectrum and in a 24, 48 and 72hour review, the source of any deviation from the planned train movements is analysed. Deviations might be as mundane as the customer failing to load his wagons timeously; wagons that are not clean in time for loading; a customer who has had an operational glitch preventing wagons being loaded as expected. A customer experiencing sudden, unexpected technical problems at a plant in KwaZulu-Vatal might require diversion of its loads at short notice to one in Gauteng. The NCC has to review train movements (wagon availability, types of motive power, crew familiarisation with the motive power, et al) according to the customer’s proposed crisis management solution.
Railways Africa July 2011
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TRANSNET FREIGHT RAIL In the case of a route closure, sometimes traffic can be diverted along other rail sections with careful, alternative planning, but TFR acknowledges that there are also times when it has to bite the bullet financially, and write off lost custom.
operators onto TFR’s lines on the other, one does just wonder what a huge challenge – a nightmarish paradigm shift - would be imposed on the management and staff of this very specialised, well-honed, in-house “railway nerve centre”.
The multitude of potential problems and problem solving by TFR personnel is still handled manually. The coal export corridor has computer intervention, but only to a limited degree that is not finetuned. Staff working at the four geographical corridor terminals - in the lights-dimmed, eerie control centre - are on duty for twelve hours at a time. Huge, wall-mounted screens rotate images of things happening there and then on the rail system. Sobering visuals of a recent head-on collision were displayed on one of the panels as a psychological reminder to the floor staff “to keep one’s act sharp”!
Hand-over Briefing Prior to each shift change, a hand-over period of one hour is built in. The hand-over briefing includes a monitoring report, ie the current situation in the field, a recovery plan to return traffic movements to the initial operations’ plan and a co-ordination of any line incidents.
From left to right: Mr Solly Rampheng (Executive Manager) Train and Network, Ms Kathy Jaftha, (Manager) Communications and Media, Mr Reginald Ntshingila (Senior Manager Service Design), Ms Arthee Govender (Senior Manager) Management Information Systems, Mr Stevens Tjabadi (Senior Manager) Resource Management were the presentation team on the author’s visit to the NCC. Photo: J Batwell.
One comes away reflecting that TFR’s hub in Parktown is impressive, manned by passionate, professional staff who overtly love what they contribute to the efficacy of the centre and its round-the-clock function nationally. Senior management seeks to achieve 219 million tonnes in the 2011-12 financial year – general freight business 89mt, export coal 74mt, and export iron ore 56mt. This aim represents at least a 17% increase in volumes from the previous financial year. Personnel were noticed wearing motivational “219”endorsed shirts! Seeing the NCC first-hand did trigger a daunting thought – in the light of pressure on government to vertically separate Transnet Freight Rail into infrastructure on one side and allow private
Winter snowfalls impact on operational procedures and readjustment. Photo: Transnet.
The operational hub at Transnet Freight Rail’s offices in Parktown, Johannesburg. Photo: J Batwell.
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Railways Africa July 2011
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LOCOMOTIVE BUSINESS Specialists and leading supplier of maintenance, repair, upgrade and manufacturing services in Southern Africa
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PLASSERAIL
THE HISTORY OF TAMPING MACHINES In the fourth article (Railways Africa June 2011) in this track maintenance series, the science behind Plasser tamping machines was examined. This, the fifth article, looks into the history of tamping machine development. Even though the concept of a track skeleton of rails attached to cross sleepers on loose ballast has been unchanged over centuries, the process of ballast tamping has seen remarkable technological changes, especially in the last 50 years. In the past century and up to the 1950s, ballast tamping was done manually by gangs of labourers with forks, shovels and tamping picks. Achieving a uniform vertical alignment, each sleeper had to be lifted to a predetermined height and ballast packed underneath the sleeper bearing area (the area directly underneath the rail). This process was extremely strenuous, time and labour-consuming, and of limited accuracy. In times when economical considerations were not so decisive as today, many inventors suggested mechanisms to replace manual labour by machines. The first patented invention was by a Mr Evans in 1893. It comprised a rail-bound mechanism with a number of tools pushing the ballast under the sleepers, whereby the total bottom of the sleeper was tamped. This mechanism was manually driven. See Figure 1 for the patent drawing.
by Leon Zaayman The most important patent for modern tamping machines was filed in Switzerland in 1933 by a Mr Scheuchzer. See Figure 2 for the US patent drawing. His mechanism comprised two motions. Firstly, vibration of the tool (the tamping tine) was created by an eccentric shaft, which penetrated into the ballast. Secondly, by closing the tools via two spindles, ballast was squeezed underneath the sleeper For the penetration of the tamping tines into the ballast bed, the mechanism as a whole was lifted and lowered. Except for the electric drive it was a totally mechanical arrangement. With this mechanism using spindles it was only possible to close one tool for exactly the same displacement as the other tool. This is called “synchronous” tamping mode. No information was found by the author with regard to the extent to which the above inventions were used but they were certainly not produced in great numbers. In 1945 the first tamping machine to be produced in reasonable numbers was the Matisa-standard which initiated the mechanisation of ballast tamping. The Matisa-standard however only replaced the manual tamping operation, but not the lining and levelling work.
Figure 1: 1893 patent by Evans.
Figure 2: 1933 patent by Scheuchzer.
A patent that was filed in the USA in 1897 by a Mr Smedeman was driven by a steam engine. In 1912, a Mr Ohman tried for the first time to tamp more than one sleeper simultaneously. In 1929 a Mr Jackson filed a patent in the USA that used a vibrating plate to guide and compact the ballast under the sleeper. For the first time it concentrated the tamping only at the sleeper bearing area.
