Railways Africa Issue 2 2012 by Railways Africa

ISSUE 2 // 2012

WWW.RAILWAYSAFRICA.COM

Step off not down.

t New Tubular Modular Track installation at Kwa Mashu Station, Durban. t The ďŹ rst of its kind in South Africa on 1070mm platform to rail height. t World Class track meeting World Class Safety Standards.

Tel: +27 12 803 4201

Fax: +27 12 803 5192

Email: info@tubulartrack.co.za

www.tubulartrack.co.za

RAILWAYS AFRICA / FOREWORD

Foreword

Or what one can afford. Too often, the funding aspect is the last to be considered. Politicians tend to be good at this, and another problem where good politicians are concerned is continuity of purpose, or more to the point, the lack of it. A transport minister who really does have a good idea and is competently promoting it, might find himself voted out of office, or moved sideways, after which something that could have been useful is quietly forgotten. Africa’s grandest plans at the moment (some little more than dreams, probably, and not even near the drawing-board) include: * A transcontinental line from Dakar in Sénégal to the Red Sea at Port Sudan * Lines from the Sudan through Chad (presently railwayless) into Niger and Cameroon. * New railways from Botswana westwards through Namibia to the Atlantic and eastwards through Zimbabwe and Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. On the other hand, a number of new railways have passed both the planning and fundsfinding stages and are well ahead with construction. Elsewhere, run-down lines are being brought back to life, many after years - even decades - out of use. Like in Angola and Mozambique, where hundreds of kilometres of lines have been rebuilt from scratch, following total devastation during lengthy civil wars. Nigeria’s main-line from Lagos is working again after years of inactivity (it will soon be open to Kano) and there are plans to fix the rest of the 3,000km-odd network.

Ethiopia is conspicuous for work under way on several really ambitious projects. In neighbouring Kenya, plans are thick on the ground (as you might say), though actual physical progress is less evident, However, Nairobi’s comprehensive commuter project is starting to get going.

ISSUE 2 // 2012

Railways Africa is seldom short of material on African railways, though a lot of what reaches us as news has to do with intentions or planning, not so much the implementing thereof. Many schemes have not actually reached the planning stage so might more ﬁttingly be called visionary. Frequently they fall intro the category of things people would like to have, or think they should have, rather than what is strictly practical.

Big promises have been made in respect of Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania but these projects look to be pretty expensive and the actual position with funding is less clear. Further to the north, Gaddaﬁ’s transLibya standard-gauge railway that was to link Tunisia to Egypt came to an abrupt halt when his regime collapsed and the builders went home to Chine. Next door though, notable things are being done in Algeria; and Tunisia’s railways appear to be functioning well. Morocco’s new high-speed main-line heads the list of impressive developments on the continent. This is to be a genuine 350km/h, a la TGV, affair. There are efforts to derail things but matters seem too far advanced to stop it now. Namibia is justiﬁably proud of its brandnew “northern extension”, though there’re one or two problems on the intermediate, older section west of Tsumeb. In the southwest of the country, the Luderitz line is coming back into shape. Plans close to reality include hundreds of kilometres of additional track to be laid to move yet more Mozambiquan coal to the sea. And there are new mine-based lines in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

WWW.RAILWAYSAFRICA.COM

PUBLISHER Barbara Sheat EDITOR Rollo Dickson DESIGN & LAYOUT Grazia Muto ADVERTISING Kim Bevan SUBSCRIPTIONS Kim Bevan CONTRIBUTORS Aidan NcCarthy C Baker Charlie Lewis Jacque Wepener John Batwell Paul Kilfoil Peter Rogers Stewart Currie

Well, that’s a brief run-down. To be honest, the picture is a great deal brighter than when I started writing - and we haven’t even touched on the multi-billions that South Africa is pumping into rail. So who said Africa is all doom and gloom? Probably me, and I take it all back. ISSN 1029 - 2756

BARBARA SHEAT Publisher / Railways Africa

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.

www.railwaysafrica.com

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

Contents RAILWAY SAFETY CONFERENCE The aim was to create greater awareness about human factor management as an element in managing railway operations.

6 Features RAILWAY SAFETY REGULATOR Railway Safety Conference

10 6

TRANSNET Transnet Unveils Market Demand Strategy

PLASSERAIL Ballast Management

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

www.railwaysafrica.com

SA Rail News Top TFR Appointments

Cape Town Station: Green Design

Ex-soldiers to Combat Metrorail Vandals

New Waterberg Coal Lines

Mishaps & Blunders Gautrain Bus Shootings

“Chaos” in Cape Town

Polish Signalman to be Charged

Track Dropouts in New Zealand

Lightning Knocks out Train

Railway Heritage Sandstone Steam Extravaganza, Free State

Steam Tour to Eritrea

Book Review Steam Encounters

www.railwaysafrica.com

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

RAIL SAFETY REGULATOR

Rail Safety Conference South Africa’s Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) organised a two-day conference at Midrand’s Gallagher Convention Centre from 29 February to 1 March. Targeting mainly rail operators, businesses issued with permits, decision makers within the management structure and operators in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, the aim was to create greater awareness about human factor management as an element in managing railway operations. The RSR wanted to emphasise that it goes far beyond simply “singing the safety song”, its activities being concentrated on putting the concept into practice.

RSR chief executive officer Nkululeko Poya explained that ”as much as technology and capital in terms of machinery can be sourced from anywhere in the world, it is most difficult to find skilled human input. An entity that loses skilled workers due to unsafe practice in the workplace has a business killer on its hands. Management needs to ensure that good care is taken of employees”. RSR’s plans for creating awareness did not end in Midrand. The organisation offered to visit operational areas and provide workshops to ensure continuing awareness of what RSR requires of operating line managers. Every operator and permit holder is required by RSR to submit an annual report as part of the annual safety improvement plans that comply with the prescribed safety standards. RSR inspectors conduct compliance audits and identify potential risk areas, thereby promoting the prevention of

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

accidents. Operators regarded as being “high-risk” are checked between 10-20 times a year, while those with a lower risk profile are checked at least once a year. As part of its mandate to promote harmonisation of the railway safety regime in South Africa with the Southern African Development Community (SADC), RSR’s CEO recently undertook visits within the region, including Namibia, Swaziland and Angola. Safety permits were issued to Swaziland Railway (SR), Caminhos de ferro do Moçambique (CFM – the state railway & harbours) and Botswana Railways (BR) With the extent of safety consciousness varying between countries, the RSR has been assisting those in the SADC community to put their standards in order and in setting up and enforcing annual safety improvement plans. During the conference, experts in specified fields made presentations offering 30 -

40 minutes presentations in three broad categories: • The human system interface (design issues), • Physical environmental factors, and • Organisational and psychological factors.

The human-system The human-system interface refers to the matching of tools, machines, systems, tasks and environments to the physical and psychological capabilities and limitations of people, and seeks to safeguard safety, health, and well-being – at the same time optimising efﬁciency and performance. The potential effects of poor design include impaired cognitive functioning, impaired vision, changes in reaction time, burn-out, stress, fatigue, drowsiness, neurological disorders (bone, joint, muscular, vascular), which could lead ultimately to unsafe work practices. It is recommended that operators use design specialists where necessary to ensure the adequate and efﬁcient design

www.railwaysafrica.com

RAIL SAFETY REGULATOR of tools, equipment, workstations and machinery. Human factors consultant Jessica Hutchings gave an informative presentation on user-centred design, highlighting the importance of considering the user when designing ergonomics. Both organisation and user perform better when users are involved in the design of equipment. Time, cost and the effort of making changes will all be minimised.

Physical environmental factors Physical environmental factors include noise, vibration, lighting, thermal environment and hazardous substances. Excessive or inadequate exposure to these environmental factors could result in immediate or delayed health effects, fatigue, impaired vision, and cognitive functioning which could eventually result in unsafe work practices. Operators are required to conduct hygiene surveys to determine the impact of these physical environmental factors on safe railway operations. These include noise surveys to ensure that safety critical communication is not compromised and that the hearing of the employees is not impaired. Lighting surveys are needed to determine the level of lighting required to perform tasks safely. Good lighting whether natural or artificial has an important role to play in promoting health and safety at work as good lighting assists both in the identification of hazards and reduces the likelihood of visual fatigue and discomfort, thus contributing to safe railway operations. A presentation on physical factors was made by Sibongiseni Myeni, a certified occupational hygienist. He stressed environmental factors that can get in the way of maintaining the safety standards legislated by Sans 3000-4, the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Act 85 of 1993) and Sans 10103, among others. Sibongiseni highlighted how noise interferes with hearing and the detection of warning signals and the importance of eliminating noise so that it does not interfere with decision-making and thought processes. Poor lighting impacts on the safety of the railway system and it is vital that relevant experts be employed to instal and maintain proper lighting. The thermal environment, Myeni pointed out, affects railway safety in that thermal stress and thermal comfort impact on an individual’s coping mechanisms when

www.railwaysafrica.com

temperatures are extreme and fall outside that person’s comfort zone. These can cause reduced work rate, changes in reaction time, hypothermia, dehydration, exhaustion and fatigue. Policies, processes and procedures need to be put in place to educate management and employees in matters relating to managing the environment and follow the prescribed national standards. The training should include relevant national legislation and policies, roles and responsibilities, safe working practices and the process of monitoring thermal environment controls. The existence of a management system for hazardous substances is essential. Substances have to be managed so that they do not impact on safe railway operations and in such a way that operators or employees exposed to them do not experience adverse effects or health.

