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RAILWAYS AFRICA / FOREWORD
Foreword
In all of those five decades however though main-line diesels have been active in South Africa for more than fifty years the only move towards acquiring diesel multiple-units (DMUs) for short-haul commuter runs in non-electrified territory as widely seen overseas - were half-hearted efforts that came to nothing. When steam
was retired, all these duties were taken over by full-size main-line diesel locomotives– at Port Elizabeth and East London, and also Malmesbury in the Western Cape. All three are dead-end terminals, where – in the old-fashioned, cumbersome, time-consuming way - the locos have to run round their trains. In North America and many countries in Europe, push-pull working similar to the multiple-unit principle is employed, but the use of conventional locomotives is retained. The loco leads in one direction on each journey, pulling the train. But it doesn’t run round at the terminus. Instead, it pushes the train on its return trip, with the driver seated in a control trailer at the other end of the set. Ironically, the current commuter sets at Port Elizabeth, East London and Malmesbury have what used to be control trailers at the end of each set. Inexplicably, the operating equipment has been removed. France’s Alstom has just reported a typical current overseas order - to supply six DMU trains to Ottawa in Canada, for “flexible operation with short travelling times and small stop-distances that help meet demanding timetables.”
Loco-hauled Cape Town-Malmesbury commuter train has former control trailers at each end of the set, from which the equipment – and windscreens – have been removed. Photo: Eugene Armer.
Contemporary diesel-multiple-unit (DMU) set in Cameroon.
Great savings in time, no points to be changed, no shunting. Just like the electrics in Cape Town in 1927 - and in all those years since. Somebody whisper in Metrorail’s ear – everyone else in the garden has DMUs. Why not us?
AUGUST 2011
South Africa’s first electric multiple-unit (EMU) suburban trains started running in the Cape Peninsula in 1927. The ability to work complete trains in either direction without the need to manoeuvre a locomotive around the set at terminals was a great advantage – notably in Cape Town’s main station, with its 14 dead-end platforms. Those innovative EMUs were in use here more than 80 years ago – 80 years during which nobody thought twice about re-ordering electric multiple-unit rolling stock, so ideally suited to commuter work.
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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
BARBARA SHEAT Publisher / Railways Africa 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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SPECIALIST CASTINGS FOR THE RAILROAD INDUSTRY
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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RAILWAYS AFRICA / CONTENTS
Contents 6
Industry Comment A Report-back From IHHA 2011
6
13
Pete the Pundit Recent Highlights – and Also One or Two From The Past
10
Africa Update Kei Rail Coaches Go On Board
16
NRZ “On Life Support”
22
29
Mishaps & Blunders Cape Town Trains On Fire
28
Cable Theft Halts Gautrain In Its Tracks
30
Obituary Malcolm Bates
38
Railway Heritage Enthusiasts’ tours in 2012
42
42
Postscript Bright Ideas Department 2012 www.railwaysafrica.com
46 August 2011 Railways Africa
5
INDUSTRY COMMENT
A Report-back From IHHA 2011 Dave van der Meulen / Managing Member / Railway Corporate Strategy CC A heavy-haul conference in the Rocky Mountains Your author recently returned from the 2011 International HeavyHaul Association (IIHA) conference in Calgary, Canada - a vibrant experience that relegates an eight-hour jet lag in a week-long round trip to the background. Regular readers may think that all I do is attend conferences. However, it is only coincidental that two top railway conferences, WCRR and IHHA, followed in quick succession this year. Canadian Pacific Railway is headquartered in Calgary, so postconference technical tours provided exposure to some of its key facilities, such as its network operations centre in downtown Calgary, Alyth hump yard that handles both east-west and northsouth traffic, and the Calgary Intermodal Terminal that handles double-stack container trains. The piece de resistance was a post-conference 220km technical tour on the Laggan subdivision of Canadian Pacific’s transcontinental route, from Calgary in Alberta via Banff to Field in British Columbia. It included Kicking Horse Pass across the Continental Divide in the magnificent Rocky Mountains. East of the divide, water flows to the Atlantic Ocean; west of the divide it flows to the Pacific Ocean. The descent from the divide to Field includes two spiral tunnels, completed in 1909 to reduce the original scary 4.5% gradient (1:22) to a tolerable 2.2% (1:45). For perspective, today’s Trans-Canada Highway closely follows the original steep railway alignment. Motive power was the Empress 4-6-4 steam locomotive. Canadian Pacific does not do things by halves: Behind the locomotive and its tender were an auxiliary water tender, three diesel cab units, then some twenty passenger coaches. The oil-fired locomotive ran white feather all the way, with only a stop for passenger service at Banff. Compare this to Kimberley-De Aar, but without stopping for water and fire cleaning at Orange River. There was neither smell nor soot in the tunnels. Admittedly the Stoney Creek Bridge on the Canadian diesels were not idling as we Pacific (90 metres high). approached the divide. Photo: D R Spencer.
Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 Empress loco. Photo: D R Spencer
Interestingly, the transcon, as such routes are known in North American speak, features predominantly single track, with some doubling. It is actually not quite transcontinental, stretching 4,800km from Montreal to Vancouver. In total CP conveys a creditable 300+ billion tonne kilometres on its 24,000 route-km network—more output than on South Africa’s comparably sized network.
Reflections on the conference The conference theme was Railroading in extreme conditions. Canada was an appropriate host, propane tanks for points heaters being a conspicuous difference noticed by those from warmer climates. Looking closer to see RADIANT THAW HEAT ONLY stenciled on aluminium coal wagons confirms that one is away from home. The conference was more representative than the WCRR reported on last month. All nine IHHA member countries/ regions (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Russia, South Africa, Sweden-Norway, and United States of America) were present, as well as delegates from fifteen other countries. Interestingly, the Saudi Arabian presence was substantial. Trial operations recently commenced on the heavy-haul portion of its North-South Railway: Expect the IHHA to gain another member
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INDUSTRY COMMENT once full commercial operations get under way on Saudi Arabia’s 1,400km phosphate haul, from Al Jalamid near the Jordan-Iraq border, to the port of Ras Az Zawr on the Persian Gulf. A few hot topics follow, from IHHA country directors’ presentations at the opening plenary session: One of two platinum conference sponsors was Shuo Huang Railway, China’s second heavy-haul coal line. How many readers have heard of it? The original Datong-Qinhuangdao, or DaQin as it is commonly known, heavy-haul coal line recently reached saturation at 400 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa), so a second line was needed to continue growing capacity to serve coal mines in China’s Shanxi Province. The Shuo Huang Railway already conveys over 100Mtpa, with substantial expansion in prospect. In Australia’s Pilbara, long-established BHP and Rio Tinto are presently exporting over 200Mtpa, and planning to grow beyond 300Mtpa. Then new-kid-on-the-block Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) built a 305km line in 18 months. Three-and-a-half years after pressing the “goâ€? button, it currently conveys 55Mtpa, en route to a planned 95 Mtpa, with an ultimate vision of 300+ Mtpa by 2015. It ramped up from 26 to 40 tonnes/axle in 24 months, at which axle load it has operated since January 2010. Structures are built for 49 tonnes/axle, and it is looking at 42 tonnes/axle as a next step. There are thus now three independent railways in the Pilbara. Along the way, there was inconclusive wrangling over shared access, but at 300Mtpa or more a railway has insigniďŹ cant capacity to share, so access has become a non-issue. During the parallel sessions, your author’s own contribution to the conference was co-authorship, with an academic from Russia’s Far Eastern State Transport University in Khabarovsk, of
a paper: Differences and similarities: learning from heavy haul in cold and heat. It compared the eastern portion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the Baikal-Amur Magistral, with Sishen-Saldanha. The Trans-Siberian, which conveys coal, oil and ores extracted in Siberia, to domestic- and overseas consumers, has approached saturation of current assets at 100Mtpa, and capacity has become a major constraint on further development of regional industry and increased export volumes. Unsurprisingly, growing coal exports from other countries have stepped into the shortage left by Russia in the PaciďŹ c region. To avoid foregoing expansion opportunities, it needs to leverage heavy-haul competence to a higher level.