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Railways Africa July 2011
In 1950 a Mr Hursh invented a mechanism in the USA which for the first time also included the levelling operation. This machine gripped the rail and lifted itself and the track structure to a height defined by surveying instruments. Moveable tamping units within the machine then tamped a number of sleepers before the whole mechanism moved forward to a new position. In 1953, Plasser & Theurer of Austria filed patents (Figure 3) for an improved tamping machine, the Plasser VKR01 (Figure 4). This followed the basis of the Scheuchzer mechanism. For the first time, hydraulic
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PLASSERAIL pressure was used for the vibration of the tines as well as the squeezing motion of the tools, replacing the spindles previously used. With this concept it was possible to produce the same level of force at the tamping tools, which were not forced to move the same distance. This was the beginning of the asynchronous tamping mode which produced a more homogeneous compaction under the sleepers. Today all tamping machines in operation use the asynchronous tamping mode. In 1957 the South African Railways imported their first VKR03 machine from Plasser & Theurer. This machine was such a success that 19 of the more advanced VKR04 machines were ordered in June 1959 (Figure 5). The VKR series were capable of tamping at a rate of eight sleepers per minute, a huge production and efficiency improvement in those years. With this order, Plasserail became established in South Africa.
Figure 5: VKR04 levelling and tamping machine in South Africa – 1959.
In 1962, Plasser & Theurer designed the switch tamping machine (Figure 6) which needed additional features to tamp the restricted track associated with rail turnouts. A solution was found using tiltable tines which could be swivelled out of the way individually. The whole tamping unit was able to move laterally, to reach the long sleepers on the turnout section.
Figure 6: The first turnout tamping machine by Plasser & Theurer in 1962.
Figure 3: 1953 patent by Plasser & Theurer.
Figure 7: The first two-sleeper (duomatic) tamping machine in South Africa, 1966.
In 1964, Plasser & Theurer invented the two-sleeper tamping machine (Figure 7) which was an immediate success. Matisa very quickly combined two tamping mechanisms into one, thus also producing a two-sleeper tamping machine. At the time Matisa still retained the synchronous tamping mode. With the introduction of the Plasser 06 series tamping machine in the late 1960s, the lifting and aligning was no longer performed manually ahead of the machines but carried out using the work units installed in the machine. In place of the previous cantilever layout in front of the machine, the tamping units were located between the machine’s axles. The 06 series increased production to a staggering 16 sleepers per minute and must have been considered a marvel of modern technology. Figure 4: VKR01 tamping machine by Plasser & Theurer - 1953
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Railways Africa July 2011
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PLASSERAIL turnout tamping and reasonable speed open-line tamping changed the way railway engineers planned and executed their tamping cycle. In 1981, Plasserail produced the first of their universal tamping machines with tilting tines (Figure 10) which are still working today as the TOS series (Figure 11).
Figure 8: The 06 lifting, aligning and tamping machine.
When “between-wheel track lifting” was introduced, the wheelbase had to be increased (up to 14 metres today). This optimised the allowable track lift without over-stressing the rail and fastenings. Before incorporating lifting and aligning on the machines, the wheelbases were generally less than three metres. In the 1960s, other patents for tamping ballast were filed, for example those using ploughs, vertical pressure etc, but none of these were able to replace the non-synchronous tamping units for efficiency and reliability. From the 1970s onward, bogies became commonplace in tamping machines, enabling them to run on the track, either in trainformation or under their own power at reasonable speed. In the mid-1970s, a large number of regulations were published to develop machines into some sort of locomotive with proper brakes, noise limitations, illumination, warning devices, etc. In 1971, Plasser & Theurer brought the 07 series onto the market, a modern machine concept for the growing number of high-speed lines and the shrinking number and length of track occupations. The 07 duomatic with its two-sleeper tamping units could reach a production of up to 28 sleepers per minute, a popular machine for very busy lines. Plasserail produced 22 of this series, some of which are still working today.
Figure 10: Tilting tine concept to avoid hitting obstructions in turnouts.
Figure 11: The TOS series of universal tamping machines with tilting tines. Figure 9: The 07 lifting, aligning and tamping machine.
In 1978, the then British Rail filed a patent for a mechanism which would blow stone chippings under the lifted sleepers. The principle was that the necessary lift at any one sleeper was premeasured and an amount of stone chippings according to this lift was blown under the sleeper. This process was based on the shovel-packing principle used in the past. Pandrol Jackson produces machines operating on this principle, and a number are working on the British rail network. From the 1980s onward, Plasser & Theurer produced new concepts and added new technology to their machines on an annual basis. They invested very considerably in research and development, a policy which saw them leading the international market for high technology, high-production, durability and reliability. The introduction of specialised turnout tamping units and true universal tamping machines capable of high-speed, specialised
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Higher tamping production than that achieved with the 07 series was still required. This led to the development of the 08 series main-line tamping machines where a production of up to 33 sleepers per minute was achieved by increasing the acceleration from sleeper to sleeper (index tamping). The speed made matters very uncomfortable for the operators and caused a number of mechanical problems. In 1983, Plasser & Theurer developed the 09 series continuousaction tamping machine. This was the first machine to move continuously at a constant speed, while a much lighter satellite frame containing the tamping units - running on its own axle accelerated from sleeper to sleeper. With this technology it was possible to produce up to 30% higher production than before and that at a reduced fuel consumption. Tamping rates improved to a maximum of 40 sleepers per minute on the 09-32. Plasserail produced two of these high-production machines [the 09-32 (1986) and 09-16 (1991)] and used them where their high production capabilities were required most - on South Africa’s two heavy-haul lines.
July 2011 Railways Africa
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PLASSERAIL
Figure 12: The 09-32 continuous action tamping machine.
In 1991, the BWOM series (Figure 13) was developed with a long wheelbase, the use of two bogies and - most important - the introduction of split tamping units (Figure 14) which took turnout tamping into a new era of high production, reach and versatility. Split tamping units are divided in two - ďŹ eld-side and gauge-side -and can be operated individually. The tines that are likely to hit an obstruction can be kept in the raised position while the other half can enter the ballast to perform the tamping operation. These units are able to split horizontally, in order to ďŹ nd the best position in the track for entering the ballast.
Figure 14: Split tamping unit concept, to avoid hitting obstructions in turnouts.
The BWOM introduced the use of the hydraulically-operated third-rail lifting device (Figure 15) which was synchronised with the combined lifting and aligning unit to lift the long sleepers in the turnout without overstressing the fastenings (Figure 16). Figure 13: BWOM universal tamping machine equipped with split tamping units.