Organisational and psychological factors Organisational and psychological factors include: recruitment and selection, training, medical surveillance, ﬁtness for duty, chronic medical conditions, medication, pregnancy, employee well-being, substance abuse, fatigue management and stress management. Multi-faceted burdens could result from chronic and acute medical conditions, substance abuse, fatigue caused by insufﬁcient rest periods, and excessive work and personal stress that could lead to temporary or permanent inability to work, thus impacting on safe railway operations. Railway operators need to develop appropriate policies and procedures to address each requirement listed in this standard, to ensure safe railway operations.

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

RAIL SAFETY REGULATOR The fitness-for-duty requirement is allinclusive in that it touches every other requirement in the standard. Employees undertaking safety related work need to be fit for duty meaning physically and mentally healthy, well rested, alert, managed stress levels, free from substances that could impair their faculties, free from any disabling medical conditions and adequately trained and competent. Dr Nomonde Buyisiwe Mabuya, an occupational medicine practitioner, elaborated on the impact of chronic diseases and medication on safety-related work. A condition is termed chronic when it is present for at least six months. A safetycritical worker assessment includes a comprehensive physical and psychological appraisal to detect conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, sleep or psychiatric disorders. The assessment can be in the form of screening, clinical examination or a questionnaire. To ensure thoroughness in this area, the rail environment should be properly understood, appraisal needs to be made in line with Standard 3000-4, and methodical liaison with general practitioners or specialists must be maintained, always with the worker’s consent. Chronic diseases that are identified must be evaluated by a specialist (eg by a cardiologist in the case of post-

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

cardiac surgery), who will advise when an employee is fit to return to safety-critical work in the short term. In instances such as post-surgery, a patient may be classified as temporarily unfit for duty. In cases of hypertension, an employee with blood pressure in a seated position exceeding 160/110 should be booked off work until treatment results in a reading of 140/90. If an employee is found to be suffering from epilepsy, and has recurring seizures, Dr Mabuya advised immediate suspension from safety-critical work. An initial or isolated case of seizure, he pointed out, is not the same as epilepsy. In this case, the decision may be “fit for duty subject to review”, taking into account the opinion of a specialist in epilepsy and the nature of the subject’s work. The sensitive issues of HIV and Aids were also covered in presentations, as these may affect ability to perform safety-critical work due to impairment of mental or other body function. In recent years, it should be noted, anti-retroviral therapy has had a significant impact on the prognosis and well-being of many patients. Challenges in trying to regulate the impact of chronic diseases in the workplace include lack of disclosure by individuals, as well as insufficient guidance for doctors who may have inadequate appreciation of what a particular job entails. Shortcomings

in the coordination of medical management systems by operators is another problem area as can be the failure of general practitioners or specialists to take potential risks to public safety into account. While the sudden collapse of (for instance) a driver from a heart attack is normally unpredictable, there is an important onus on the medical profession to act appropriately if there is a history of a heart condition. The South African government’s very considerable investment plans for the rail industry during the next 10-20 years in itself poses a substantial risk. Through application of its Project Life Cycle, the RSR should be involved in the design of all systems that require human interface. The organization’s future plans envisage standards and the application of techniques equivalent to those accepted as commonplace in the developed world. Devices such as automatic braking when a train passes a danger signal are examples of measures one should aim to introduce. Above all, the RSR wants to see commuters feel safe and comfortable at all times.. The annual state of safety report, detailing incidents and accidents during the ﬁnancial year, was published on 27 March 2012.

www.railwaysafrica.com

/ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů >ĞǀĞů ƌŽƐƐŝŶŐ ǁĂƌĞŶĞƐƐ ĂǇ

dŚĞ h/ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ ƌĂŝůǁĂǇ ĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚǇ͕ ŝŶ ĐŽŶũƵŶĐƟŽŶ ǁŝƚŚ Ă ƌŝƐŝŶŐ ŶƵŵďĞƌ ŽĨ ƌŽĂĚ ƐĞĐƚŽƌ ŽƌŐĂŶŝǌĂƟŽŶƐ͕ ƚŚĞ ƵƌŽƉĞĂŶ ŽŵŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ hŶŝƚĞĚ EĂƟŽŶƐ ĐŽŶŽŵŝĐ ŽŵŵŝƐƐŝŽŶ ĨŽƌ ƵƌŽƉĞ ;hE Ϳ ŚĂǀĞ ĞƐƚĂďůŝƐŚĞĚ ƚŚĞ /> ;/ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů >ĞǀĞů ƌŽƐƐŝŶŐ ǁĂƌĞŶĞƐƐ ĂǇͿ ĐĂŵƉĂŝŐŶ ƚŽ ƌĂŝƐĞ ĂǁĂƌĞŶĞƐƐ ĂŵŽŶŐ ƌŽĂĚ ƵƐĞƌƐ ĂŶĚ ƉĞĚĞƐƚƌŝĂŶƐ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ƌŝƐŬƐ Ăƚ ůĞǀĞů ĐƌŽƐƐŝŶŐƐ ĂŶĚ ƚŽ ĐŚĂŶŐĞ ƚŚĞŝƌ ďĞŚĂǀŝŽƌ͘ ĞƐƉŝƚĞ Ăůů ƚŚĞ ŵĞĂƐƵƌĞƐ ƚĂŬĞŶ ƚŽ ŝŶĚŝĐĂƚĞ ƚŚĞ ƉƌĞƐĞŶĐĞ ŽĨ ůĞǀĞů ĐƌŽƐƐŝŶŐƐ ĂŶĚ ŵĂŬĞ ƚŚĞŵ ƐĂĨĞ͕ ƚŽŽ ŵĂŶǇ ƌŽĂĚ ƵƐĞƌƐ ĂŶĚ ƉĞĚĞƐƚƌŝĂŶƐ ĂƌĞ ŬŝůůĞĚ Žƌ ŝŶũƵƌĞĚ Ăƚ ƐƵĐŚ ĐƌŽƐƐŝŶŐƐ ĞĂĐŚ ǇĞĂƌ ƌŝŐŚƚ ĂƌŽƵŶĚ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌůĚ͘ ůŵŽƐƚ Ăůů ĂĐĐŝĚĞŶƚƐ Ăƚ ůĞǀĞů ĐƌŽƐƐŝŶŐ ĂƌĞ ĚƵĞ ƚŽ ƌŽĂĚ ƵƐĞƌƐ ĨĂŝůŝŶŐ ƚŽ ŽďƐĞƌǀĞ ŵĂŶĚĂƚŽƌǇ ƐƚŽƉ ůŝŐŚƚƐ͕ ƐŝŐŶĂůƐ ĂŶĚ ďĂƐŝĐ ƚƌĂĸĐ ƐĂĨĞƚǇ ƌƵůĞƐ͘ ŽŶƚƌĂƌǇ ƚŽ ǁŚĂƚ ŝƐ ŐĞŶĞƌĂůůǇ ƚŚŽƵŐŚƚ ŵŽƐƚ ĂĐĐŝĚĞŶƚƐ ŝŶǀŽůǀĞ ͞ƌĞŐƵůĂƌƐ͕͟ ŝŶ ƉĂƌƟĐƵůĂƌ ƚŚŽƐĞ ůŝǀŝŶŐ ŶĞĂƌ ĂŶĚͬŽƌ ŵĂŬŝŶŐ ƌĞŐƵůĂƌ ƵƐĞ ŽĨ Ă ůĞǀĞůͲĐƌŽƐƐŝŶŐ͕ ĂƐ ĨĂŵŝůŝĂƌŝƚǇ ŚĂďŝƚ ŵĂŬĞƐ ƚŚĞŵ ůĞƐƐ ĐĂƌĞĨƵů Žƌ ŵŽƌĞ ƌĞĐŬůĞƐƐ͕ ǁŚŝĐŚ ŵĂǇ ƉƌŽǀĞ ĨĂƚĂů͘ /> ƐƚĂƌƚĞĚ ŽŶ Ă ƵƌŽƉĞĂŶ ůĞǀĞů ;Ϯϱ ĐŽƵŶƚƌŝĞƐͿ ĂĐŚŝĞǀŝŶŐ Ă ǁŽƌůĚǁŝĚĞ ůĞǀĞů͗ ϰϮ ĐŽƵŶƚƌŝĞƐ ĂƌŽƵŶĚ ƚŚĞ ǁŽƌůĚ ŝŶ ϮϬϭϮ͘ tŚĂƚ ĂďŽƵƚ ǇŽƵ͍