Other reference sites Beyond information from the IHHA conference, the following references from Internet searches ďŹ ll out a heavy-haul capacity picture ‌ In the United States, nameplate capacity of the BNSF-Union PaciďŹ c Joint Line in the Powder River Basin is 400Mtpa. Australia is exporting 320Mtpa of coal and growing. Brazil is exporting 310Mtpa of iron ore and growing. Indonesia has moved into second place after Australia in global coal exports with around 250Mtpa. Its national railway has 1.067mm track gauge like South Africa, a legacy from Japanese occupation during World War II. During that fateful course of events, Indonesia’s former standard gauge railways were narrow-gauged to align with those of Japan. Indonesia encourages mines to build their own new heavy-haul railways as an adjunct to their mining investment, a strategy that promotes economic growth in general. It is noteworthy that while Indonesia entered the coal export market after South Africa, it has far overtaken the latter, and is gaining new standard gauge railway development to boot.
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August 2011 Railways Africa
7
INDUSTRY COMMENT One common thread is clear—the countries mentioned see potential market opportunities, and then boldly get on with building mines, railways, and ports to grasp them.
Application to South Africa The capacity numbers mentioned above bear thought. They roll in hundreds of Mtpa. Not too long ago, they rolled in tens of Mtpa. De facto, heavy-haul entry level is now in excess of 100Mtpa. Even capacity seems to expand in 100Mtpa increments. What has happened? The game has shifted by a good part of an order of magnitude in just a few years. Coal and iron ore uptake by China and India has boosted demand substantially. The days of measuring capacity in low multiples of 10Mtpa, with 10Mtpa expansion increments, have passed, possibly forever. Is this a bubble of some sort? Perhaps it is. However, the economic life of a locomotive in intense heavy-haul operation is only about 12 years: Having literally moved mountains, it is then totally worn out. At 300Mtpa, rails will wear out in 3-5 years. There is an upside to this - such short life expectancies reduce the risk of mismatch between market projections and capacity provision, because the payback period of most assets is necessarily very short. Unsurprisingly, the opportunity cost of not participating in coal and iron ore export is high - the global markets for those commodities simply pass by a country that does not come to the party. Xavier Prevost’s paper at the recent Railways and Harbours Conference 2011 was salutary for South Africa - serious intentions have emerged to develop alternative routes to export coal from Botswana eastwards through Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and westwards through Namibia. While one should not deny South Africa’s neighbouring countries their aspiration to also share in the global coal market, one must also question whether such
initiatives were triggered by inability to move product through South Africa. Source competition among countries, something that used to be “out there,” seems to be moving closer to home. Speed has become the name of the game. Appreciate that in three-and-a -half years FMG established from scratch a capacity that currently exceeds that of Sishen-Saldanha. The heavy-haul business model is a balancing act among market opportunities and factors of production. There are global prices for coal and iron ore, as there are for mining equipment, locomotives, wagons, rails, diesel fuel, port handling equipment, and so on. Countries that have some particular natural advantage that can enhance their competitiveness should of course exploit it. Failing such advantage, the business model defaults to global supply/demand as mentioned above. In this context, electrification increases risk. This is not another round in the old diesel versus electric debate - the peak oil question has put that in perspective. However, notwithstanding peak oil considerations, many new heavy-haul railways still go for diesel traction. The author has been exposed to projects where commitment to electrification infrastructure increases project risk, and capacity scalability risk, to the extent that they outweigh possibly lower energy costs. The global commodities market has not waited, and will not wait, for South Africa. Real investment and real jobs in mining, heavy-haul, and port operations have gone elsewhere. We could have participated, but have not. South Africa can long debate its participation in this market, and come up with an ideologically wellrounded solution, only to find that it, literally, has missed the boat. This was the final article in this instructive and thought-provoking series. We look forward to the possibility of further valuable contributions from Dave van der Meulen, at some time in the future. – Editor Railways Africa.
Tel: +27 11 794-2910 | Fax: +27 11 794-3560 | Email: info@yalejhb.co.za | Web: www.yalejhb.co.za
8
Railways Africa August 2011
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COACH BUSINESS Specialist supplier of repair, refurbishing, upgrade and manufacturing services for suburban electric train sets
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OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD
PETE THE PUNDIT looks at some
Recent Highlights – and Also One or Two From The Past ALL-PURPOSE SIMULATOR In the global market, railway operators require manufacturers to provide proposals covering a broad range of aspects, such as differences in power-feed equipment used by different countries and lines, variations in types of rolling stock, and services passing through electrified and non-electrified zones. To meet these needs and provide swift answers, Hitachi Limited has developed an innovative “integrated railway systems simulator” which evaluates complete rail systems from an all-over viewpoint, including coordination between multiple types of equipment, such as rolling stock, signalling, and traffic control. It has the capability to evaluate the effects of changes in conditions, further facilitating the installation of new facilities and equipment in line with technological advances. Hitachi will be enabled to realise optimal equipment location and appropriate energy allocation, providing solutions that match global railway infrastructure improvement plans through comprehensive simulation.
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HISTORIC EMU TOOLKIT LIST
Drivers of these 1,500V DC 1M electric sets, first introduced at Cape Town in 1927, were issued with the tool kit list reproduced here. It was printed in the September 1993 Western Cape Railtalk. Editor Malcolm Bates commented that it could have doubled as a bank robbery outfit.
Electric Traction Instructions (Cape) 1928. 4. Driver’s Personal Kit. Each driver must be in possession of a kit-bag or box containing the following articles: • 1 carriage door-lock key • Working time book • 1 oil hand-lamp tri-colour) • 2 x red flags • 12 x detonators • 1 duster • Electric Traction Instructions (Cape) • General Train Regulations General Appendix • Local Appendix for System. • Emergency Equipment. • 1 pair rubber gauntlets, • 1 rubber mat, 30in. by 24in. by 3/4 in • 1 pair insulated pliers, 8in • 2 x screwdrivers, 5in and 8in
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Railways Africa August 2011
Malcolm Bates sketched this typical 3-coach 1M set at Sea Point.
AGEING ROLLING STOCK: METRORAIL IS NOT ALONE! South Africans tend to think local railway problems are unique to this country. Residents of Calgary (in the Canadian province of Alberta) probably think the same way about theirs. This was a recent press report: “Just call it the Little Engine That Couldn’t. It’s a kinder name than what many Calgary commuters have been calling the C-Train over the past five weeks, with bad luck and brittle infrastructure causing a massive headache for light rail transit (LRT) riders. ‘Always be at your stop on time and leave yourself extra travel time as things happen that are out of our control,’ was the official social-media message issued by Calgary Transit in late July. “They sure weren’t kidding. Over the past 30 working days, Calgary’s LRT network has suffered 18 major delays, forcing transit officials to issue public statements apologising and explaining the setbacks. “Half of the C-Train stoppages were mechanical in nature. Electrical breakdowns, doors refusing to close and other failures of track and train account for nine transit system stalls, up to 20
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OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD minutes long. A handful of delays were medical in nature: though such cases are officially unexplained beyond ‘medical emergency,’ fainting aboard crowded train coaches has been an issue for busy transit systems around the world. “The rest of the unscheduled stops are in the bad luck category — a freight train breaking down in the path of the LRT, a vehicle colliding with a passing C-Train, and one case of a stray dog running along the line. “For people in a rush — and what commuter isn’t — the frequency of foul-ups is a massive frustration. Missed meetings, lost appointments and lame excuses to the boss make for miserable mornings, and that’s not to mention the aggravation of a delay on the ride back home. “To be crammed armpit-to-elbow aboard a sweaty C-Train coach, only to be told there’s a 20 minute delay, gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Highway to Hell.’ For delays to be such a regular part of taking transit is like volunteering for a migraine headache. “But the good news as the LRT packs ever tighter over the next two weeks with returning students? “Sorry Calgary — there isn’t any for the immediate future. ‘Our trains are old and our mechanics do their best to maintain them, but we have to use everything we have right now due to the demand,’ said Theresa Schroder, spokeswoman for Calgary Transit. ‘During rush hour we have all available buses on the roads, and with trains, the way the track is set up, we can only do so much.’ “Upgrades are ongoing: The 18 delays cited above don’t include planned service restrictions taking place almost every weekend, when tracks are reduced to one-way to allow for infrastructure improvements. New trains are gradually on the way too, but for now Calgarians are still riding aboard a system with LRT coaches dating back to the days of Mayor Ralph Klein and disco. “If the trains and track are getting a little funky with age, Schroder says rotten luck — like the mutt running on the tracks — has added to woes typical of a big city transit system. ‘We are in the process of upgrading the entire system and that will help, but we’re going to have passenger emergencies, and cars stuck on the tracks, and things beyond our control,’ she said. That’s going to happen, no matter what — it’s the way the system is.’ “The system is old, but at least Calgary Transit’s communication with passengers is cutting edge. Within minutes of a breakdown, explanations are sent out via social media, explaining the latest delay. Of course, passengers can answer right back: ‘If this summer taught me anything it’s that Calgary Transit is falling apart,’ was one passenger’s pithy post in response to the frequent delays. There’s no relief around the corner, but the chair of the city’s transportation committee says the end of regular breakdowns is at least in sight. ‘Unfortunately, we are behind on infrastructure — there were just too many years of too few improvements,’ said Alderman Andre Chabot. ‘But city council just approved new LRV cars to replace the existing fleet, and these are new modern cars with all the bells and whistles. They should start to arrive within the next couple of years.’”