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Railways Africa July 2011
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PLASSERAIL accurate and reliable. Specific mention should be made of the ALC automatic guiding computer. This replaced the laborious measuring and marking of curves (to take just one example), with a computer system that can measure, fit and set the tamping offsets - all automatically. In 1999, Plasserail imported the Unimat 08-475 4S universal tamping machine which used all the latest technology available for the ultimate in high-production turnout tamping. This machine has the longest wheelbase in the Plasserail stable - 14 metres and is ideally suited for tamping heavy concrete-sleeper turnouts in only one pass. Figure 15: Third rail lifting device.
Figure 16: Load distribution with third rail lifting. Figure 17: The Unimat 08-475 4S universal tamping machine.
Computer technology had a major effect on the development of tamping machines. More and more machine functions were taken over by processors, making the machines so much more
In line with Plasser & Theurer”s drive to develop high-production machinery for the ever increasing traffic density and reduced
PLASSERAIL maintenance time on European rail networks, they introduced the three-sleeper, 48-tine, 09-3X continuous action tamping machine in 1996 which can achieve a tamping rate of up to 60 sleepers per minute. The 09-3X was introduced into the South African market in 2004 and is still the fastest tamping machine in Africa.
production on turnouts and can reach up to 38 sleepers per minute on main lines.
Dynamic track stabilisation has become such a part of tamping that it is used behind most tamping machines today and due to the 09’s continuous motion, it may even be towed behind the machine.
Figure 19: Dynamic Tamping Express 09-4X.
Figure 18: The 09-3X three-sleeper, continuous-action tamping machine with integrated, tow-behind dynamic track stabilising machine.
In 2005, Plasserail addressed the age-old compromise between high-production main-line tamping and specialised high-production turnout tamping by introducing the Plasser & Theurer 09-24 DYNA-CAT series (Figure 18). This combines continuous action tamping and specialised turnout tamping with two-sleeper, 24tine split tamping units, third-rail lifting and integral dynamic track stabilising, all in one machine. It produces unsurpassed
Also in 2005, Plasser & Theurer broke new records with the latest in high-production main-line tamping by introducing the Dynamic Tamping Express 09-4X continuous action tamping machine which tamps 4 sleepers with every cycle (Figure 19). This machine is not available in South Africa yet, but who knows …
The next in this series will deal with the tamping of curves.
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INDUSTRY COMMENT
Africa’s Turn Dave van der Meulen / Managing Member / Railway Corporate Strategy CC Who develops next? Railway Corporate Strategy cc is currently preparing a paper for Transport Research Arena 2012 in Athens, with the title European and global urban guided transit: Green and socio-economic fit. Using a database representing 330 cities in 68 countries plus sophisticated statistical techniques, it examines how urban railways (and competitive rubber-tyred modes such as automated guided transit, monorail and bus rapid transit) fit into their settings. The findings will only be published at TRA 2012, but while assembling the data, it was interesting to mull over the context from which the data had been extracted—much like doing an Internet search, and following many of the interesting links along the way. As an interesting aside, Railway Corporate Strategy found it necessary to include the rubber-tyred modes mentioned above, because one cannot understand the fit of urban rail in its setting without due regard for its close competitors. No surprise to South Africans, commuter rail equipment is aging (not so gracefully) while Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) schemes roll out. South Africa is not unique in this regard. But do we understand why? Hopefully more of that in a future article, but now back to the drift of this article.
because countries in a region tend to develop by domino effect, if not concurrently. The selected continents or countries that follow, and their associated socio-economic data, include only the respective mainlands, but exclude islands. The latter are generally unsuitable for line-haul railways, although in some instances they may support urban railways and even high-speed intercity railways, eg Japan and Taiwan. These three regions are, in descending order of 2010 gross national income (GNI) per capita per annum: • South America, subsuming Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela, with a weighted average GNI of $US8,173 per capita per annum; • The former Soviet Union minus the present Russian Federation, subsuming Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine in Europe; and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in Asia, with a weighted average GNI of $US3,342 per capita per annum; and
SA commuter equipment aging not so gracefully.
New BRT systems being rolled out.
One question that bears thought by railway stakeholders in South Africa is its position, with respect to railways of course, vis-à-vis the last developing regions within the global economy. For this purpose the author has selected regions rather than countries,
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Railways Africa July 2011
• Africa, subsuming Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with a weighted average GNI $US1,667 per capita per annum. All the above were formerly vassal states of some sort, but having been liberated are now developing themselves to make their way in the global socioeconomic milieu. Of course, there are many other developing countries as well. However, they do not form contiguous blocs in which railways can network naturally, and some are too Trains crossing in Mozambique, 2011. small for railways. Those in Asia Photo: Roderick Smith.
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INDUSTRY COMMENT that could constitute a bloc or blocs, but within reach of China, are already spoken for and therefore not considered here.
Some elementary statistics Let us examine some essential attributes of these regions. First, consider the distribution of their incomes, shown on the accompanying histogram of GNI in thousands of $US per capita per annum. The distributions in all three regions are skewed toward lower GNI, i.e. lower GNI is more prevalent than higher GNI, which is what one might expect in regionally-grouped developing countries. However, they are not equally skewed. Africa is strongly skewed toward lower GNI, ie most countries have low GNI, although a few, including South Africa, have comparatively high GNI. The former Soviet Republics minus Russia are less skewed than Africa, and have a higher average GNI per capita. South America approaches a normal distribution and has the highest average GNI per capita of the three regions.
Their weighted average economic growths follow a similar pattern, respectively 4.2%, 5.4% and 5.3% for Africa, the former Soviet republics minus Russia, and South America. The economies of the latter two regions are growing faster than Africa, and off a higher base at that. All things considered, Africa might well be last in line on this planet for economic development and the poverty alleviation that comes with it. Its weighted average GNI per capita, not the only development indicator, but nevertheless an important one, trails that of both South America and the former Soviet republics minus Russia. It is therefore losing, rather than gaining, ground.
Must this be? Consider the following country rankings in Africa. The top decile by GNI per capita per annum includes Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Gabon, Botswana, and South Africa. The top decile by GNI per country per annum includes South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, and Morocco. The top decile by population includes Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. One way or another, South Africa is the only country that consistently achieves Africa’s top decile. The underlying numbers thus bear out its recognised position as leader in Africa.