WůĞĂƐĞ ĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ͗ ĨŽŶǀĞƌŶĞΛƵŝĐ͘ŽƌŐ sŝƐŝƚ͗ ǁǁǁ͘ƵŝĐ͘ŽƌŐ &ŽůůŽǁ ƵƐ ŽŶ ƚǁŝƩĞƌ͗ ŚƩƉ͗ͬͬƚǁŝƩĞƌ͘ĐŽŵͬη͊ͬŝůĐĂĚ ĂŶĚ ŽŶ ĨĂĐĞďŽŽŬ͗ ŚƩƉƐ͗ͬͬǁǁǁ͘ĨĂĐĞďŽŽŬ͘ĐŽŵͬŝůĐĂĚ

TRANSNET

TRANSNET UNVEILS MARKET DEMAND STRATEGY John Batwell looks at this pronouncement…. Transnet recently unveiled its plans to invest R206 billion in rail projects over the next seven years as part of a drive to treble revenues and support booming mineral exports. The R300bn Market Demand Strategy (MDS) aims to expand South Africa’s rail, port and pipeline capacity to generate a significant increase in freight volumes. Export coal traffic is expected to increase from 68 million tonnes to 97.5 million tonnes by 2019, with iron-ore exports rising from 53 to 82.5 million tonnes. This means significant additional capacity will be required on the Sishen-Saldanha iron-ore line, while a newly-announced Swazilink project will relieve the congested Richards Bay coal corridor by providing an alternative route through the small kingdom for general freight between Ermelo and the port of Richard’s Bay, which is expanding rapidly to meet demand. Independent transport economist Andrew Marsay is less optimistic about the economics of the R17bn Swazi-link project. He doubts whether the general freight line would ever prove viable on a standalone basis. He acknowledges that the project could alleviate some immediate pressures on the coal corridor, but adds that it would not solve the efficiency problems on the channel, which could be attributed mainly to the fact that there are simply too many customers to enable the line to operate at optimal levels. This is because the volumes at loading points are too low to ensure high levels of efficiency. “Overall, therefore, this will be a lot of money spent to very little avail. The general freight line will be a very inefficient investment and, secondly, the whole solution is not addressing the principle cause of the lack of efficiency on the line,” Marsay argues. It is vital, he suggests, to develop the project in tandem to a commitment to building a high-capacity line to the Waterberg, as it might be possible to ensure that the constraints associated with current operations are not repeated when that comes on line. “If at all possible, it would be preferable to have a line that bypasses Ermelo, because a high-capacity bulk line needs the minimum possible stops. Therefore, they might even be

Transnet has embarked on a R300bn Market Demand Strategy (MDS) - which aims to expand South Africa’s rail, port and pipeline capacity to generate a signiﬁcant increase in freight volumes under its CEO Brian Molefe. 10

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

shooting themselves in the foot by assuming that you have to have the Ermelo depot,” Marsay says. Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is already working to increase capacity on heavy-haul lines, and was recently commended by mining giants Anglo American, BHP Billiton, and Kumba for improvements made over the last year. During one week in March 2012, TFR carried 2.2 million tonnes of iron-ore on the Sishen-Saldanha line, where three years ago it struggled to achieve weekly volumes of 1 million tonnes. Transnet foresees overall railfreight volumes increasing from 200 to 350 million tonnes by 2019, and in addition to substantial growth in mineral traffic, TFR projects the market share of intermodal traffic rising from 79% to 92% by the end of the decade. According to Transnet, this rapid expansion will make TFR the world’s fifth-largest rail freight operator. The MDS allocates TFR R78bn over the next seven years for new locomotives, and around half of this amount is to be spent with local suppliers. Through the implementation of the MDS, Transnet expects revenues to increase from R46bn to R128bn by 2019. However, besides the financial tonic for “its golden eggs” viz. the mineral corridors, Transnet Freight Rail’s ability to improve the general freight business (GFB) dramatically is questionable, considering the run-down state of many rail lines and in particular the loss of branches feeding to core routes. Badly vandalised with both track and sleepers stolen, repairing many branches would incur huge costs. Though potential concessionaires have indicated interest in several branchlines in terms of Transnet’s request for expressions of Transnet’s CEO Brian Molefe.

www.railwaysafrica.com

TRANSNET Transnet Freight Rail needs to work at diversifying its market share to ensure it snatches all types of trafﬁc that requires at least 500km of movement. Photo: C Baker.

Interest, it has been stated officially that no capital repairs would be undertaken prior to handover. The government says increased employment is at the forefront of its growth plan. That being so, it should focus on spending in areas that catalyse other business growth and attract funding to promote job creation. The railway has the opportunity to help achieve these objectives. Dr Vaughan Mostert, of the University of Johannesburg’s Transport & Supply Chain Management Faculty, thinks government should seek university intervention and ask intellectuals and academics for their thoughts. Academics could certainly provide some useful leadership. Mostert has his thoughts on a model for building up rail traffic volumes. He believes that the transport of fuel should be mandatory as it facilitates a daily or very regular service on rail lines. The revenue from fuel movement could be used to subsidise other traffic potential such as maize and containers. Trains could be run as a mixed complement; for instance, the conveyance of passengers could lead to a complementary taxi service at stations. But for symbiotic intermodal relationships to be effective, the train service must be reliable, run to time and be constantly efficient.

One of Transnet Freight Rail’s “golden eggs” - the bulk delivery coal line operation from the hinterland to Richards Bay. Photo: C Baker.

www.railwaysafrica.com

Such train services could lead in small steps to picking up the bullets of other business en route. Transnet would need to start with a network of guaranteed trains and develop both a human and technical-cum-economic “culture’ of ensuring these trains happen. There needs to be government input on this “culture” and private companies need to be brought in to help launch it – the likes of DHL, Imperial, Grindrod, Sheltam, for instance. Mostert goes on to say that unless this small, cooperative start is made it will remain cheap banter. Financial outlay is needed to get things back on rail owing to lost business and a negative customer mindset. Also, track, station buildings and other infrastructure have been vandalised, but the country needs to protect and maintain the presence of a railway. Over distances greater than 500km, rail transport becomes more economical than road for general freight and as a large percentage of the rail system is electrified, increased movement of traffic by rail would reduce the economy’s reliance on liquid fuels and oil imports. A final comment comes from the University of Stellenbosch’s supply chain management centre head Dr Jan Havenga - highdensity lines should be run as effective businesses while the lowdensity lines could be run as development businesses.

The once vibrant and extremely busy narrow gauge rail system in the Eastern Cape as it looks today. Photo: J Batwell.

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

PLASSERAIL

BALLAST MANAGEMENT 1. INTRODUCTION One of the functions of ballast is to resists vertical, lateral and longitudinal forces applied to the sleeper

2. FUNCTIONS OF THE BALLAST BED The ballast has the following functions: •

The depth of the ballast under the sleepers provides track resiliency and distributes forces from the sleeper bearing surface to acceptable stress levels for the underlying subgrade.

•

The ballast provides large voids for the movement of particles through it and to allow effective drainage of water entering the ballast bed.

•

The ballast allows correction of the track geometry.

•

The ballast bed resists vertical, lateral and longitudinal forces applied to the sleeper to retain the track in its required position.

to retain the track in its required position. The ability of the ballast to perform this function is controlled by the cross-sectional ballast profile which should conform to specified minimum requirements. However, in due course deviations from the ideal profile will result due to a lack of maintenance, people walking across the track, crushing of the ballast and the tamping process which lifts the sleeper out of the ballast, resulting in little ballast shoulder, or none. The end result is the loss of vertical, lateral and longitudinal stability of the track

3. REQUIRED BALLAST BED CROSS-SECTIONAL PROFILE In order for the ballast bed to fulfill its functions, the ballast bed cross-sectional profile must conform to the following specified minimum requirements (Figure 1):

which causes alignment defects, wear and damage to the rails and rolling stock, loss of passenger ride comfort and derailments. The cross-sectional proﬁle must therefore be reinstated on a regular basis to restore the track’s stability against stresses. The safety aspect is however not the only reason

Figure 1 : Typical speciﬁed ballast bed cross-sectional proﬁle.

why the management of ballast is a vital track

•

maintenance activity. Ballast material is expensive due to its sheer quantity (1,200 to 1,600 m3 per kilometre) and the economical distribution of ballast

The sleeper should rest inside the ballast with the cribs filled with ballast. A shoulder of approximately 300mm is required to resist lateral movement of the track. Figure 2 shows a section of track with a very good cross-sectional profile while the profile in Figure 3 is completely out of specification.

along the track is a great source of potential savings. The ballast volume could be adequate but spread outside of the desired profile or excess ballast could exist on one section of the line and a deficit further down. Plasser & Theurer ballast regulating machines are designed to bring about savings through the distribution of ballast across and along the line, and by ploughing in the ballast that is spread outside of the desired profile.

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

Figure 2: Track section with a good ballast proﬁle.

www.railwaysafrica.com

PLASSERAIL is especially important on gradients, curves and continuous welded rail where great forces are at play. If the ballast proﬁle is inadequate to resist the force, the track may move causing horizontal or vertical alignment defects and in severe cases, temperature kick-outs.

Figure 3: Track section with no shoulder and little ballast in the cribs.

•

The ballast depth should be kept at between 280 to 300mm under the sleeper, depending on the class of line. The formation should have a cross fall towards the drain of 1:25. This is required to direct the water which drains through the ballast towards the side drain.