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Railways Africa August 2011
Like many urban light rail systems, that in Calgary runs in the street in the CBD. Unusually however, passengers board not at street level but from high platforms.
“Not everyone would have heard Allen Jorgensen’s interview on Radio 702 on high-speed lines. But thanks for spelling it out, Al – no high speed lines or broader gauge will work until we have fixed what we already have.”
Dr Vaughan Mostert, Department of Transport & Logistics, Johannesburg University.
THE HEATHROW POD Personal rapid transit (PRT) aims to combine the best features of railways and private cars. The vehicles travel on and are restricted to a guideway – hence the similarity to rail – but each is separate and individual – like a car. PRT has not got off the ground quite as quickly as its protagonists would have liked. It doesn’t come cheaply and authorities able to raise the sort of money needed tend to be uncertain that the idea will work. The latest exponent is London’s Heathrow airport. The bus service, carrying some 500,000 people annually, has been withdrawn between Terminal 5 (T5) and the Business Car Park. Passengers are now using the 21 vehicle “pods” travelling on almost 4km of guideway. By 21 August, approximately 63,000 trips had been completed, and today about 800 people are being moved daily. The system has performed very well so far with an average waiting time of 30 seconds. People love the fact that it is on demand, doesn’t stop for anybody else and gets you quickly to the terminal. Most users are extremely impressed. The five minute ride has been described as “futuristic”, “rapid” and “a transport revelation.”
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OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD Advantages claimed in the airport context include: • Keeping down congestion and noise near the terminal • Greater environmental efficiency than cars. • Cutting down on waiting time for passengers as opposed to mass transit systems on a schedule • Noise reduction • Allowing for individualised destination points Each temperature-controlled Heathrow pod has been designed for privacy and comfort and allows passengers to select their own direct destination. There are no timetables as a central computer ensures that pods are distributed at each station according to passenger demand. When waiting for a passenger, the pods recharge themselves at battery points, so are always ready to go.
Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) “pods” at Heathrow.
The overall cost of PRT is very dependent on the environment to be served. At Heathrow, the system had to fit into a very complex existing environment, without disrupting any other airport services. Much depends on the expected demand which determines the number of vehicles required. The typical range is between £4-8 million (say R44-88 million) per kilometre. That includes the guideway, the stations along the way, the vehicles and the control systems. The Heathrow pods were designed and built in Britain by Ultra Global PRT. Originally, the company explains, the concept was aimed at urban cities – but these are very complicated environments. PRT slots in well with airport requirements - a lot of people moving around and between terminals and transfers that need to be as smooth and simple as possible. Footnote: About fifteen years ago, Cape Town’s Golden Arrow Bus Services - in association with an American manufacturing concern - tried to interest the city in a PRT system. However, nobody went along with the idea.
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August 2011 Railways Africa
13
OPINION – AND THE WIDER WORLD UK SIGNALBOXES ON THE WAY OUT
PAKISTAN MAY HIRE LOCOS
Signal boxes will be a thing of the past in the UK within 20 years. Network Rail plans to consolidate all signal operation in 14 control centres. The aim is to “apply universal operating procedures across the network, boosting service reliability and saving money and manpower.”
Pakistan Railways (PR) is facing an acute shortage of locomotives, resulting in “dozens” of passenger trains being suspended and others being delayed for up to 12 hours, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded across Korakoram Express to Lahore at Karachi, the country.
Existing operating centres include Derby, Gillingham, Cardiff, Saltley, Edinburgh, Ashford, Didcot and Glasgow. New centres are proposed for Romford, Three Bridges, York, Manchester, Rugby and Basingstoke. There are still more than 800 signal boxes in Britain, compared to 10,000 a hundred years ago. Staff are to be slowly reduced from today’s complement of 5,500 to around 1,700 over the next 15 years. Many signal personnel will be retiring at the age limit (65), so little in the way of redundancies is expected.
Pakistan. Photo: nomi887.
PR general manager (operations) Saeed Akhtar told The Dawn newspaper that locomotives may be hired from India if the government approves current proposals. According to Akhtar, China and the Czech Republic are keen to rent locomotives to PR: “We will advertise. The responsibility of maintaining locomotives will be on the supplier and PR will pay the rent on daily basis,” Akhtar says.
DEFIBRILLATORS FOR CHICAGO COMMUTER TRAINS Though federal law in the USA requires defibrillators on passenger airlines, this is not the case on commuter trains. In 2009, Boston became the first city in North America to begin installing defibrillators on its trains. Chicago is to follow suit - if the Metra rail authority can find $1.1 million for the project.
There are still more than 800 signalboxes in Britain. Most are generally similar to this example at Cambridge, seen in 1979.
Operational South African signalboxes are becoming rare, though a number of non-working examples are still in existence – like this one at Muizenberg.
On 12 August, Metra’s board agreed to instal 427 defibrillators on its trains, work facility and police vehicles. The agreement came after a committee examined all medical assistance calls on Metra rail lines — excluding Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe — over a twoChicago’s Metra: Geneva, a typical year period. Within that time, suburban station. Photo: Jeremy Atherton. there were 250 calls, 20 “appearing” to be heart related problems. The defibrillators cost between $900 to $1,000 each, and another $500 to $600 is needed to pay for a container and installation. In addition to the $1.1 million budget, it would cost about $500,000 every two years for inspection Metra train in Chicago. Photo: Russell Sekeet. and maintenance, as well as training employees to use the devices.
RUSSIAN RAILWAYS PRIVATISING
Muizenberg four decades ago. Rodding to work the points can be seen between the track and platform. Photos: Editor.
Rossiiskie Zheleznie Dorogi (RZhD – the Russian State Railway) hopes to complete the share sale of its Freight One cargo subsidiary by the end of September 2011, the St Petersburg Times reports, quoting company president Vladimir Yakunin. The aim is to sell off 75% minus two shares in Freight One, which operates about 21% of Russiâ’s freight rolling stock. RZhD is one of several state-owned entities that the government wants to wholly or partially privatise by 2017. The government, Yakunin explained, will decide what and when to sell, but said the sale of a majority stake in Russian Railways itself was unlikely and cautioned against a breakup of the monopoly. President Dmitry Medvedev has called for the privatisation process to accelerate. [RZhD operates on the 1,520mm gauge – Editor.]