What expectations might the continent have of a leader, again with respect to railways of course? Its railways should lead, and in some respects they do, in particular regarding the size of the network. However, all is not well by customers’ and other stakeholders’ perceptions of overall performance, and there is reason to question sustainability in their present gestalt. The University of Loughborough has undertaken research in the theme of globalisation and world cities, and among others published a ranking of world cities. Those in Africa are - with their ranking in parentheses - Johannesburg (beta+), Cairo (beta), Nairobi and Cape Town (gamma+), Lagos (gamma), Accra (highsufficiency), and Dar-es-Salaam, Durban, Gaborone, and Libreville (sufficiency). The aforementioned research for TRA 2012 has revealed an association between world cities’ ranking and the presence of heavy metro rail systems. Note the distinction between heavy metro rail on a dedicated network and suburban rail on a network shared to some extent with other operators - they are not the same thing. It appears that Africa’s leading cities should have heavy metro systems, but to date only Cairo and Algiers are in that league. Have the rest missed something? Now consider the example of Walmart’s recent acquisition of Massmart. During Walmart’s exploratory foray into South Africa to weigh up potential targets, Massmart CEO Grant Pattison is on record as seeing Walmart to have been conducting a “beauty parade” of South Africa’s retailers. Is South Africa leveraging its economic assets, staging a beauty parade as it were, to attract foreign investment? Is it allowing willing investors to invest in rail? Or is it perceived to be unfriendly toward them? The foregoing are simply two manifestations of unresolved underlying issues. In terms of economic development and growth, countries with the potential to lift those around them by domino effect should get up and go. Noting the skewed distribution of GNI in Africa, and recognising its position of leadership, arguably South Africa alone has the economic wherewithal to set Africa on a trajectory that could advance it beyond last in the global development queue. As a potential locomotive of African development, South Africa’s railways seem to be approaching a tipping point. The winds of change are blowing with increasing intensity. A rapid, robust intervention that sets railways on course to a competitive and sustainable future could stimulate profound development in South Africa and beyond. “South Africa’s railways seem to be approaching a tipping point.” Photo: The alternative should be Eugene Armer. too ghastly to contemplate.
COMPELLING INSIGHT FROM ORIGINAL RESEARCH www.railcorpstrat.com
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Railways Africa July 2011
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WHEEL BUSINESS Specialists in the manufacturing and refurbishing of all types of railway wheelsets for the Southern African
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AFRICA UPDATE
AFRICA UPDATE ANGOLA
CAMINHOS DE FERRO DE LUANDA (CFL)
TRAINS TO MENONGUE BY DECEMBER
From Anton van Schalkwyk quoting Jornal de Angola: Commercial rail services were reinaugurated by Caminhos de ferro de Luanda (CFL) on 13 January 2011, 18 years after they ceased due to armed conflict. In the first half of 2011, CFL carried 1,554,303 passengers on the sections Luanda/Viana/Kwanza-Norte/Malange and vice versa, earning revenue exceeding 90m kwanzas. Altogether 411 tons of freight was moved, bringing in approximately 2.9 million kwanzas.
After 31 years, the cities of Menongue in the province of KuandoKubango, and Lubango, Huíla, are shortly to see rail service returned. Test running was expected to start during August. Speaking in the city of Menongue, board chairman of the Moçâmedes Railway (CFM) Daniel Quipaxe said public service will begin in December 2011. Rehabilitation of the line is almost finished, including the bridge over the River Giraúl. Altogether, 56 stations are being provided, and all will be complete by November. In Menongue, a siding is to be constructed to serve a central fuel and gas depot, currently under construction.
Recent work in progress included the provision of station waiting rooms at Textang, Viana and Musseque Baia, and two platforms were constructed at Malanje. Fibre- optic cable has been installed for communication purposes along the line and CCTV monitoring is being introduced at selected stations.
CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE NEW LOCOS FOR CONGO-OCEAN
Menongue station. Photo: Anton van Schalkwyk.
Giraúl River bridge, CFM (Angola). Photo: Anton van Schalkwyk.
RRL Grindrod’s workshops in Pretoria recently supplied four diesel locos to Chemin de fer CongoOcéan (CFCO) in Congo-Brazzaville. The units have EMD 645-E3B engines and frames to meet an 18.5 ton axle load. Travelling to Durban under their own power for shipping, they were photographed at Boughton near Pietermaritzburg by Charles Baker. The 1 067mm gauge CFCO line extends 510km from the deep water Atlantic port of Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville.
ANGOLA ORDERS FROM CHINA FOR CFB Angolan transport minister Augusto Tomás says reconstruction is complete on 74 CFB (Caminhos de ferro de Benguela) stations, the largest being at Lobito, Benguela, Huambo, Cunje (Bie) and Luena. New locomotives, carriages and wagons have been ordered from the People’s Republic of China. The orders were placed in 2010 and delivery is expected in 2012. In the meantime, 20 refitted coaches including two 650kVA generator vans have been acquired from South Africa.
EX SA LOCOS ON CONGO-OCEAN RAILWAY Douglas Anderson reporting on sar-L: “I am currently in Pointe-Noire (Congo-Brazzaville) and on my way back to my house came across two diesels just outside the station, each a red-brick colour with a green sash and the Spoornet logo on the sides. They looked like class 34 diesels. I am so sorry I did not have my camera with me.”
EGYPT [These coaches were originally ordered for the Kei Rail project by South Africa’s Eastern Cape government, which was unable to find the necessary funding. – Editor]
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Railways Africa July 2011
LOCO ON SEABED A locomotive originally destined for the Egyptian railways is one of an impressive collection of large artefacts to be found on the
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AFRICA UPDATE seabed off the coast of Egypt. They formed the cargo on board the SS Thistlegorm, a 4,898 ton, 126m ship built in 1940 which was sunk by German aircraft. She was one of a number of “Thistle” ships owned and operated by the Albyn Line, each carrying the emblem of Scotland, the thistle. When built she was used by the navy in World War II, completing three voyages to America, Argentina and the Dutch Antilles. Her final voyage started in Glasgow on 2 June 1941, where she was loaded with rifles, wellington boots, trucks and motor bikes for the Eighth Army in North Africa, and also at least one steam locomotive. At Aden she bunkered for two days and was then escorted up the Red Sea to the anchorage in Sha’ab Ali, Egypt, where she was delayed for 10 days, but sunk after being bombed on 6 October 1941. According to an account in the Daily Mail, “the remains of motorbikes ravaged by the ocean fill rooms inside the ship as well as jeeps decorated with hundreds of pairs of unclaimed wellington boots. A locomotive destined for the Egyptian Railways which was blown out of the ship by the explosion lies discarded on the seabed.