4. CAUSES OF A POOR CROSS-SECTIONAL BALLAST PROFILE There are various causes of a poor cross-sectional ballast proﬁle (see Figure 3 for example) including the following: •

A lack of ballast profile maintenance – Maintenance managers must monitor the ballast profile on their sections and correct any deviations speedily before it causes further damage. The Plasserail IM2000 Infrastructure Measuring Vehicle is equipped with ballast profile measuring equipment which is of great assistance in monitoring the ballast profile and in planning for the effective utilisation of the ballast-regulating machine.

•

People walking across the track – In densely populated areas people crossing the railway line in several places and on a regular basis will spread the ballast outside of the desired ballast proﬁle.

•

Ballast crushing – There are many reasons for the crushing of ballast such as normal trafﬁc, rail surface irregularities, around joints and turnouts, poor track geometry, rolling stock defects, etc. The crushed ballast stones will settle closer together and reduce the void spaces.

•

The tamping process to correct geometry defects – Over time and several tamping cycles, the tamping process lifts the sleeper out of the ballast resulting in too little ballast in the cribs if sound ballast management principles are neglected.

5. EFFECT OF A POOR CROSS SECTIONAL BALLAST PROFILE The ballast shoulder and ballast in the cribs provide the track’s resistance to vertical, lateral and longitudinal displacement. This

These defects will cause derailments in worst cases and wear to all the track components and to rolling stock due to increased dynamic loading and lateral acceleration. A loss of passenger ride comfort will also result, cargo my shift and or get damaged in transit. Furthermore, ballast spread outside of the desired ballast proﬁle is an economical loss unless such material can be recovered. The ballast cross-sectional proﬁle is maintained using ballast regulating machines.

6. PLASSER & THEURER BALLAST REGULATING MACHINES Plasserail owns, operates and maintains four different ballast regulating machine models in South Africa; the SBR, PBR, RBV and RTR. However, an even greater range of ballast regulating machines is available from Plasser & Theurer to fulﬁl a multitude of ballast management requirements. The most basic requirement is to rectify the ballast proﬁle for reasons mentioned above and in some conditions, the ability for the machine to do just that is all that is required. The SSP 203 (Figure 4) range is by no means a simple machine but represents one end of the spectrum.

Figure 4: Plasser & Theurer SSP 203 ballast regulating machine.

Plasser & Theurer ballast regulating machines are equipped with specialised features to transfer ballast from the one side of the track to the other and may also be equipped to pick up excess ballast on one section of the track and transfer it to areas with a deﬁcit, thereby ensuring the most economic use of ballast material. The Plasser & Theurer BDS 2000 represents the other end of the spectrum. It features a large hopper in which to transport the excess ballast and can even accommodate an MFS material conveying hopper within the consists (Figure 5) for the ultimate in ballast management ﬂexibility.

Figure 5: BDS 2000 ballast management system.

www.railwaysafrica.com

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

PLASSERAIL 7.

BALLAST REGULATING MACHINE COMPONENTS

7.1. Shoulder Ploughs Ballast regulating machines can either be equipped with articulating bi-directional (Figure 6) or ﬁxed wing one-directional (Figure 7) shoulder ploughs. The articulated shoulder ploughs are more versatile than those with ﬁxed wings. Shoulder ploughs are mounted on either side of the machine and are hydraulically controlled from the machine’s cab. They can be used together or independently of one another, variable up to wing angles of 45°.

7.2. Transfer Plough Similar to shoulder ploughs, two different types of transfer ploughs are available, one-directional located at the front of the machine (Figure 9) and bi-directional shoulder ploughs located between the axles (Figure 10). Lifting and lowering of the transfer plough along a parallel guide is hydraulically operated and controlled from the operator’s seat. This movement allows the height to be adjusted with precision relative to the position of the sleepers.

Each plough can also be slewed vertically to the track centre to produce the required ballast width and to reach ballast that has been spread outside of the desired proﬁle.

Figure 9: One-directional transfer plough located at the front of the machine.

Figure 6: Articulating shoulder ploughs.

Figure 10: Bi-directional transfer plough located in the centre of the machine.

Figure 7: Fixed wing shoulder plough.

Both transfer plough types consist of ﬁxed and adjustable guide sheets. The ﬁxed sheets are provided with tunnels to protect the rail fastenings from damage. The adjustable guide sheets in turn are adjusted in the desired positions to allow the following ballast movements in a single pass (Figure 11):

The articulated shoulder plough has hydraulically adjustable blades on either side which may form a box that can store up to approximately 1m3 of ballast to deposit it when needed (see Figure 8).

Figure 8: Possible movements of ballast by the articulated shoulder ploughs. Figure 11: Possible movements of ballast by the transfer plough

In instances where there are obstacles such as mast poles on the shoulder, the shoulder plough does not have to be lifted, but the operating span of the plough can be adjusted so that it does not touch the obstacle. In this way the piling up of ballast is avoided. The adjustment is made in the shoulder plane, ie the shoulder angle remains constant during the by-pass.

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

the right to the left rail the left to the right rail track centre to the shoulder(s) the shoulder(s) to track centre ploughing into or out of the tamping zone

www.railwaysafrica.com

PLASSERAIL 7.3. Grading Plough

7.5. Hopper

The grading plough (Figure 12) is used directly behind ballast wagons during ballast ofﬂoading or behind a ballast cleaning machine to distribute and even out the ballast.

The capacity of the hoppers depends on the machine model. The purpose of the hopper is to transfer excess ballast from one area to another. It works in conjunction with the sweeper device as explained above. The ballast is unloaded from the hopper via distributing chutes.

7.6. Rail Fastening Brush One rail fastening brush is mounted over each rail. They are lowered pneumatically. Six special cable pieces per rail are pressed against the rail web to remove ballast stones lodged between the rail and fastening.

Figure 12: Grading plough.

Figure 14 : Rail fastening brush.

8. CONCLUSION The importance of maintaining the required ballast cross-sectional profile should not be underestimated since neglect thereof will have many undesirable results. Though often overlooked as a maintenance machine on its own, the ballast regulating machine fulfils the very important function of maintaining the specified ballast cross-sectional profile. Figure 13 : Sweeper device.

7.4. Sweeper Device (Broom Box) The sweeper device (Figure 13) is generally at one end of the machine in a steel housing. The sweeper consists of a rotating brush of rubber hoses with which the ballast is swept from the sleepers. The sweeper brush device can be lowered and lifted hydraulically. Its purpose is twofold: •

It brooms excess ballast from the top of the sleepers and around the fastenings into the sleeper cribs or to the shoulder.

•

Where ﬁtted, it is also a surplus ballast pick-up device by sweeping the ballast onto a conveyor belt system and into a ballast hopper or into MFS units coupled to the machine (the BDS 2000 system).

The large quantity of ineffective ballast that is recovered by the regulating machine during maintenance brings about huge savings in ballast material and labour costs making this machine a highly cost effective maintenance tool. In the next issue of Railways Africa As in the case of all other track components, the ballast bed is subjected to wear and must be replaced once the “wear limit” has been reached. The “wear limit” would be measured as a percentage of fine material outside the ballast grading envelope. Fortunately, due to the ballast grading envelope ranging from relatively small stones of around 19mm, to larger stones up to 75mm, some larger stones will still fit within the envelope. This means that the entire ballast bed does not have to be replaced. Ballast cleaning is an involved process which removes the entire ballast bed, screening and separating the fine material from the reusable and returning the latter beneath the track structure. In so doing, up to 80% of the ballast can be reused, depending on the initial volume of ballast, level of fouling, etc.

/ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů >ĞǀĞů ƌŽƐƐŝŶŐ ǁĂƌĞŶĞƐƐ ĂǇ

Act Safely at Level Crossings

7 June 2012

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

www.railwaysafrica.com

WAGON BUSINESS Specialists in refurbishment, repair and upgrade of wagons and major supplier of new wagons to the heavy haul coal and iron-ore ďŹ&#x201A;eets with tare ratios as high as 5:1, as well as wagons for cement, car carriers, intermodal

GM515_TRE Presslink

and fuel tankers.

Tel: +27 (0)12 391 1304

Fax: +27 (0)12 391 1371

Email: sales@transnet.net

SOUTH AFRICAN

RAIL NEWS TOP TFR APPOINTMENTS Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) Chief Executive Siyabonga Gama has announced the following senior appointments in the organisation, the ﬁrst six being in terms of the new business unit structures: *

General Manager Mineral Mining and Chrome Nozipho Mdawe, MBA

• General Counsel

Kenneth Diedricks, BA Llb

Joined TFR in 2007, currently Deputy General Manager (assistant ROE) in the central region, and responsible for managing safety.

Attorney of the high court. Joined TFR in 1994, currently Executive Manager - Legal Services. *

General Manager Agriculture & Bulk Liquids Ulrico Davids M Phil, B.Comm

Currently TFR General Counsel, she is to assist the CEO in “driving division-wide strategy, business and infrastructure planning, implementation of the market demand strategy, brand positioning and communications, media and stakeholder management, policy and regulation as well as running the public-private-partnerships unit.”