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Railways Africa August 2011
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AFRICA UPDATE
AFRICA UPDATE ANGOLA KEI RAIL COACHES GO ON BOARD Five years ago, South African Eastern Cape Province’s Kei Rail initiative saw the 282km line to Mthatha from Amabele junction (on the main-line to Johannesburg) rebuilt at a cost of over R150 million. A small fleet of rehabilitated coaches comprises the rolling stock. Additional coaches, which were rebuilt by Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE) some time ago but not paid for, were recently sold off to Angola. The consignment consisted of 13 economy class sitter coaches, two business class sitters, one economy class sleeper, two kitchen/bar/lounge-cars and two power coaches to generate electricity for air-conditioning and other needs. All were shipped from Durban late in July. The 48-seat business class coaches have reclining seats, footrests and overhead luggage racks. Each of the fully equipped kitchen cars has an adjoining lounge/bar area with both stool seating and long tables, and serving hatches are provided.
Photos courtesy Transnet.
HISTORY OF CAMINHOS DE FERRO DE BENGUELA (CFB) The Benguela railway company was founded on 27 November 1902, when a decree authorised the granting of land for the construction of a railway from Lobito to Angola’s eastern border with what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo. The following day, a 99-year concession contract to build and operate the line was granted by the Portuguese government to British citizen Robert Williams. Substantial freight and passenger traffic, both local and international, ceased at the outbreak of civil war in 1975. In 2001, the concession contract was ended and the railway passed into government
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Railways Africa August 2011
hands. Partial rehabilitation with state funding began in 2001. The 44km CalengaSanta Iria section in Huambo province was carrying limited traffic by 2004, followed by the Lobito-Cubal section in Benguela province. Rebuilding on the rest of the railway started in 2006 with funding and construction assistance from China. The total line length from Lobito to the DRC border is 1,344km, crossing the provinces of Huambo and Bié to the eastern border in Moxico province.
ANGOLAN INTERNATIONAL RAIL LINKS
director Carla Marques saying that rail links to Namibia, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo “may be” completed in 2014. New ports are to be built at Cabinda (the isolated Angolan province north of the Congo River) and at Barra do Dande in Bengo province, 50km north of Luanda, Marques said. “As soon as construction of the Barra do Dande port begins, work will begin on a new branch line from Caminhos de ferro de Luanda (CFL)”. She added that providing interconnection between Angola’s three rail systems – CFL, CFB and CFM – is an important aim.
On 25 August, Angola’s RNA national radio quoted transport ministry infrastructure
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AFRICA UPDATE LOBITO-HUAMBO REOPENING Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos welcomed the first train on the reopened Lobito-Huambo section of Caminhos de ferro de Benguela (CFB) at festivities in Huambo on 30 August. The Angolan news agency Angop reported that “thousands” welcomed the president and other dignitaries. The line had been out of action for 27 years due to the civil war, during which the infrastructure was totally destroyed. Other speakers at the ceremony included local governor Fernando Faustino Muteka. According to Angop, “for the proper functioning of the Benguela railway, locomotives, carriages and freight wagons were imported from South Africa”. The restored line has the capacity to carry more than four million passengers per year and 20 million tons of freight.
Zenza
Luanda
Malanje
Dondo
Lobito Benguela
Luau
Dilolo
Camacupa Luena
Caaia
Kuito Huambo
Cubal Lubango
Dongo
Menongue Km 300
Namibe Chamutete
Chiange Some 200 people boarded the special at Cubal, in the central Benguela province, including ministers, journalists, transport ministry officials and railway personnel. Accompanied by first lady Ana Paula dos Santos, the president boarded the inaugural train at São Pedro station.
ANGOLA
ATLANTIC
DRC
ZAMBIA Oshikango Ondangwa NAMIBIA BOTSWANA
Tsumeb [As far as we can discover, rolling stock acquired from South Africa did not include locomotives. - Editor]
KENYA AMBITIOUS RAIL PROJECTS: KENYA SEEKS CONSULTANTS Kenya Railway Corporation (KRC) has invited consulting firms to submit expressions of interest in planning “a modern commuter rail transport network linking Mombasa and Kisumu to their surrounding towns. Successful firms would undertake the technical, economic and financial viability analysis of the project, identify options and develop frameworks for financing and operation including public-private partnerships.” According to KRC procurement manager Lucy Njoroge, “The scope of the assignment will cover a transport demand study, identification of major intermodal and rail transport corridors within the study area, preliminary social and environmental impact study and analysis of rail-based mass transit systems and networks.” They would be tasked with preparing the project Implementation schedule covering a detailed technical
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study, construction and commissioning. The new railway system is expected to be completed by 2017, “opening up the regions for growth, reduce reliance on road transport and reduce the cost of transport between Kisumu and Mombasa. It will provide an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable transport system that will support and spur trade, socio-economic growth in the western and coastal towns,” according to the international tender invitation. From Kisumu, a 70km commuter network is planned to Mumias via the towns of Yala and Butere. Other areas to be connected include Fort Tennan, Miwani, Muhoroni, Kibos, Oyugis, Kisii, Kiboswa, Mbale, and Kakamega. The Mombasa network will include a new 80km line to Ramisi, passing through Miritini, Dongo Kundu and Ng’ombeni. The plan envisages a new 250km railway from Mombasa to Lamu through Mtwapa, Kilifi and Malindi. Another project would entail
building a 80km line from Mombasa to Kilifi through Kaloleni and Takaungu. These three lines would support the existing MombasaTaveta line in opening up Mombasa and the surrounding areas. KRC is looking for investors to help develop office blocks, hotels, light manufacturing industries, parking bays and shopping malls on its 320 acres of land surrounding the rail stations in Nairobi, Kisumu and Mombasa at an expected cost $US3.25 billion, to support the new commuter rail lines.
MOZAMBIQUE MAPUTO’S BEAUTIFUL STATION The main railway station in Maputo has been voted by the American magazine Travel+Leisure, which claims a readership approaching 5 million, as one of the 16 most beautiful in the world. Also featured on the list is the neoclassical Gare du Nord in Paris, the interior gardens of the Atocha station in Madrid, the modern stations of Kanazawa, Japan, and Melbourne,
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AFRICA UPDATE Australia, the arte nouveau station of the Orient Express in Istanbul, and London’s neo-gothic St Pancras. Maputo station in Mozambique is the only African example to feature. The article highlights the structure’s green exteriors, its large dome and the intricate steel work that it believes makes the station “an unexpected and modest beauty.” Built between 1913 and 1916 it is often wrongly attributed to Gustave Eiffel, creator of the famous tower in Paris. It was in fact designed by a trio of Portuguese architects, Alfredo Augusto Lisboa de Lima, Mário Veiga and Ferreira da Costa. Maputo station in 2011. Photos: Roderick Smith.
NAMIBIA TRANSNAMIB’S OPEN DAY
train for an excursion tour to Onyaanya Station.
On 29 August, Trans-Namib Holdings launched its first “business open-day” to promote rail transport in the business sector following the completion of the new railway from Tsumeb to Ondangwa. The event, which coincided with the Ongwediva Annual Trade Fair (OATF) and is to be held annually, was attended by wellknown business personalities in the north who were taken aboard the Desert Express
At the new Nehale Lya Mpingana Station in Ondangwa, TransNamib Holdings chief executive officer Titus Haimbili said: “We are pleased to announce that the northern railway link was extended in 2006 by 246km from Tsumeb to Ondangwa which made it possible to transport bulk commodities up to 60km from the Angolan border.”
Promising that he would make TransNamib a profitable company before his term comes to an end, Haimbili boasted that Namibia is the only country in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to “further develop” its railways in the past decade. The remaining 60km of line to the Angolan border is currently under construction. Haimbili is currently president of the Southern African Railway Association (Sara).
AFRICA UPDATE TANZANIA CHINESE LOAN FOR TAZARA China has granted a soft loan of $US39.9 million to the TanzaniaZambia Railways Authority (Tazara). The money is to be spent on purchasing six new locomotives, the rehabilitation of nine others, acquiring 90 new freight wagons and revamping six cranes, as well as purchasing materials and spare parts. The 1,860km Tazara line runs from Tanzania’s port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia, where it connects with the Zambian main-line (which extends from the Zimbabwe border to the Democratic Republic of Congo - DRC). The track, building s and other infrastructure were built by Chinese endeavour in the seventies. In recent years the railway has struggled to maintain its assets and move meaningful amounts of cargo.