And according to a Reuters report datelined in Nairobi, “The operator of the Kenya-Uganda railway received a $164 million long-term loan financing from six international financiers …. The investment, which is one of the largest in East Africa rail, is aimed at refurbishing the track, buying new wagons and locomotives and replacing information technology systems. “The six financiers in the project include International Finance Corporation (IFC), KfW of Germany and Equity Bank -- Kenya’s biggest bank in customer terms, a statement from IFC said. Egypt-based investment firm Citadel Capital, with a 51% holding in RVR, said in February it was to raise $287 million for a five-year upgrading project. Karim Sadek, Citadel’s managing director, said an additional $80 million will be raised from shareholders and the rest from internally generated funds. “Other shareholders in RVR include Kenyan-based infrastructure investment company TransCentury with a 34% and Bomi Holdings of Uganda with 15%.”
“The wreck was discovered by French explorer Jacques Cousteau in the early fifties. On leaving, Cousteau had the mast cut off to hide it from would-be thieves.”
KENYA RIFT VALLEY RAILWAYS The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $US 40 million loan to Rift Valley Railways (RVR). RVR in action; Kenya 2011. Photo: Geoff Cooke.
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Railways Africa July 2011
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ROTATING MACHINE BUSINESS Specialists in refurbishing, upgrading and comprehensive testing of traction motors and auxiliary electric motors. All traction motors are expertly qualiďŹ ed and load-tested to full capacity on back-to-back motor
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AFRICA UPDATE RVR FARES UP Rift Valley Railways (RVR) recently increased the fares paid by both peri-urban commuters and long-distance travellers. The new fares were justiďŹ ed by RVR chief executive Brown Ondego on the grounds of increasing maintenance and fuel costs and improved frequency of services. Commuters on the Nairobi-Ruirui route now pay Sh60 (previously Sh40); Kahawa Sh50 (up from Sh35); Kikuyu Sh50 (up from Sh 40); Embakasi, Dagoretti and Dandora Sh40 (previously Sh25); Kibera Sh35 (up from Sh20); while Athi River remains at Sh50. Travellers to Mombasa from Nairobi now pay Sh680 (up from Sh460), Kisumu Sh500 (up from Sh330), Voi Sh450 (previously) Sh325 and Nakuru Sh230 (up from Sh165).
Meanwhile, the Kenya and Uganda governments have told Rift Valley Railways’shareholders that they have to transfer their interests to a new entity , the Kenya-Uganda Railway Holdings (KURH), in which each partner’s stake will depend upon its capacity to contribute part of the ďŹ nancial outlay needed for a turn-around. According to media reports, $US164 million was loaned to RVR by a consortium of lenders. The funds, to be disbursed in the next ďŹ ve years, will be spent on modernising the Kenya-Uganda railway. RVR consortium members, including Egypt’s Citadel Capital and TransCentury, are set to inject an additional $82 million. The money is to be used to revamp 100 locomotives and 3,500 wagons, as well as the track.
COMMUTER RAIL FOR 3 KENYAN CITIES The new fares, approved by the ministry of transport, are still cost less than road transport charges along similar routes, Ondego points out: “Our tariffs per kilometre are lower than road transport and we will continue to improve our commuter and main-line products to remain competitive�.
RVR PERFORMANCE IMPROVES Kenya railway concessionaire Rift Valley Railways (RVR) has recorded improved performance in both freight and passenger volumes. In its 2011 second quarter, it posted an 8.6% increase in freight business in Kenya and 8.5% in Uganda, compared to the same period in 2010. Uganda recorded a 4.3% increase in nettonne kilometres in the quarter under review. Tonnage transported in Kenya increased by 12% to 394,375 tonnes, up from 366,788 tonnes, while the net-tonne kilometres increased by 8.6%.
Kenya Railways has announced plans to develop commuter rail services in Kenya’s three cities - Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu. The Nairobi development is being implemented while that in Mombasa and Kisumu is at concept stage. Phase one of the Nairobi system will cover 100km, providing modern commuter rail services between Nairobi’s main station and Ruiru, Embakasi Village, Jomo Kenyatta Airport and Kikuyu. This phase will cost Sh16 billion, according to managing director Nduva Muli. Phase two will extend the services to Thika, Lukenya and Limuru while phase three will provide services on new lines to be built to Ngong, Kiserian and Ongata Rongai to the south, Kiambu to the north and Ruai to the north-east of Nairobi. “The project is aimed at providing fast, reliable, safe and affordable commuter rail services within the Nairobi metropolitan area,â€? Muli explained to a team of government ofďŹ cials during a site tour of Syokimau
“ You focus on your business, we will focus on your gas supply�
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Railways Africa July 2011
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AFRICA UPDATE station, currently under construction. “The whole project is due to be completed by the end of 2014.”
MOROCCO
globally and prices have surged over the past year to record highs due in part to supply disruptions and burgeoning demand from emerging economies such as China which are undergoing fast urbanisation and industrialisation.
KUWAIT FUNDING FOR MOROCCO HIGH-SPEED RAIL The Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development (KFAED) has loaned Morocco $US89.2 million as part of the first phase of its funding of the High-Speed Train (HST) project linking Tangier and Casablanca. According to the Global Arab Network, the project forms part of the country’s development programme aimed at meeting “the growing demand for environment-friendly transport” and to support the development of Morocco’s transport infrastructure.
The Tete basin, which doesn’t currently export coking coal, is expected to account for 18% of the global total sea-borne coking coal trade by 2025, making it the world’s second largest source of sea-borne coking coal after Australia’s Queensland basin, according to a Riversdale presentation in July. Queensland accounted for about two-thirds of the world’s sea-borne coking coal trade in 2010 (110 million tons).