Joined TFR in 1998, currently acting General Manager - Ofﬁce of the CEO. *

General Manager Coal Fuzile Magwa, BA, MBA Joined Spoornet in 1996, currently Regional Operating Executive (ROE), eastern region.

General Manager Containers and Automotive Business Themba Gwala

General Manager Steel and Cement Ravi Nair

General Manager Iron Ore and Manganese Lloyd Tobias

Executive Manager: International Business Nyameka Madikizelan, B.Comm

General Manager in the Ofﬁce of the Chief Executive Cleopatra Shiceka

Acting General Manager Operations Performance and Development in the Ofﬁce of TFR’s Chief Operating Ofﬁcer (COO) Nomsa Mbenekazi Currently executive manager operational excellence, she is to “drive the initiative to optimise our operations performance and develop leadership in operations excellence, continuous improvement and reengineering, total quality management and operations research.”

Currently Regional Property Manager: Western Region. She will be required to “effectively coordinate and grow our activities in the neighbouring states and identify new markets in an effort to extend our operational footprint,” Gama explains.

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

www.railwaysafrica.com

CAPE TOWN STATION: GREEN DESIGN Gibb engineering consultants identified and rectified “critical electrical shortfalls” at Cape Town station, a key facility in the city centre where many thousands board trains every day. The R480 million overall revitalisation project embraced the complex of several buildings connected through concourses, platforms and courtyards. Innovative aspects of Gibb’s work included specialised, dimmable lighting in the main concourse and LED lighting within the acoustic light panels. In reducing energy consumption, the design incorporated a “green” lighting control system. The Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (Dali) control system adjusts light levels to match that of natural light, enabling the individual ballasts of fluorescent and compact fluorescent to be dimmed from 1 to 100% individually. Gibb formed part of the team of consultants and project managers involved in the overall upgrade.

Part of the revamped Cape Town station concourse. Photo: Paul Kilfoil.

NEW TRANSNET AUDITORS On 17 February 2012, public enterprises minister Malusi Gigaba announced the appointment of SizweNtsalubaGobodo as Transnet SOC Ltd’s external auditors, saying this represents “a major milestone in the transformation of the accounting and auditing profession in South Africa.” The appointment is the first in South Africa for a locally grown and black-owned firm to handle the entire audit account of a corporate the size of Transnet. Minister Gigaba was quoted saying: “We encourage the private sector to use the services of firms such as SizweNtsalubaGobodo which have demonstrated skills and expertise in their area of competence. As a society, we are collectively responsible for eradicating the apartheid patterns of development and ushering a national democratic society giving effect to the principles and goals set out in our constitution.” SizweNtsalubaGobodo was selected from three bidders based on criteria set by the audit committee of the board of directors chaired by non-executive Transnet director Peter Moyo. These were: • Technical Ability; • Black Economic Empowerment; and • Price. “The integrity of our financial statements is one of the key elements that determine our ability to raise funds in both domestic and international markets. This is crucial for our capital investment programme,” Transnet board chairman Mafika Mkwanazi says.

www.railwaysafrica.com

SA RAIL NEWS ROAD & RAIL STATS Rail projects executive at Imperial Logistics Gebisa Ledwaba told FTW: “Rail corridor trafﬁc has declined by almost 20% over the past 15 years, whereas in the same period road corridor trafﬁc more than doubled. If South Africa is to address its high transport costs, it needs to embrace intermodal logistics.”

RAIL UPGRADES & “TRAIN FACTORY” IN KZN On 21 February, KwaZulu-Natal premier Zweli Mkhize talked at the opening of the provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg of plans to establish a railway rolling stock “refurbishment and manufacturing facility”, to take advantage of the multibillion-rand infrastructure development programme announced by President Jacob Zuma. According to Mkhize, investments of more than R5bn over ﬁve years are planned for the province, including a “KwaMashu-Umlazi north-south rail corridor” and a business express service between Pietermaritzburg and Durban. It is hoped to commence the latter in April, he says.

BACKLOG REALITIES Major infrastructure development projects in South Africa risk being stalled because government entities and municipalities fail to spend their allocated budget, ﬁnance minister Pravin Gordhan warned in his 2012 budget speech. Only 68% of money intended for such projects was spent last year. Of the R260 billion allocated, only R178 billion was spent.

issues; transportation planning; socio-economic development, BBBEE and transformation; legal and compliance skills; and human resource issues.

SHOTS FIRED AT GAUTRAIN BUS During the afternoon of 24 February, shots were ﬁred at a Gautrain bus in Midrand. Bombela Concession Company spokesman Errol Braithwaite conﬁrmed the incident, in which nobody, fortunately, was injured. The vehicle however returned to the Midrand depot with bullet holes in its bodywork.

GAUTENG PREMIER ON GAUTRAIN BUS STRIKE Speaking during her State-of-Gauteng address to the provincial legislature on 20 February, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said the Gautrain bus service must start running efﬁciently again. The constant “service interruptions” must end, she told MPCs, adding: “We urge management and workers to ﬁnd an amicable solution that must not make our passengers suffer.” The workers’ main reason for striking was to demand transport from their homes to the depot in the early hours of the morning.

[This highlights some of the difﬁculties that arise in trying to eliminate backlogs, such as that in South Africa’s passenger rolling stock. They don’t get solved just by throwing billions at them – there’s a physical limit to what can be put right in a year, or even in ten. – Editor]

GAUTRAIN’S “INEXPLICABLE” RUNNING HOURS Business journalist David Gleason, writing in his “Torque” column, queries the R280 million contributed recently by the Gauteng province, to bolster underperforming Gautrain operating income. (Only 34,000 people have been using the train, compared with the 100,000 or so on which the contract agreement was based.)

Infrastructure backlog: catching up a huge challenge.

One reason for the shortfall, Gleason suggests, is Gautrain’s “crazy, misguided” operating hours. There are no trains to get one to the airport for an early ﬂight, and none to meet you if you come home on the 19:00 from Cape Town.

NEW GAUTRAIN MANAGEMENT BOARD On 14 February, Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport Ismail Vadi announced the appointment for three years - in terms of the Gautrain Management Agency Act (No 5 of 2006) - of a new Board for the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA):

The ofﬁcial explanation – that to extend the hours would cost the province more because this wasn’t in the agreement – seems “inexplicable”. How, Gleason asks, could the planning have been so “misguided”?

• • • • • • •

[Here’s a thought: R280 million divided by weekday passengers of 35,000 plus a lower ﬁgure at weekends, say 15,000, works out at around 10 million passengers in all annually. That means every passenger is being subsidised by about R28 per trip. – Editor]

Amanda Nair (chair) Abel Mawela (deputy chair) Donovan Nadison Mogopodi Mokoena Doris Dondur Motseaoa Alix-Mary Lugemwa Prof Wellington Thwala.

Vadi said the new Board members are appointed by virtue of their knowledge of or experience in ﬁnancial and risk management; rail

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

GAUTRAIN PROBLEMS AT M&R As a member of the Bombela Concession company, prominent South African construction group Murray and Roberts (M&R) played the leading role in civil work on the Gautrain project. In declaring a working deﬁcit amounting to R1.74 billion for the year to 30 June

www.railwaysafrica.com

SA RAIL NEWS 2011, M&R referred to what it termed “signiﬁcant charges and contract completion costs”, notably in respect of Gautrain. A claim relating to this, due to alleged shortcomings in procedure, has been submitted to the Gauteng provincial government. In the meanwhile, the R2 billion rights issue proposed by the group, management explains, forms part of strategy to reduce the organisation’s debt situation as well as fund ongoing contract work. [In the six months to December 2011, M&R reported a loss of R528 million. - Editor]

heavy-haul iron-ore line, for instance, which is to get 30 class 43s, is electrified at 50kV AC. The line east of Witbank to Komatipoort (348km, 3kV DC) gets 32. The largest slice (53 locos) goes to mineral traffic heading south from Phalaborwa. Beyond Komatipoort and on through Swaziland, almost to Richards Bay, this line is not electrified , so here the proposed allocation makes more sense. The rest of the new order for 43 locos, to be built at Transnet Rail Engineering (TRE), is destined for lines vaguely described as serving Eskom power stations.

BILLIONS FOR SA RAILWAYS In his budget speech to parliament on 22 February, ﬁnance minister Pravin Gordhan said an additional R4 billion will be given to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to begin purchasing new coaches. This is terms of a cabinet-approved programme to replace the current ﬂeet of passenger trains, to be phased in over 20 years. The agency also receives R1 billion to build three depots and upgrade signalling in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

The new class 43 diesels: many are to work under the wires. Photo: Stewart Currie.

CENTENARIAN JUST DIDN’T MAKE IT Umgeni Steam Railway’s class 3BR no 1486 Maureen narrowly missed the planned celebratory run on her hundredth birthday this year (26 February), due to problems with her boiler tubes at the smokebox end. The month-end Umgeni Steam running day scheduled for Sunday, 26 February 2012 had to be cancelled. Paying for new Metrorail rolling stock.