When tabling his 2011/2012 budget in Tanzania’s National Assembly in Dodoma, minister for transport Omar Nundu reported that China has waived half the $60 million debt still outstanding for the construction of the line in the seventies. During August, when receiving a seven-year loan of $250 million from a consortium of local and global financiers led by Stanbic Bank Tanzania Limited, finance minister Mustafa Mkulo said part will be used to upgrade the Tazara railway.
UGANDA KAMPALA SHUTTLES Rift Valley Railways (RVR) is 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 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.
Ifatakara station on the Tazara Railway. Photo: Manuel Hetzel.
When tabling his 2011/2012 budget in Tanzania’s National Assembly in Dodoma, minister for transport Omar Nundu reported that Tazara transported 533,964 tonnes - an average of 44,497 tonnes a month – in 2010/2011, compared to 522,966 tonnes in 2009/2010. Passenger service totals also improved marginally, with 787,666 people carried in 2010/11 - a monthly average of 65,639 - compared to 767,066 in 2009/2010. Repeated staff boycotts that have plagued Tazara in recent years – mostly due to late payment of wages - were blamed by the minister on “poor management”.
FINANCE FOR TAZARA
ke La
Chingola
ZIMBABWE NRZ “ON LIFE SUPPORT” According to Tafadzwa Shoko, staff reporter of the Zimbabwe Financial Gazette, the Ntaional Railways of Zimbabwe only carried 3.7 million tonnes of freight last year, compared with more than 18 million tonnes in 1978. “It used to run 126 engines in 1999 but the number of locomotives plummeted to 112 in 2000, 99 in 2001, 83 in 2002 and 60 in 2003,” Shoko writes. “This year, the government allocated $US7.4 million towards the rehabilitation of the railway infrastructure among other things but the vote was inadequate considering the years of underinvestment suffered by the parastatal. “Once the rehabilitation programme is completed, NRZ expects to ferry about 6.4 million tonnes this year and is projecting an increase in passenger numbers to 2.5 millioncompared to last year’s 2.2 million. “Analysts say part of NRZ problems emanate from the fact that the institution is at times forced to dabble in unviable populist projects such as the now defunct ‘freedom train’, which used to charge uneconomic fares.
Lake M alawi
a yik an ng Ta
DODOMA
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.
Copperbelt
Kafue River Zambezi River
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Railways Africa August 2011
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AFRICA UPDATE “Kipson Gundani, an economist at the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, says the parastatal must be allowed to operate on a commercial basis and not overplay its corporate social responsibility function. ‘NRZ is a parastatal and most parastatals suffered because of the economic meltdown. Also, NRZ does not have a profit motive, hence they end up charging prices which are not cost-determined. Most of its locomotives are old and it brings a cost burden (to their operations),’ Gundani points out. “NRZ is one of the worst performing parastatals in the country. Because of inefficiencies in the rail system, most companies now prefer to transport their goods by road and at times air, which adds to excessive cost build-ups in the pricing of their products. The multifaceted problems at NRZ have resulted in the public losing confidence in rail Transport.”
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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS
Mishaps & Blunders One objective of our regular feature reporting and commenting on rail mishaps is to provide information and object lessons from Africa and abroad, in the hope that – in some cases at least - this might help avoid recurrences. CAPE TOWN TRAINS ON FIRE On 5 August, a Metrorail commuter train was set on fire – apparently deliberately - at Stikland, 22km east of Cape Town on the main-line to the north. Shortly before 21:00 after the Friday evening peak-hour, a motor coach and three plain trailers were totally destroyed. Nearby residents say it took firefighters close to an hour to douse the flames. Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott said the burning carriages were separated from the rest of the train. No injuries were reported. On Saturday 9 August, an electrical fault caused a motor coach to catch fire between Vlottenberg and Stellenbosch stations. Speaking for Metrorail’s regional manager’s office, Eddie Chinnappen said the incidents would affect operations. “The loss of first four carriages then a second motor coach will have a devastating effect on our commuters as demand is already exceeding supply.”
TRAIN & BUS TORCHED IN CAPE TOWN On 25 August at about 05:00, a motor coach and trailer in a Metrorail train were set on fire at Nolungile station in Khayelitsha. Rail services were severely disrupted and the Golden Arrow company deployed some sixty buses to convey train passengers. At about 06:00, a Golden Arrow bus was stoned, then petrolbombed. Firefighters described the vehicle as a total burn-out. Furious commuters who suffered heavy delays blamed striking municipal workers for the fires. Members of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) had been involved in a protracted wage-related strike. When the situation turned violent, the City of Cape Town obtained a court order barring the strikers from committing violence.
Ferrovie dello Stato (FS – the Italian state railway). Damage was said to be “enormous”. The possibility of arson was not ruled out. The fire burned for fifteen hours before being extinguished. For most of the day, only two lines passing through the station were open, impeding traffic on the main north-south intercity route. These included regional and medium-to-long-run trains. Some high-speed trains between Milan and the south were rerouted along western coastal lines via Pisa, in order to bypass Tiburtina. Alternative bus transport from Rome was organised for travellers heading to destinations including Florence and Ancona on the Adriatic, according to Sky TV. The main stations in both Milan and Rome posted delays of several hours for those longdistance trains that were able to continue operating. At least one southbound high-speed service from Milan made it only as far as Florence, where passengers were told the train would not be continuing to Rome. One of Rome’s subway lines runs under Tiburtina station. Smoke entered the tunnel, forcing the closure of the metro stop for nearly three days. People living nearby were warned to keep their windows closed as thick, dark smoke continued to billow out of the station.
NORTH AMERICAN EARTHQUAKE On 23 August, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centred in Virginia rocked the eastern USA. Amtrak and Metro passenger trains were slowed to 25km/h while stations, tracks and overhead wires were thoroughly inspected. The large Eastern US freight railroad CSX worked closely with passenger agencies and government officials in conducting broad-based inspections. Meanwhile in the New Jersey area, the Holland and Lincoln tunnels leading to Manhattan were temporarily closed, with both Hudson River crossings quickly reopened after they were checked for structural damage, according to The New Jersey Journal.
FIRE IN ROME A serious fire at the Tiburtina station in Rome on 24 July caused widespread disruption to train services throughout Italy. The effects were felt as far afield as Bologna, Florence and Turin. There were no deaths – not even any injuries – and perhaps because of this, the general media seemed to show little interest. Rome Termini is the station most tourists use, but Tiburtina is a major train/metro/bus hub in the city. The newly constructed control room was destroyed in the blaze. The old part of the station was also affected, mainly administrative offices of
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Inspections were carried out on track, signals, bridges and tunnels, as quickly and thoroughly as possible. Freight trains operated at reduced speeds of 16-24km/h. Amtrak expresses in the Washington-New York-Boston corridor resumed their usual speeds from 24 August and Metro services – as well as CSX returned to normal.
CONCRETE MIXER TRUCK FALLS ONTO TRAIN The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has released its findings following a bizarre incident on 5 November 2010. A
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three-axle concrete mixer vehicle crashed through the parapet of a bridge over the double-track railway near Oxshott, Surrey, and fell 10.5 metres onto train 2G46, the 15:05 from Guildford to London Waterloo. The truck was loaded with concrete and weighed approximately 24 tonnes. One passenger out of 26 on the train, also the driver of the cement truck, sustained serious injuries. Five other passengers on the train were slightly hurt. The train was formed of two four-car class 455 electric multiple units. Severe crush damage was caused to the leading end of the sixth coach. In addition one side of the seventh and eighth coaches suffered serious damage. The last bogie on the train (the eighth coach) derailed. The train came to a stand with the rear coach approximately 60 metres from the point of impact.
A truck similar to that which fell onto the train at Oxshott.
The sixth coach of the train. Photo: RAIB.
The seventh coach of the train. Photo: RAIB.
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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS that high levels of fatigue will be experienced by people working a first night shift.”
ONE FATALITY, 40 HURT IN POLISH CRASH
The cement truck after the train was removed. Photo: RAIB.