MOZAMBIQUE
Vale, which has been present in Mozambique since 2004, started implementing the Moatize project in 2008 and employed more than 7,500 people during construction. About 90% of its preoperations team were Mozambicans, trained in both Mozambique and Brazil,
SENA LINE – COAL REACHES BEIRA Brazilian mining giant Vale SA has delivered its first coal by train from Moatize via the Sena line to the port of Beira. The first train carried 2,200 metric tons of coal for export. Vale is the first of the major mining companies to start producing thermal and metallurgical coal from the Tete basin. The Moatize project will be able to produce up to 11 million tons annually, 8.5 million tons of metallurgical coal and 2.5 million tons thermal. Rio Tinto Plc, which completed its $US4 billion purchase of Mozambique-focused mining company Riversdale Mining Ltd on 1 August, expects to produce its first coal from the adjacent Benga coal project by the end of 2011. It plans to produce 2.4 million tons of coal annually from 2012. Of this, 1.6 million tons will be metallurgical coal and 0.8 million tons, thermal. High-quality coking coal is a key ingredient in steelmaking. Metallurgical or coking coal is only produced in a few regions
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Two of mining giant Vale’s GT26CU-2 locomotives in use hauling export coal along the Sena Line in Mozambique. Photo: M Ribeiro.
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AUXILIARY BUSINESS Specialists in products and services for rail cargo as well as ISO container refurbishing and wagon cleaning, including a diverse range of products and services like the supply of newly manufactured, repaired and washed
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AFRICA UPDATE The cost of the Lagos light rail project, currently under construction, has soared from $US1 billion to $30 billion and there seems little chance that new rolling stock will be affordable. According to information provided, “The infrastructure will consist of 27km of double track, 13 passenger stations, and a 1,250-metre bridge spanning the Osa lagoon and connecting Lagos Island to the mainland. The Blue line is to be the first of seven light rail lines comprising the Lagos urban network.”
One of the six EMD GT26CW diesel locomotives (to be used by Rio Tinto’s Riversdale Mining for moving export coal in Mozambique) under construction at TZV Gredelj, the offshore Croatian manufacturer of motive power for America’s National Railway Equipment Company (NREC). Riversdale has an option on a further five locos. Photo: TZV Gredelj.
NIGERIA USED TORONTO SUBWAY CARS FOR LAGOS Following a recent visit to Toronto by Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola, it is reported that 15-year-old decommissioned Canadian underground railway coaches may be acquired for service in Lagos. Fashola reportedly inspected the vehicles on offer at first hand.
Lagos may be getting castoffs from the Toronto subway. Some regauging is indicated. The Toronto underground – like Gautrain (and Bart in San Francisco) – uses a different gauge to the whole of the rest of the country. Toronto uses an unusual 1,495mm gauge.
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The Scaw Metals Group (Scaw) is an international group, manufacturing a diverse range of steel products. Its principal operations are located in South Africa, South America, Canada and Australia. Smaller operations are in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Scaw’s specialist castings for the railroad industry include bogies used in freight cars, locomotives and passenger cars. Other products manufactured include: Freight car castings: • • • •
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.
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AFRICA UPDATE TURKEY”S ESER TO RENOVATE IN NIGERIAN SOUTH-EAST
SUDAN
Officials of Eser West Africa Ltd, the Turkish firm that won the contract for the rehabilitation of over 300km of railway in the Nigerian south and south-east, arrived in Enugu recently.
In terms of a tripartite agreement between Sudan, Chad and the Export Import Bank of China, funding is to be secured for a US$2 billion new railway to Chad’s capital N’Damena from Nyala in West Sudan, from where the existing line runs via Sudan’s capital Khartoum to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Construction of the new line, nearly 800km in length, is expected to start in October 2011.
Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) eastern railways district manager Paul Ndibe said Eser was awarded a 10-month contract for rehabilitation of Lot 3 – the Port Harcourt to Makurdi section. He explained to newsmen that the inability of the corporation to commence rail transport in the two zones was due to the “bad shape” of the tracks. He appealed to retirees of the corporation to vacate quarters allocated to them while in employment, “to pave the way for their successors.” On the refusal of some retirees to vacate, he said illegal structures had been added to the company-owned buildings and then rented out to students.
SUDAN-CHAD LINE MOOTED
SAUDI ARABIA
Wadi Halfa Bur Sudan Karima
NIGER
SUDAN
CHAD
SIERRA LEONE
N’DJAMENA Mongo
NIGERIA
Nyala
Kassala ERITREA
El Obeid Ed Damazin
Babanusa
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Red Sea
Atbara
KHARTOUM
LOCOS FOR SIERRA LEONE Twenty EMD 645 E3B-engined, 126 ton diesel-electric locomotives are being supplied by RRL (South Africa) to AML (African Minerals) for ore haulage in Sierra Leone. The National Railway Equipment Company (NREC) has shipped four GT26 type units to Sierra Leone, built by Gredelj, the Croatian EMD rebuilder that has also supplied motive power to Riversdale Mining in Mozambique this year, for coal haulage from Moatize.
EGYPT
LIBYA
ETHIOPIA Waw
N CONGO (DRC)
UGANDA
KENYA
Rail Welding
The single use crucible
The single-use crucible reduces the risk of human error. It is made from a bonded refractory material inserted in an easy-to-handle five-litre container. Welds are more consistent. As there is no drying or pre-heating, weld times are much shorter. And the single use crucible is safer and minimises environmental impacts. Thermitrex (Pty) Ltd Tel: +27 (0)11 914 2540 Fax: +27 (0)11 914 2547 Email: clloyd@thermitrex.co.za Website: www.thermitrex.co.za
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COACH BUSINESS Specialist supplier of repair, refurbishing, upgrade and manufacturing services for suburban electric train sets
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AFRICA UPDATE TANZANIA RITES LEAVES TANZANIA On 27 July, the local management of Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd (Rites), the concessionaire that has run the railways of Tanzania as Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL) since 2007, left for India. The Tanzanian government has cancelled the concession and resumed control of the railway.
headquarters, Banda, Kireka and Bweyogerere. About a month later, Owollo told the paper, trains will serve the Jinja areas over weekends. He said that five commuter coaches, each with a capacity of 80 passengers, are ready for service and that a further three are to be acquired from the RVR Nairobi headquarters. A flat fare of sh1,500 will apply in respect of any distance between Kampala and Namanve. When the weekend service to Jinja commences, the fare will be sh5,000. RVR general manager James Nyambari says that services would have begun long before this, had squatters and informal traders not settled in the rail reserve.