TRANSNET PROCUREMENT SHORTCOMINGS According to the Sowetan, irregular purchasing procedures followed at Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) cost the company “millions”. It was reported that a forensic report compiled by auditors Nkonki revealed that senior group executives were involved in the appointing of consulting companies contrary to regulations. It concurred with TFR chief executive Siyabonga Gama claiming he was “selectively” disciplined when he was suspended and later dismissed for breaching tender regulations. He was reinstated in February 2011. The forensic report was commissioned by Transnet late in 2011 following an inquiry by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.

GAUTRAIN TUNNEL PROBLEM According to an interview with Murray and Roberts which appeared on Moneyweb, the Gautrain contract specification for the section between Rosebank and Park stations in terms of water drainage below the tracks is 10 litres per 10m per minute. The current flow of approximately 12 litres per 10m per minute needs to be reduced to below these specifications. Current grouting work is continuing but the contractors need to go back to certain areas to carry out secondary and tertiary grouting. By February 2012, it was hoped that the line to Park station could be opened to traffic in April.

ALLOCATING CLASS 43 LOCOS A surprising decision in respect of Transnet Freight Rail’s planned ﬂeet of 143 class 43 diesel-electric locomotives is that 62 are to be allocated to electriﬁed lines. The 861km Sishen-Saldanha

www.railwaysafrica.com

USR’s class 3BR no 1486 Maureen heading a train between Alverstone and Drummond on the KZN old main-line, 29 January 2012. Photo: Peter Rogers.

APPLE EXPRESS STUDY According to Mandela Bay Development Agency CEO Pierre Voges, the Eastern Cape Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (Dedeat) has allocated R1.5 million for a study to suggest means by which the Apple Express, currently out of use, could be made a viable operation. The study is to examine the potential of the Port Elizabeth-Avontuur narrowgauge (610mm) line in terms of freight and passengers, including tourists. Voges sees the line as one of PE’s major potential tourist attractions.

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

SA RAIL NEWS In 2010, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) called for proposals for the concessioning of a number of branch lines, among them the Apple Express, that were no longer part of its core business of transporting freight. At the end of 2011, TFR CEO Siyabonga Gama said four branch line concessions would be announced shortly, though the Apple Express was not one. Documentation prepared by Transnet ahead of the branch line concessioning process said an assessment of the potential future demand for key freight groups on the line showed “strong growth for wood and wood products over the next several decades. Strong growth is also expected across a range of other key commodities including food and construction materials.” The documentation pointed out that in 2008 approximately 16,000 tons of wood and wood products were transported on the line and this was “expected to grow substantially in the future”.

ACTOM ACQUIRES SAVCIO GROUP Actom (Pty) Ltd, the largest locally controlled manufacturer of electrical equipment in Southern Africa, has acquired Savcio (Pty) Ltd, a well-known South African group devoted mainly to providing maintenance and repair services for rotating equipment and transformers throughout Africa. Actom partners Alstom for environmental equipment and in-service, maintenance, upgrade and retroﬁt for larger boilers, as well as for railway transport activities. It also holds exclusive distribution, technology and representation rights for Alstom Grid in Southern Africa and maintains management, technical and commercial links to Alstom Grid business in Europe.

interfere with the investigation if he is at the ofﬁce. We want to see everybody implicated dealt with.” Mphahlele alleged that the leadership of Prasa “has given tenders to friends.” Business Day quoted Prasa CEO Montana as dismissing calls by Satawu for his suspension, saying this was damaging and irresponsible.

REVIVING THE BANANA EXPRESS Information from Peter Bagshawe: When Transnet called for expressions of interest in branchlines, the owner of a factory at Paddock in KwaZulu-Natal indicated a desire to revive the narrow-gauge Banana Express. As the line at the coast is no longer usable following the washing away of the Izotsha bridge, rolling stock and locos have been moved from Port Shepstone to Paddock. Locos moved are: 138, 139, 151, 156 NGG16 Garratt no 127 has been transported from Port Shepstone to Durban for shipping to the Pufﬁng Billy Railway near Melbourne. Regauging will be required as the line is 762mm – 152mm wider than the South African 610mm gauge. Coaches moved are: 7, 8, 12, 72, 95, 109, 141, 142, 143. Coaches 27 and 136 were still to go at the time this was written.

Actom has excellent BBBEE credentials, having been accredited by a SANAS approved veriﬁcation agent in line with the BBBEE Act and the Codes of Good Practice and obtained a Level 3 rating.

“There are a handful of wagons in the yard, and it is thought they will most likely be scrapped when the site is cleared. Van 3189 may also go to Paddock however.

Actom (Pty) Ltd is the largest manufacturer, repairer and distributor of electro-mechanical equipment and turnkey solutions in Southern Africa, with 40 operating units, 39 production, service and repair facilities, and 26 distribution outlets. Actom has distribution and value-added reseller agreements with Schneider Electric of France for a range of automation and medium voltage products.

“The owner of the locos previously at Port Shepstone had to move them as the site was being cleared. It was logical to store them at Paddock.”

EX-SOLDIERS TO COMBAT METRORAIL VANDALS Western Cape Metrorail’s Riana Scott says 100 former soldiers are to be taken on to help combat vandalism which has reached epic proportions. Making up “strategically placed tactical response units”, they are to wear black uniforms. They will be joining 100 railway police, 130 permanent Metrorail protection services ofﬁcials and 900 contracted security ofﬁcers, working in two or more shifts. CCTV equipment is being intensively used in trying to apprehend miscreants. In one recent week, 26 arrests were made – most of them former security personnel who were supposedly guarding Metrorail property.

UNION WANTS PRASA HEAD’S HEAD According to the Sowetan, reporting on a press conference by the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), union president Ephraim Mphahlele called for the suspension of Prasa group CEO Lucky Montana, whom the union blames for corruption and nepotism at the parastatal. The paper quoted Mphahlele saying “Montana must be suspended pending an investigation. Once the investigation has been concluded - which will ﬁnger him - disciplinary procedures might follow. We believe he will

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

The Banana Express, back in the days when the Alfred County Railway was running the Port Shepstone-Harding 610mm gauge line. Photo: collection Boon Boonzaaier.

TRANSNET - R300 BILLION EXPANSION PLAN During his state-of-the-nation address in parliament on 9 February 2012, South African President Jacob Zuma conﬁrmed that Transnet is to spend R300 billion in its capital-expansion programme. Of this, R100 billion is earmarked for the ports, but the rest is all to be for the railway. An important aim is to shift the transport of coal routed to Eskom power stations off roads that are breaking up.

www.railwaysafrica.com

SA RAIL NEWS Major expenditure is to beneﬁt the Johannesburg-Durban rail corridor, and there is to be large-scale infrastructure improvement on the manganese export route to the new port of Ngqura near Port Elizabeth. In addition, signiﬁcant attention is to be given to the railing of coal from mines in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. An important objective in port upgrading is to expand the iron-ore export channel from 60 million tons per year to 82.

NEW WATERBERG COAL LINES South Africa’s Limpopo Province is rich in coal, most of it untapped. The need for rail access if the commodity is to be properly exploited and the ability to move it to the coast has been realised for a long time and much has been said on the subject in general terms. At last things appear to be moving. Three weeks before President Zuma mentioned the subject specifically in his state-of-the-nation address in parliament on 9 February, it was announced that R7 billion is to be spent over the next five years in putting the Waterberg coal fields on the railway map. The project is to be tackled in two phases, Transnet Freight Rail’s Mike Asefovitz told Business Day. Upgrading of the 20-ton-axleload Lephalale (Ellisras) -Ermelo line to 26 tons has begun and additional passing loops are being constructed. Annual capacity will rise from 4 million tons to 23. About 30% of this will be used to move coal to Eskom’s two new coal-fired power stations at Medupi and Matimba. Besides coal, the line also carries chrome and granite.

HAVE RAILWAY, WANT TO GROW That could have been the title of an ambitious if naive piece that appeared on News24. Entitled Railway lines: the answer, it suggests

www.railwaysafrica.com

readers examine a railway map of South Africa and start filling gaps. To start with, an extension of the 465km Cape Town-Bitterfontein line is proposed through Namaqualand via Springbok “and possibly further north” to link with road trucks running to and from Namibia. Apparently the idea is for rail to take over this traffic, save our roads from destruction and charge Namibia a healthy fee for railage. There’s more. The long (407km) branch westwards from Hutchinson on the Cape Town-Johannesburg main-line to Calvinia should be extended to Nieuwoudtville. Conceding that the steep drop beyond this point is out of the question for a railway, the writer says goods could be moved by road to Van Rhynsdorp as that is only 52km further. The Calvinia branch is still there, admittedly, but the last train ran almost 12 years ago. There wasn’t enough traffic to keep such a remote line in business then and the more one looks at the map, the chances of Nieuwoudtville and Van Rhynsdorp changing its fortunes don’t look promising. If ever there was a line going nowhere, this was it. Though “railway lines will not make tolling go away”, the article concludes,“money should be spent early (sic) to revamp the railway system in areas that are remote from goods and sources. These systems will positively affect the transport of goods to the most inaccessible areas and regions and of course the convenience of passenger services.” All this initiative, of course - we’re told - will create jobs but the writer seems to have forgotten the standard yardstick in South African Grand Plans: how will it alleviate poverty?