RUNAWAY AT SHAP A year ago, in the early hours of 17 August 2010, a northbound freight train was travelling on a rising gradient between Tebay and Shap, on the UK west coast main-line in Cumbria. A signalman noticed the 13-wagon train had come to a stop and that it had started rolling backwards. Before the driver was able to bring it to a stand, it travelled some 3km at speeds up to 80km/h. Driver fatigue, related to the working of night shifts, was the likely reason for what happened, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has concluded. It has urged the Office of Rail Regulation to update guidance to train operators on how to deal with potentially tired drivers. According to the RAIB report: “The investigation found that the train driver, who was working the first of a series of night shifts, was probably fatigued and not sufficiently alert at the time of the incident.” It concluded that “the mathematical model adopted by most of the rail industry is likely to under-predict the probability
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On 12 August, one passenger died and “at least” 40 were hurt (according to police reports) when a Polish intercity train aboutr two hours out of Warsaw on its way to Katowice derailed at the town of Baby, near the city of Piotrkow Trybunalski. The locomotive and three coaches left the line. According to a passenger quoted in a BBC report: “The first wagon was completely destroyed, windows smashed and its sides bashed in. Local television quoted firefighter Wlodzimierz Kapiec saying: “We are told that people were hurled through windows and landed under the wagon which is lying on its side.”. Polskie Koleje Panstwowe (PKP – the Polish State Railways) spokesman Lukasz Kurpiewski told TVN24 that about 280 passengers were believed to have been on the train.
CABLE THEFT HALTS GAUTRAIN IN ITS TRACKS Barely a week after Gautrain services began running to Pretoria, theft of about 100 metres of electric cable shut down morning peak-hour operations north of Centurion. “There will be no Gautrain service between Hatfield and Centurion until about 10:00 this morning, 10 August,” the website announced optimistically. In fact, services only resumed about four hours after that. Buses provided a substitute service, leaving Gautrain bus feeder routes in Hatfield, Pretoria and Centurion on a frequency of 24 minutes instead of the scheduled 12. Bombela spokesman Errol Braithwaite was quoted by The Star saying: “Something has to be done by the police about this. It has become untenable. We have done everything we possibly can and have spent a lot of money on tight security measures”.
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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS In 2005, before construction started, international security experts said they were “undaunted” by crime in South Africa, especially cable theft, which is “common” in countries where they had worked, such as Singapore. Star reporter Anna Cox recalls that “Gautrain project manager Jack van der Merwe told journalists that crime in South Africa was ‘not unusual’ by international standards. There was nothing here that the developers brought in to work on the Gautrain project had not already come across in other countries, he said. “The difference in Joburg, Van der Merwe said, would be that the cabling would be buried deep underground, secured under several metres of concrete, to ensure the cables remained secure and could not be stolen. Van der Merwe said there would be CCTV cameras throughout stations, rail reserves, walkways and parking areas, and the control centre would monitor trains as well as stations at all times. “But none of these measures,” Cox pointed out, “ succeeded in preventing Tuesday night’s cable theft.” Another problem in the same week was the illegal two-day strike by Gautrain bus drivers. [Footnote: Less than a week later, Gautrain services came to a standstill again, due to more cable theft. Passengers were stranded and some were said to have missed flights. – Editor]
MUMBAI MONORAIL CONSTRUCTION FATALITIES During July, a beam weighing 60 tonnes collapsed at the monorail construction site on RCF Road in Mumbai’s Chembur, killing two persons and injuring three. A partial monorail trial scheduled on the Mysore Colony stretch was cancelled following a second accident at one of the construction sites and heavy rains that slowed down the work. Joint project director at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) Dilip Kawathkar explains: “The basic issue was the accident that happened in July around the same spot, We will decide on another date for the trial run in due course of time.” According to additional metropolitan commissioner Ashwini Bhide, the bad state of roads made it difficult to transport heavy beams. However, she says, the MMRDA aims to complete construction of the first phase of the monorail project, stretching from Chembur to Wadala, and start pilot runs on the entire route by May 2012. “About 60-70% of the work on the route is already complete,” Bhide says. The first phase of the 8.26km monorail, part of the Jacob CircleWadala-Chembur route, was originally scheduled to be completed by December 2010.
BART SYSTEMWIDE SHUTDOWN SWISS DERAILMENT Railway accidents in Switzerland are rare, but on 8 August, eight people were reported hurt when a regional train headed for the German village of Waldhut with 50 passengers aboard derailed in the north-eastern canton of Aargau and “grazed” a freight locomotive. Both drivers were injured.
Among many similarities between San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) and Gautrain was the choice of a track gauge different from the whole of the rest of the country. Both systems rely heavily on computers and sophisticated electronic signalling. The basic aims of both were similar – to reduce car traffic on specific freeways, though Bart’s achievements in this department were dismal by comparison with the optimistic consultants’ forecasts.
COMBATING CABLE THEFT A senior police officer from the crime intelligence unit has been brought in to lead the fight against copper theft, newly appointed Transnet CEO Brian Molefe told Chris Barron of the Sunday Times. He is confident, he says, that “this battle will be won”.
Bart has suffered many setbacks during the four decades of its existence. As with Gautrain, leaks into the tunnel system were an early problem. In Bart’s case, water was getting into the tube beneath San Francisco Bay. (The leak was pinpointed by rowing boats sent out to look for bubbles on the surface).
“World-class cable theft proved too
”
much: they’ve gone back to steam.
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Railways Africa August 2011
www.railwaysafrica.com
MISHAPS & BLUNDERS A serious fire in the same underwater tunnel during 1979 closed the line for many months. In the latest incident, on 8 August 2011, an entire system shutdown lasted two hours, “due to the failure of two data devices to work together“. Bart officials say a communication problem between two routers, (“configured to prevent a computer crash”), caused the shutdown, stranding thousands of commuters. Controllers shut down the railway when, shortly after the evening peak, the operations control centre in Oakland lost visual displays supposed to depict the location of all trains running. Each of the 28 trains running at the time were halted immediately, then moved to the nearest station, where passengers were advised to find alternative transport as Bart did not know how long the problem would last.
The electronic devices send data from the trackside computers that control the trains and are designed to communicate with each other, as a backup measure. When one has trouble, the other takes over. But in this case one of the routers stopped communicating, and this meant that the flow of data stopped too. Technicians attempting to reboot the routers, using the usual process of restarting both simultaneously, failed repeatedly. Finally, they decided to take one router out of service and were then able to reset the other. While the 8 August troubles did not affect the trackside computers or the automatic train controls, Bart has had an increasing number of service disruptions involving those systems in the recent past. Officials say the system needs $15 billion in upgrades over the next 25 years-and “only about half of the funding is lined up.”
Because the entire system had closed down. It was not possible to arrange sufficient buses to provide replacement service at each of the 44 stations. The cause of the router failure may take weeks or even months to determine. Until the answer is found, expert technicians are to remain on site whenever trains are running, to be able to quickly reset the routers manually if this becomes necessary. As a matter of fact, Bart has multiple backup systems in place but clearly even they can fail. Ironically, the routers that caused the trouble on 8 August were specifically designed to prevent what happened. San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart). Photo: Editor.
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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS cab had been smashed but he escaped injury. He then called the signaller to request that all trains be stopped on the adjacent line. When he continued his journey, the tamper driver reported finding another similar panel beside the track closer to Rugby. The two metal panels were later recovered from the trackside and found to be from two containers that were on train 4L68. The containers were fitted with power generation equipment. The panels, approximately 2.5m high x 1m wide, had been screwed to the container sides; each had covered a louvred-aperture. The RAIB examined the containers and found evidence of loose and missing screws on other panels that had been fitted. Bart coaches created a “space-age” impression when the system debuted, but there were many teething troubles with the rolling stock. Photo: Editor.
BELLVILLE DERAILMENT On 29 July, early in the morning, a Worcester-bound Metrorail train derailed outside Bellville. Then a power failure disabled the Wellington-Kraaifontein section. Further delays resulted when a pedestrian was killed by a train at Stellenbosch. Metrorail’s Lindelo Matya was quoted by Eyewitness News (EWN) saying: “We are doing everything in our power to obviously restore the services. Rescue teams are on site working timeously to try and remove the train...” A shuttle service was introduced between Wellington and Kraaifontein, while Eskom technicians worked on the problem. Later EWN reported that Metrorail and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) are to meet to “explore ways to improve commuter services on its trains and stations. They will discuss complaints from commuters about overloading, delayed trains and general safety.”