ZIMBABWE NRZ STAFF MISS TWO MONTHS’ PAY
Tanzania Railways Ltd (TRL) class 88 diesel-electric locomotive built by Montreal Locomotive Works. Photo: V Lines.
UGANDA KAMPALA SHUTTLES Rift Valley Railways (RVR) is soon to start a commuter train service to link the Ugandan capital Kampala with its satellite towns. Operations manager Peter Owollo told New Vision that initially daily services will run from Mondays to Fridays from Kampala to Namanve, via Makerere Business school, Meat packers, interfreight
According to Zimbabwe’s Financial Gazette, the 9,000 employees at the national railway did not receive their pay for June or July. The administration is reportedly struggling with the effects of the country adopting the American dollar and South African Rand as official currencies in the country. National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) public relations manager Fanuel Masikati was quoted saying that management is confident the situation “would soon normalise”. He discounted the likelihood of strike action and allayed fears of retrenchments: “The bottom line is that the liquidity crunch really affected most organisations, not only the NRZ. We want to assure our workers that we will not be retrenching anyone and as things improve we will try to maintain our wage bill”.
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 July 2011
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BOOK REVIEW
ZIMBABWE STEAM JOURNEY Reviewed by John Batwell South African photographer Dennis Moore has put out a 120page, 33cm x 28cm coffee table publication on of the steam locomotives of Zimbabwe. Entitled Zimbabwe Journey, his book is a photographically nostalgic reflection - in both colour and blackand-white - of the Garratts that were instrumental in operating services out of the railway headquarters city, Bulawayo. The book is based on a 1982 visit to Zimbabwe - exciting times for the steam loco fraternity as private industry had been assisting the fledgling National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) in rehabilitating nearly 90 Beyer Peacock-built Garratts embracing classes 14A, 15, 16A and 20. Moore arrived in the country to photograph some of these locomotives under refurbishment and in pristine condition ex-workshops. Steam traction was still in use - just - out of Gwelo to Fort Victoria and Selukwe, as they were still known, and Moore was able to capture these quaint branch line operations. Gwelo’s steam shed was the second to shut down after Salisbury (today’s Harare). Moore also photographed Garratts on the West Nicholson branch. This is also history now. The line was subsequently rebuilt into an arterial route with South Africa in the late nineties, under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement. The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls line, still used today by tour operators, completes the sections covered by Moore. He was in the country in time to include the class 14Rs, loaned by the South African system, in his photographic run-around. There is a dip into Wankie Colliery to record its 4-8-2s at work. The photographs embrace both daylight and very effective, moody night shots on shed in both Bulawayo and Thomson Junction, as well as in Bulawayo station.
Dennis Moore’s book on Zimbabwean steam recounts a time when Garratts of class 20 (left) and class 15 (right) were given a further 15 years of working life, following refurbishing, on the National Railways of Zimbabwe. Photo: J Batwell.
This is a highly recommended piece of nostalgia in hard cover and jacket. The publication can be previewed at: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2443962?utm_ source=TellAFriend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=2443962 and the author is contactable at: Moore3450@mweb.co.za
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Sales and rentals of locomotives, trackmobiles and other rolling stock. Repair/reconditioning of locomotives, trackmobiles and other rolling stock in our Pretoria West based workshop and on site. Repair/reconditioning of all locomotive and other rolling stock equipment (engines, bogies, turbo chargers, air and vacuum brake valves and auxiliaries, compressors and exhausters, couplers and draft gears etc.) Service exchange components for most major items on present day locomotives, which include traction motors, bogies, power packs, expressors and main generators etc. A full range of spare parts for locomotives and rail wagons, most of which are available off the shelf. Sales and rentals of electrical, mechanical and air jacking systems for the lifting of locomotives and rail wagons etc, on site. Operation and control of entire rail systems ranging from the maintenance of customers own locomotives and rolling stock to the control and transport of their products and the maintenance of their railway tracks and switch/signalling systems.
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RAILWAY HERITAGE
Preservation is A Vital Part of The Picture
By John Batwell
SANRASM, Krugersdorp Repainting of some of the motive power at Sanrasm’s South site has been undertaken, including Wardale-modified class 19D no 2644, class 6 nos 454 and 473, class 16DA no 844 and class 14R no 1705. A number of bigger locos were cut up because owing either to the degree of damage by vandals or their overall condition and state of the wheels – they would not be passed for moving to a new base on Transnet Freight Rail lines. These included class 15F no 3051, class GM Garratt no 2301 and GF Garratts nos 2404 and 2425.
were invited to the depot early in the morning for sunrise photography ahead of the day’s proceedings. The Garratt locomotive worked to Boksburg East and back, as it did during the previous Open Day last summer. A fortnight earlier, Reefsteamers ran a fully-booked steam run to Springs and return using the working class 15F. The regular line workings on the Mahikeng section involve either the class 12AR or 15F.
The North British-built class 15F, which arrived at Sanrasm in good mechanical condition and was restorable, suffered at the hands of intruders. Following the theft of five axleboxes, the museum was left with no choice other than scrapping. Fortunately, representatives of the 15F and GF classes are preserved with other organisations in the country. The loss of the GM Garratt is particularly disappointing as no other member of this class – which gave good service on the Krugersdorp-Mahikeng section remains in existence. According to Sanrasm’s management, it has become increasingly clear that the Randfontein site is no longer a viable option. The cost of adequate security is prohibitive, running to about R30,000 a month. In addition to the appalling extent of vandalism, natural hazards have taken their toll – fires and the heavy rains last summer caused damage to the site which was originally established on a landfill, and the appearance of sinkholes has proved especially problematic.
Reefsteamers’ class 15F no 3046 prepares to leave for Springs with a full train. Photo: J Batwell.
Friends of The Rail, Pretoria A few small tubes and one large one are being replaced on the class 19D no 2650, currently out of service for three-year recertification. The elements are all out. Ultrasonic-tests revealed that three fall below minimum standards and that two others have holes. The tender has had much of the brake gear repaired and the vacuum cylinders have been tested. The drawbar has been straightened and the tender drag box is receiving attention. Meanwhile, class 24 no 3664 has needed valve rings. It is understood that the Cullinan branch is to be relaid with concrete sleepers. The club has fallen victim on more than one occasion to the theft of wooden sleepers along this line, resulting in shortened workings and also – notably – to the derailment of and damage to class 15F no 3117 on 20 June 2010.