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

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. ANOTHER TAXI-TRAIN SMASH: MORE SCHOOLKIDS HURT Five children were injured, two seriously, when a minibus-taxi carrying 16 scholars was hit by a Transnet Freight Rail train at a level crossing on the border of Soweto and Roodepoort, Johannesburg, on 15 March. The driver disregarded prominent signs and ignored two ﬂagmen protecting the crossing. The incident followed soon after a Cape Town taxi driver’s sentencing to 30 years for murder. He caused the deaths of ten schoolchildren when he drove around lowered booms at the Buttskop crossing in Blackheath, Cape Town two years ago.

METRORAIL FIRES COST R70 MILLION On 29 February, six Metrorail commuter trainsets were set alight at New Canada, west of Johannesburg, in the Braamfontein yard and the Elandsfontein yard near Kempton Park. A further three coaches were torched at the Orlando East station in Soweto on 1 March. Damage estimated at R70 million was caused. A number of arrests followed, at least one being a Metrorail employee involved in shunting. The arson is believed to be related to strike action and union protests concerning Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa) management and tendering procedure.

GAUTRAIN BUS SHOOTINGS Firing its striking bus drivers had more serious consequences than Bombela’s subcontracted bus operator could have expected. The evidence suggests that former driving staff were behind recent shooting incidents which dismayed management and frightened commuters. Five arrests followed the shooting of a driver – in his bus – in Centurion, at pointblank range. He recovered in hospital but could have been killed. Two of the suspects were released later – it is believed they turned state witness – but charges against the other three proceeded. One of these,

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

a woman, allegedly stopped the bus by pretending to be a waiting passenger.

branch between Rayton and Cullinan, due to yet more sleeper theft.

GAUTRAIN ASSURANCES ON SAFETY

FOUR DIE IN SUMATRA COLLISION

Six years ago, a survey by Synovate found safety and security topped the concerns of potential Gautrain commuters. The same ﬁndings were revealed in focus group sessions held by the project team, which assured Business Day at the time: “the train will be as secure as any running in the UK or Europe.”

On 20 February, according to the Jakarta Globe, two coal trains – one from Prabumulih with 44 empty wagons, the other from Kertapati hauling 20 loaded coal wagons, collided in the Muaraenim district of South Sumatra. Four crew members were killed in the resultant derailing of the locomotives, both of which caught ﬁre.

The paper quoted Gautrain spokeswoman Barbara Jensen saying that not only would the train be run for 15 years by rail and bus group RATP International -- which operates the Paris Metro system and systems in Germany, Greece, Italy and Morocco -but that certain minimum requirements including security were written into the project’s bid document and the Bombela consortium would have to adhere to these. Jensen was quoted saying: “The project’s success depends on the ability to create a secure environment and prevent crime.” Project leader Jack van der Merwe told Business Day: “The company running the system has years of experience…Every system has its criminal element; they don’t obey the rules on other metro systems out of choice, it’s because they believe they (will never be) caught.”

TRAIN CARRYING METHANOL DERAILS On 8 March, the occupants of ten homes within a kilometre of a CSX derailment at Abbeville, South Carolina, were evacuated due to fears of a possible methanol spill from a tankcar. When it was determined that no leak had occurred, they were allowed to return home. Another tankcar carrying propanediol did leak, but authorities said the thick liquid (used in laminates and coatings) constituted no risk. Methanol, which is used as a solvent, also as a pesticide and as alternative fuel, can cause problems ranging from eye irritation to nausea and even organ damage. More than 20 wagons came off the line. The train was en route from Atlanta, Georgia, to Hamlet, North Carolina.

POTASH TRAIN DERAILS GERMISTON DERAILMENT On 29 January, three class 6E1 electric locos hauling a cement train reportedly ploughed through a derailer onto the ballast at Germiston, apparently after the consist overran a red light. Recovery of the units was ﬁnally completed early on 31 January, as work had to be halted during this period to allow Metrorail services to pass.

ANOTHER CULLINAN DERAILMENT On 29 February, two class 34 dieselelectric locos ran into the veld off the

On 6 March, the last 12 wagons in a Canadian National (CN) train carrying potash came off the track in St John, New Brunswick, on a stretch of track owned by the New Brunswick Southern Railway. Reportedly there were no casualties and no environmental consequences. Breakdown crews had their hands full cleaning up spilled red potash. From its plant at Sussex, New Brunswick, the Potash Corporation exports about 95% of the production from the port at St John. It has ﬁve other facilities in Saskatchewan.

www.railwaysafrica.com

MISHAPS & BLUNDERS

“CHAOS” IN CAPE TOWN “Chaos” said the Cape Argus front-page headline on 26 April, when failure in Metrorail’s signalling system triggered massive disruption to the city’s afternoon peak train service. Lightning – a rare visitor to the mother city – was blamed for what happened. The timing could not have been worse. It was the Thursday before an unusually long weekend – Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday - and many people took the Monday off. A number of scheduled trains were unavoidably cancelled; all the others suffered lengthy delays. The departure boards on Cape Town station read like a crisis situation in a major airport – against every “ﬂight”, it said “delayed”. According to the paper, people took “hours” getting home. To make matters worse, it was the ﬁrst day of the winter rains.

BOMB KILLS THREE AT LAHORE STATION

MAJOR DISRUPTION FOLLOWS AMSTERDAM COLLISION

On 24 April 2012, three people died when a bomb blast ripped through the business express lounge at Lahore station in Punjab province, in the east of Pakistan. About 20 were injured. Railways minister Haji Ghulam Ahmad Bilour condemned the blast, saying the terrorists are enemies of the nation.

An intercity Den Helder to Amsterdam express collided head-on with a slow train from the capital to Uitgeest on 21 April between the stations at Sloterdijk and Amsterdam Central. Press reports said “at least” 136 people were injured, 56 seriously, though apparently no vehicles derailed and only minor damage was caused. Extensive disruption to services resulted however.

MASSIVE DISRUPTION AFTER SIGNAL BOX FIRE Fire gutted the main signal cabin at Mumbai’s key Kurla station shortly after midnight on Wednesday 18 April, causing massive disruption. The entire automatic signalling system failed, necessitating manual authorising of train movements which meant that only about 50% of scheduled services operated, at seriously restricted speeds. The ﬁre was brought under control in a short time and no casualties were reported.

securing overhead traction wires became dislodged, sending 25,000 volts through signals and switching equipment. The key Roma Street Station in the city was closed, leaving thousands of commuters stranded. Altogether 131 morning peak-hour trains were affected. To make up for the chaos, Queensland’s transport minister Annastacia Palaszczuk authorised free travel the following day for everyone using train, bus and ferry services.

FATAL JUMP FROM METRORAIL TRAIN On 29 April, a woman and her daughter apparently jumped from a moving Metrorail commuter train at Compensation station near Ballito on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast. The elder woman was killed while her daughter sustained serious injuries. Paramedics stabilised her at the scene before taking her to hospital.

NRZ CROSSING COLLISION Round-the-clock work to replace equipment, components, panels and wiring commenced immediately, but was not completed before the weekend. Millions of commuters and students were affected by the disruption of suburban trains on the Western Railway, Central Railway and Harbour lines, which carry nearly eight million people to and from work and school in Mumbai, Thane and Raigad.

www.railwaysafrica.com

In 21 April, a bus collided with a National Railways of Zimbabwe goods train near Kadoma, killing one person and injuring 28, some seriously. According to witnesses quoted by the Bulawayo Chronicle, it appeared the bus failed to stop and proceeded across the line at speed.

BRISBANE RAIL AT A STANDSTILL Most of Brisbane’s extensive urban rail system was brought to its knees for nearly four hours on 28 February when a clamp

The catenary clamp that shut down Brisbane commuter trains. Photo/diagram: The Courier-Mail.

TRAIN DERAILS 14 WAGONS IN BUFFALO On 6 March, 14 wagons in a CSX Transportation company train derailed in Buffalo, upper New York state. No hazardous cargo was being transported and there were no injuries. The 55-wagon consist originated in Chicago and was on its way to South Kearny, New Jersey.

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

MISHAPS & BLUNDERS CHICAGO ELEVATED TRAIN DERAILS When a train on the Chicago elevated derailed on 29 April, 40 passengers had to climb off and walk to the nearest station. The train was chartered by the Illinois Railway Museum to raise funds. Members paid $100 each to ride in coaches dating from the sixties and seventies. It is believed that part of the train ran through a crossover and that one coach came off the track. Power in the third rail was switched off and normal service suspended in the area. Ambulances were sent to the site as a precaution.

was trapped between the closing leaves. Within the next few seconds the train started to move. The person, whose arm remained trapped, moved with the train for a short distance before managing to free the arm, and fell onto the platform. Passengers on board the train, who saw the incident, activated the emergency button and the train stopped while it was still partially in the platform. The person whose arm had been trapped left the station immediately after the incident; it is not known whether the incident resulted in any injuries.” The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is trying to ﬁnd why the arm obstructing the doors was not detected by the mechanism, whose design required them to reopen immediately, and why the incident did not prevent the train from starting.