DERAILMENT NEAR PENN STATION, NY On 9 August, two coaches of 10-car Trenton-bound New Jersey Transit commuter train 3823 derailed in the tunnel near Penn station, New York. No one was injured. The 300 passengers on board were transferred to other trains within an hour. Delays to both local and Amtrak long-distance operations resulted, as only one track remained open. Keystone service operated temporarily between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pennsylnania, only. North-east Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line trains were delayed for up to 60 minutes. Midtown Direct trains were cut back to the Hoboken Terminal.
COLLISION AT PETRUSBERG On 10 August, a westbound freight train from Bloemfontein ran head-on into a stationary eastbound train at Petrusberg, on the line to Kimberley. Eyewitnesses said the driver and assistant of the stationary train jumped from their cab when they saw the other train approaching at speed. The driver of the other train and her assistant also jumped prior to the collision, which they were unable to avoid. All four were admitted to hospital with light injuries, for observation.
TRACK THEFT ARRESTS Six people were arrested on 8 August for trying to steal railway lines between Malebitsa and Driefontein, in Tuinplaas, outside Bela Bela, Limpopo police told News24: “Lieutenant-colonel Mohale Ramatseba said they were arrested after police were alerted to suspicious-looking vehicles moving around the area the previous night. Police arrived to find a wheel spanner and a crowbar on the railway and that some bolts on the rails had been loosened. “Ramatseba said police arrested two of the men in the area and the other four nearby. They were from Soshanguve and Tembisa, in Gauteng.” The officers confiscated the men’s Mazda kombi, Toyota Hilux and Ford Courier.
CONTAINER PARTS ON UK TRACK The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has looked into the dislodging of container panels, one of which collided with a track maintenance machine near Althorpe Park, Northamptonshire on 18 July 2011.
Petrusberg head-on collision 10 August 2011. Photos: A Guelpa.
At 17:55, the driver of a tamper travelling on the Down Northampton line reported that his cab had been struck by an object from freight train 4L68, the 12:15 container service from Birch Coppice (near Tamworth) to Felixstowe, as it passed on the adjacent line. The tamper driver had observed a metal panel flapping from the side of the approaching container train. He released the safety device in his cab as he moved to protect himself and the tamper came to a stand. The side window of the
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Railways Africa August 2011
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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS DERAILED THEN RERAILED On 23 February 2011, one bogie in a train consisting of 27 empty wagons derailed on a level crossing at Dalchalm in Scotland. The driver was unaware that anything had happened. In fact, about 340 metres further on, the train passed over a second level crossing where the derailed wheelset found its own way back onto the track. Some 16km later, the driver was contacted by radio from Inverness and instructed to stop and examine his train. A resident near the Dalchalm crossing had seen a wagon behaving oddly and had alerted the signal control centre. Reporting that he found evidence of damage, the driver was sent assistance and did not proceed further with the train.
Extensive track damage was caused at the junction and there was also some damage to the rolling stock, but no one was hurt. Preliminary examination by the UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) revealed that a wheel flange climbed over the outer rail of a curve on the approach to the junction. Other wheels then also became derailed. There was nothing to suggest that the signalling or handling of the train contributed to the accident. A full investigation is proceeding. This will include an examination of the condition of the train and track, to establish the mechanism that caused the derailment. The history of the wagons, track and the maintenance carried out, will be looked at.
Examination by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) revealed that a brake block holder on the leading bogie of the 20th wagon had become detached and had fallen between the running and check rails on the crossing. This resulted in the second bogie of the wagon derailing.
The damaged track at Bordesley junction after the accident. Photo: RAIB.
PROTECTIVE DEVICE INVOLVED IN TRAM FATALITY Arrangement of check rails at Dalchalm level crossing. Photo: RAIB.
The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is examining the circumstances of a fatal accident t at Piccadilly Gardens in central Manchester on 5 June 2011. At about 00:16, tram 1002 was approaching from the direction of Market Street at about 15 km/h when a pedestrian ran in front. He appeared to try to stop before reaching the track but fell directly in front of the tram, the front part of which passed over him. Although the driver started to brake before reaching the pedestrian, he was unable to stop before the pedestrian came into contact with the under-run protector. This device that projects down from the underside of the tram and is designed to prevent pedestrians from being crushed under the wheels. The victim was found by rescuers to be in close contact with the under-run protector. He was given emergency treatment at the site but died later in hospital. The RAIB investigation will seek to understand the mechanism by which the injuries were caused to the pedestrian and the role played by the under-run protector. Also, the history of accidents of this type on tramway systems generally is to be reviewed.
The detached brake block holder shown replaced (for photo purposes) into the checkrail flangeway where it fell, causing the derailment. Photo: RAIB.
DERAILED & RERAILED AT BORDESLEY At 00:45 on 26 August, a freight train comprising a diesel-electric locomotive, 30 empty aggregate wagons and an unloading wagon derailed on the approach to Bordesley Junction, Birmingham. The rear four wagons of the train, which was travelling between Banbury and Barrow-on-Soar, were derailed but then became re-railed.
“It’s this old apartheid-era signalling”. www.railwaysafrica.com
August 2011 Railways Africa
37
OBITUARY
MALCOLM BATES Artist and rail enthusiast Malcolm Bates, keen cyclist and mountain-climber, who died on 17 August, will be missed from the list of contributors to Railways Africa. His work in the magazine was mainly photographic, the subjects often Cape Town suburban electric trains on which he was an acknowledged expert. One of the men who drove the earliest of these, the 1,500V timber-bodied 1M sets introduced in 1927, was Malcolm’s grandfather W E Bates, who had previously been on steam locomotives in the Karoo. An uncle drove steam-hauled expresses to the Strand, in the days of the legendary class 5 Pacifics.
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Malcolm’s monochromatic Christmas Cards for the Railway Society were a landmark series in the eighties. In later years, friends received characterful miniature colour paintings each December. All portrayed familiar South African rail scenes, the locomotives, rolling stock and lineside picked out in flawless detail. Until 1998, Malcolm edited and produced the informative monthly newsletter West Cape Railtalk, plentifully illustrated with photos (many his own) and punctuated with characterful sketches from his pen. By then, he had resigned his professional position with a leading Cape Town publisher to study theology and go full-time into the church. His ministry was characterised by dedication and distinction. In a private note commenting on a rail magazine printing “regeneration” instead of “regenerative” (in a braking context), he commented: “regeneration is a theological term, Ha Ha!” Despite a demanding workload, he still found time for his many other interests. In fact, until the sudden onset of illness barely four months ago (when he was not quite 63) Malcolm energetically chaired the Railway History Group in Cape Town, known for its series of informative publications, and he produced the group’s regular Bulletin. Hopefully the group will put together a collection of Malcolm’s evocative photographs recording the contemporary Cape Peninsula rail scene in recent decades. It would fittingly commemorate the important contribution he made.
New-generation Metrorail: Malcolm with a 10M3 set at Simon’s
Town.
e Railway rds for th rcester stmas ca ri Wo h C e l av u le rf about to characte ers Garratt is ctric gath series of M le a A e f M E o G 4 e ss n ss a a O ex cl cl H a , a e ft , th e le d n the f 1:40 up s. Alongsi Society. O ny miles o the sixtie a m in e le th a r d fo for Rivers ght word) at’s the ri steam (if th . River Pass
To his wife and daughter from all at Railways Africa: our heartfelt sympathy.
Spray from po S unding seas en velops a 5M2A Bay during th e great storm set at Kalk of 22 Septem ber 1983.