Aloe Festival Steam Workings, KwaZulu Natal One of Sanrasm’s repainted steam locomotives – class 14R no 1705. Photo: D Walker.
During the Aloe Festival between 15-17 July, daily trips were run between Creighton and Riverside with class 19D 4-8-2 no 2669. On Sunday 17 July, a special cyclists’ train behind the same loco was run from Creighton to Donnybrook.
Rovos Rail, Pretoria Work has been progressing well on re-staying the class 19D no 3360 and this 4-8-2 was due to be steam tested in early August. The other two 19D class locos at Rovos - nos 2701 and 2702 – are not currently serviceable.
On 15 July, an overnight sleeper train was operated from Creighton to Riverside and back, with passengers sleeping in the gorge. Class GMAM 4-8-2 + 2-8-4 no 4074 was used on the outward run.
Umgeni Steam Railway, KwaZulu Natal Reefsteamers, Germiston On 23 July, the Germiston club held another successful Open Day with four locos in steam – 12 AR no 1535, 15F no 3046, 25NC no 3472 and Sandstone’s green GMAM no 4079. Photographers
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Railways Africa July 2011
This group’s class 19D 4-8-2 locomotive no 2685 is expected to be ready to return to service during December. Meanwhile leaking boiler elements have had to be addressed on the line’s only locomotive currently in working order, class 3BR 4-8-2 no 1486.
www.railwaysafrica.com
Atlantic Rail, Cape Town On 31 July, during the run from Cape Town to Simon’s Town, the opportunity was taken to rename class 24 no 3655 “Jenny”, in honour of the late Jenny Pretorius who contributed so much to rail preservation and rail touring in this country.
Atlantic Rail’s class 24 no 3655 has been renamed “Jenny” after the late Jenny Pretorius, also seen here. Photos: B Radloff & G White.
Welcome Home Ceremony for Dübs A Tank On 23 July, a “Welcome Home” reception was held in honour of Dübs tank locomotive (SAR class A no 196) at the Mizens Railway in Woking, Surrey. Mizens chairman Mike Smith and the preservation group’s Ken Livermore addressed the visitors prior to unveiling new number plates specially cast and fitted to the old loco for the occasion. The return of no 196 to the United Kingdom – via Richards Bay - was reported in our April 2011 issue.
Class 15F Moves into Museum The Riverside Museum, Glasgow’s new museum of transport and travel, has opened to the public. The exhibits include North British-built class 15F 4-8-2 locomotive no 3007 (NB 25546/1944) which was identified at the dump in Bloemfontein some time ago as suitable for Former South African Railways’ class 15F no 3007 is now on display in Glasgow’s preservation, and shipped Riverside Museum. Photo: Riverside Museum. back to Scotland.
www.railwaysafrica.com
END OF THE LINE
CORRESP NDENCE INFORMATION ON ACCIDENT SOUGHT Dear editor I am looking for information on a train derailment in the 1960s in the old Transvaal that took the lives of eleven people. – Ronald Gorrie
NOT MUCH TO WORK ON …. BUT HOW ABOUT THIS: On 5 October 1962, eleven people died in an accident at Klington, an unattended interloop 128km south-west of Johannesburg, Outer-suburban multiple-unit electric commuter train 416 from Johannesburg to Klerksdorp collided head-on with stationary freight 4119 hauled by 5E class no 301 at 14:58 - in broad daylight. The subsequent board of enquiry could not come to any definite conclusion about the cause. It was suspected that somebody other than the proper driver had been at the controls of the passenger train, which unaccountably accelerated rapidly away after stopping at Klington, and slammed into the goods train. The two trains had been instructed to cross at Klington, but inexplicably the passenger train made no attempt to do so. Train 416 comprised two class 2M motor coaches sandwiching five timber-bodied plain trailers. The first of these sustained severe damage, riding up and over the steel-bodied leading motor coach. This largely explained the 11 fatalities and 39 injury cases. The rear motor coach and four preceding plain trailers remained on the track and it was possible to move them away on rail. Virtually undamaged, locomotive 301 and its train were taken back to Safarcamp, the station immediately to the south of Klington. Breakdown trains from both Kerksdorp and Krugersdorp attended at the scene, clearing the line before midnight. Normal operations resumed at 01:10 on 6 October. Footnote: During the year following the accident, Klington was eliminated as a stopping and crossing place. The Klington collision on 5 October 1962.
Randfontein
Coligny
Oberholzer Welverdiend Gatsrand Frederikstad Boskop [Klington] Safarcamp Cachet
Vereeniging POTCHESTROOM
Klerksdorp
46
N 10km
Railways Africa July 2011
NAME OF THE GAME
““Separation,” theyy cryy “is the name of the game Divide all yyou see into two; Disentangle the running of trains from the track, Do it now - without further ado.” Molefe’s not keen - the concept’s been tried All over the world without ggains. Job numbers, you y see, mayy well be increased, But what’s the effect on the trains? For examples near home yyou onlyy need look At the Transnet/stroke/Prasa affair: Splittingg off passenger p g trains from the goods Means locos that cannot be shared. Now each has its own; at the end of a shift, A combi must bring home the crew. As things were before, theyy simplyy transferred To a train of a different hue. And then there are pproblems with pplanning,g yyou know, When Operating does its own thing; And the line and the stations and signals g and such Go out on a separate fling. Splitting up management complicates life In apportioning blame for misdeeds. Its so easyy to sayy “It was his fault, not mine” Contradicting all comers and leads. “Separation,” theyy cryy “is the name of the game Divide all yyou see into two; Disentangle the running of trains from the track, Do it now - without further ado.” - LRD In a bizarre postscript to the Klington accident, the Johannesburg Star reminded readers that four people had been killed and 56 hurt on the same line only nine days previously. On 26 September 1962, a suburban passenger train had crashed into a flour truck at a level crossing near Randfontein. Seven coaches derailed. The train driver – who died in the collision - had been due to receive a gold medal for 30 accident-free years on the footplate. www.railwaysafrica.com
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