Nigh tf just t all at Bea a u a car ken over fort Wes t in t d don the n he six o e in 1 tie 992. rthbound Trans s. A cla ss 25 -Karo o fro m a c condens e lass 4E ele r has ctric:
lm r, Malco ltogethe nthlies. A : lk ta il e mo ape Ra formativ l West C The fina ed 52 of these in c u prod
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Railways Africa August 2011
Bates, a Malcolm d n a y d Wen 07. on in 20 as Deac
rd fter his o
ination
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RAILWAY HERITAGE
Preservation is A Vital Part of The Picture
By John Batwell
Reefsteamers, Germiston Reefsteamers will be operating their usual special train to the annual Cherry Festival in the eastern OFS during 17-20 November 2011. There will be steam haulage on the Bethlehem-Ficksburg section.
• Wednesday 1 February: Kisumu- Nakuru (195km) with class 87. • Thursday 2 February: Nakuru-Naivasha (45km) with class 71; Naivasha-Nairobi (110km) with class 87. For more information: info@enthusiasthols.com
Sanrasm, Krugersdorp Sanrasm’s North British-built 4-8-2T (works no 24386/1937), which worked on Douglas Colliery and has been plinthed at Florida Junction shopping centre on the West Rand for many years, has received a new coat of paint.
Two tours being planned for 2012 in Kenya are designed to take in the old English Electric diesel locomotives on the system. Photo: G Cooke.
North British-built 4-8-2T (works no 24386/1937) at Florida Junction has received a new coat of paint. Photo: D Walker.
Atlantic Rail, Cape Town An Open Day was held on 21 August with three scheduled trains, all fully booked in advance, to run from Cape Town to Bellville and back. Unfortunately the weather was bad. Also, while taking on water after the first trip, class 24 no 3655 developed a serious leak in the firebox followed by a blown tube. The second and third journeys were therefore aborted. The operator underwent a successful Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) audit in August.
Enthusiasts’ tours in 2012 A January/February tour, Classic Traction in Kenya (under the Enthusiasts’ Holidays banner) is being planned to run behind the old 1960s-vintage, English Electric-built class 71 and 87 diesel locomotives. It is hoped to have some preserved steam locos lit up.
Meanwhile, Geoff’s Trains is looking at possibly going to Kenya in September next year – pricing and the number of bookings will dictate the feasibility. The programme would aim to include veteran British diesels and three steam locomotives - class 24 no 2409, class 30 no 3020 and class 59 no 5918 - on the Nakuru, Mombasa and Thika lines. Cooke’s safari to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa will be repeated in the winter of 2012. Contact Geoff Cooke for specific dates and the full itinerary of all planned 2012 tours in Africa at: geoff@geoffs-trains.com. If the 2012 tours are firmed up, Geoff says he will offer South African participants a Rand-based financial package.
Voorbaai depot In preservation circles worldwide, it was always thought that Transnet Foundation was looking to use Voorbaai depot at Mossel Bay as a storage facility for prestige locomotives and rolling stock like the Union Limited saloons. Sadly this has not proved to be the case. With the ending of the Union Limited tour operations, a pool of pristine steam locomotives is no longer needed. In addition to representative former SAR steam classes, there are
The provisional itinerary reads as follows: • Saturday 28 January: Special train Nairobi-Naivasha-Nakuru (155km) with class 87. • Sunday 29 January: Nakuru-Eldoret (155km) with class 71. • Monday 30 January: Eldoret-Kitale (70km) and return with class 71; Eldoret-Nakuru with class 87. • Tuesday 31 January: Nakuru-Kisumu (195km) with class 87. Voorbaai depot, February 2011 – the two steam foreigners, ex-NRZ class 14A no 508 and class 16A no 615. Photo: P Conradie.
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Railways Africa August 2011
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RAILWAY HERITAGE two “foreigners” at Voorbaai - ex-National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) Garratt classes 14A no 508 and 16A no 615. Neither enjoyed much use following their relocation to the Western Cape. Motivation for acquiring these two locos came from the late Alan Clarke. At first, they were temporarily housed at Millsite depot, Krugersdorp. A photographic record made in February 2011 illustrates the sorry current situation on the ground at Voorbaai. See: http://steam-locomotives-south-africa.blogspot. com/2011/04/voorbaai-loco-shed-hartenbos-february.html
Narrow gauge Garratt moves out of Port Elizabeth
for structural modification. Two preserved GE class 32s served for some years on the George-Knysna branch, until its closure following severe floods in 2006. Other representatives of this class worked at SNCZ, now Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Congolais (SNCC – the state railway in the Democratic Republic of Congo) as well as in the Zambian mineral industry. Unfortunately, no representative of the seven Henschel-built class 61 diesel-hydraulic locomotives survives. Acquired by the South African Railways at the end of the fifties, six were sold to the former Rhodesia Railways during the sanctions era early in the seventies. These centre-cab locos ended their operational life, four liveries later, in industrial service on Zisco Steelworks’rail system, in Zimbabwe’s Midlands, during the early 1990s.
Beyer Peacock-built NGG11 2-6-0 + 0-6-2 no 54 has been moved by road from Port Elizabeth to Sandstone’s Free State site. Two other engines of the class survive. Former Sanrasm-based no 52 is located at Bloemfontein shops. No 55, which was put back in running order by Lukas Nel’s technical team at Bloemfontein in 2004, is used by Paton’s Country Railway working out of Ixopo, KwaZulu Natal.
Missing link in diesel preservation The preservation of 1950s vintage South African class 31 and 32 diesel locomotives has been well documented over the years. Class 31 GE diesels survive in both static preservation and in industrial service by both Sheltam and RRL Grindrod. The latest rescue exercise locally was loco no 31.009 from Waterval Boven, in Mpumalanga. It was moved by road to RRL in Pretoria
The one that got away – no representation of South African Railways’ experiment in diesel-hydraulic transmission was preserved by way of the former SAR class 61. Photo: G Cooke.
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POSTSCRIPT
BRIGHT IDEAS DEPARTMENT An “innovation portal” launched six months ago to encourage businesses to provide innovative solutions to rail industry issues in the UK has resulted in novel ideas being introduced that are expected to produce savings of nearly £40m by 2014. One solution being implemented is a camera which can spot defects on the overhead catenary more than seven metres above the operator’s head. The OLE cameras, developed with Kongsberg Maritime Limited, can be operated without the need to turn off the power along the wires or close the line. This will mean a more efficient and accurate maintenance programme, fewer delays to passenger and freight services and will save millions of pounds in delay payments. The Thameslink project required a sleeper capable of housing a 53mm conductor rail as well as signalling and track cables. The original plan was to use a full-depth sleeper with baseplates – 65mm deeper than adjacent sleepers – which would be expensive and difficult to instal and maintain. A solution from Cemex has seen a wider, shallower sleeper produced with cast-in housings, delivering cost savings of 90% against existing products, expected to be around £4m by 2014. Other proposals from national and international organisations currently being investigated in detail include acoustic curtains. These are to provide simple, quick and effective noise control, to reduce the impact on nearby houses during maintenance. Safety fences, which clip onto the rail during maintenance and provide a safe working environment while still allowing trains to pass on nearby tracks, are another result of some clever thinking.
The “innovation portal” has four stages – think, explore, prove, do. To develop the initiative further and encourage a new wave of proposals, Network Rail is encouraging businesses, universities and research institutes to consider how they could have a positive influence on the future of the railway. Network Rail’s director of engineering Steve Yianni says: “There has been a fantastic response from businesses at home and abroad which we predict will help Network Rail make savings of around £38m by 2014. We have been impressed by the thinking and enthusiasm to help make the railway safer, more efficient and more cost-effective and are keen to develop the initiative further as there is the potential to deliver even greater savings after 2014. “As well as working with established suppliers, we are keen to hear from organisations outside the traditional rail industry which could help improve the railway. We are committed to delivering a better, safer railway that maximises value for money and are keen to work with any organisation which can help us achieve this.” Applicants need to ensure their proposals fit one of Network Rail’s challenges, the list of which is reviewed and refreshed every month. Proposals must be fundamentally new and different, solve a particular problem and have a strong business case. Each proposal will be assessed by a specially assigned innovation supply chain manager to see whether the idea should be taken forward and developed further. Network Rail’s current specific challenges and priorities may be viewed at www.networkrail.co.uk/brightideas
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