Detraining and walking along Chicago’s elevated tracks is a hazardous business. Photo: Editor.

CROSSING DETECTION SYSTEM AT FAULT The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) reports: “At about 07:38 on 22 March 2012, a motorist used the telephone at Lindridge Farm user-worked level crossing, near Bagworth in Leicestershire, to ask the signaller at Network Rail’s East Midlands Control Centre for authorisation to cross the railway. At this crossing, users must call the signaller to get permission to raise the barriers themselves. The signaller checked the indications on the workstation in the control centre, observed that a train had already passed over the crossing, and gave permission to cross. About an hour later, the same member of the public called back before returning over the crossing and spoke to a different signaller. The motorist stated that as they had been about to raise the barriers to cross for the ﬁrst time, a train approached and passed over the crossing. “Initial investigations found that the signaller’s workstation diagram showed the level crossing was displayed on the wrong side of a boundary between two track circuits. This display error led the signaller to conclude that the train had already passed over the crossing so authority to cross could be given to the user. Another nearby user-worked level crossing was also incorrectly positioned on the workstation diagram.” The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is endeavouring to discover how the chain of events that led to these errors occurred, and why they were not detected during checking and testing. (from RAIB Crown copyright report.)

PASSENGER’S ARM TRAPPED BY DOOR The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) reports: “At about 09:55 on 12 April 2012, a passenger attempted to board a train on platform 2 at Jarrow station on the Tyne and Wear Metro (Newcastle, UK), while the doors were closing. The person’s arm

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

A train at Jarrow station, Newcastle. (Article and photo from RAIB Crown copyright report.)

DOUBLE-DECK GERMAN LOCAL HITS TRACK VEHICLE: 3 DEAD On 13 April, three German track workers lost their lives and thirteen people were injured, some seriously, when a double-deck Deutsche Bahn local train ran into a maintenance vehicle in the eastern suburbs of Frankfurt, dragging it about 400 metres.

AMTRAK TRAIN DERAILS IN RHODE ISLAND An Acela high-speed express between Boston and New York was halted on 29 March after an Amtrak passenger train derailed in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The 285 passengers on board the Acela were transferred to another train. There were no injuries.

CAMBODIA RAIL REBUILD IN TROUBLE According to a report by the Asian Development Bank, TSO-AS & Nawarath, a French-Thai joint venture, was found to have “grossly violated health and safety requirements at workers’ camps along both the northern and southern rail lines.” The report lists “deep pits and quarries” left behind by TSO. Japanese engineering ﬁrm Nippon Koei Co Ltd, the consultant hired by the Cambodian government to oversee the project, carried out an investigation in December after the contractors failed to submit a monthly environmental report in November.

MORE DISRUPTION AT KHAYELITSHA Following a short break in the mindless acts of railway vandalism near Cape Town which persisted almost unabated from November 2011, more interruption at Khayelitsha occurred on the morning of 16 April. Trains were delayed and buses brought in to supplement the disrupted service.

www.railwaysafrica.com

MISHAPS & BLUNDERS CANADIAN CRASH SIMILARITIES PERTURB Canada’s Federal Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has released a report into a train crash in February 2010 that injured seven people in St-Charles-de-Bellechasse when a passenger train ran into a siding at excessive speed. The report draws attention to several factors including: poor visibility because of snow; poor technology that left the situation vulnerable to human error; and insufﬁcient “sharing of medical data” that might have revealed things like sleep disorders. The Board says it is perturbed by the striking similarity between the 2010 accident and the recent incident in Burlington, Ontario when three railway employees lost their lives. Local police reported that they had accounted for all 75 passengers who were on this train. Some were not injured and left the scene on their own. Forty-ﬁve were admitted to hospital for injuries ranging from minor to a broken leg, a back injury and a heart attack. Evidence revealed that the train ran through a crossover at four times the permissible speed. The TSB concludes that Canadian railways rely too heavily on “human activity” and have been too slow to adopt automated signalling.

POLISH SIGNALMAN TO BE CHARGED Polish prosecutors reportedly plan to charge a railway signalman for causing a head-on collision between two trains on 3 March when both were routed onto the same track. He faces up to eight years’ imprisonment if found guilty, even though his action was obviously not intentional. According to the Warsaw Voice newspaper, he is currently under “psychiatric supervision”.

and the national police have appealed to locals to treat the railway with respect and not take unnecessary risks.

15-YEAR-OLD THROWN FROM CAPE TOWN TRAIN During February, a 15-year-old girl was thrown from a moving Metrorail suburban train at Lentegeur station in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, Police found her lying at the side of the line with multiple head injuries, and a case of attempted murder was opened. The victim, who can remember nothing about the incident, has been under therapy at the Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital.

TRANSNET CROSSING CAMPAIGN According to Buanews, published by the South African government information service, a Transnet Freight Rail campaign to warn motorists and pedestrians about the dangers of not observing safety precautions when approaching or crossing railway lines began on 29 March and was to continue until 5 April. The initiative was to “sensitise the public” during the Easter period and thus reduce the number of accidents at level crossings. The campaign was “a joint initiative by Transnet Freight Rail, the Railway Safety Regulator, law enforcement authorities and community forums.”

THREE DIE ON LUANDA LINE TRACKS

Transnet Freight Rail spokesperson Sandile Simelane was quoted saying: “It encompasses the element of educating the public, where educational material is handed out at the identiﬁed level crossings. Transnet Freight Rail would like to appeal to the community to assist in eradicating these tragic and unnecessary incidents by obeying at all times the trafﬁc laws governing rail level crossings.”

To date this year, three people have died under trains on the main line out of Luanda, capital of Angola, apparently due to carelessly walking on the track. Caminhos de ferro de Luanda (CFL)

The campaign focused on 46 level crossing areas that have been identiﬁed as high risk throughout South Africa. “Last year, there

www.railwaysafrica.com

Issue 2 // 2012 Railways Africa

MISHAPS & BLUNDERS were 79 incidents at level crossings, which resulted in the loss of ﬁve lives and 32 people being injured.”

tram came to a stop. There were about 100 passengers on board the tram. None of them were hurt.

COLLISION NEAR LISBON

“Initial investigations indicate that tram 2538 was not detected by the track circuit which locks the facing points, and that the points were commanded to change because platform three was already occupied by a preceding tram.”

In the ﬁrst week of May, one passenger train ran into another at Caxas, a station near Lisbon in Portugal. Fortunately it was travelling slowly, but 20 people sustained injury, according to Lisbon District Civil Protection Organisation head Elisio Oliveira.

BROKEN RAIL CAUSES DERAILMENT IN INDIA According to an Indian Express report, at least 27 passengers were injured, three seriously, when eight coaches of the FerozepurMumbai Punjab Mail derailed between Sampla-Kharawar station near Rohtak in Haryana. Preliminary investigations suggested that the accident was caused by a broken rail. Ofﬁcials said this might be due to “weather conditions.”

BRIDGE COLLAPSE IN BRAZIL Vale SA cancelled iron ore and passenger trains for ﬁve days between Parauepebas in Para state and the port of Sao Luis in Maranhao state (northern Brazil), after a bridge structure collapsed on 16 March during construction work on the mining company’s 892km Carajas railway. A new bridge is being built over the Mearim River, one of the largest in the state, as part of a project to double the line. The structure lies 10km outside the town of Vitória do Mearim, 142 km from São Luis. Seven employees were hurt. The line carries trafﬁc from Vale’s Carajas iron ore mines to the coast for export.

A tram at the points where the derailment took place. (From RAIB Crown copyright report: Investigation into the derailment of a tram at East Croydon, South London, 17 February 2012.)

TRACK DROPOUTS IN NEW ZEALAND

TOILET USAGE WRECKING INDIAN RAILS

Major damage to the railway between Gisborne and Wairoa in New Zealand has meant serious disruption to transport in and out of the district. During bad weather in mid-March, two massive dropouts under the line left about 100 metres of line hanging unsupported in the air. The railway was left with two huge gaps, one about 60 metres, with track hanging and a 35-metre drop below.

India’s Anil Kakodkar committee which is reviewing railway safety has found that human excrement has corroded a “signiﬁcant percentage” of the country’s rails “Every time a passenger uses the toilet on a train,” the committee reports, “it makes the Indian Railways a little more dangerous.”

The three freight trains per week had been running at capacity since the second week of January. General freight, fruit and wine were among the commodities being transported and the likely addition of timber products was expected to make the line even more viable.

During the ﬁve days’ breakdown, the movement of some 300,000 tonnes of mineral products was stalled.

The discharge results in decreasing rail lifespan, adding to the cost of running the network. The committee found evidence that the effluent also corrodes track clips and coach undercarriages. It has recommended that toilets discharging their contents directly on the track be discontinued in all of the 43,000 passenger coaches within five years. “Indian Railways have been experimenting with zero-discharge toilets for some years but have not yet completed the field trials”.

The extent of the damage however has put the future of the line at risk. There are concerns that the government may think it not worth repairing. During 2011, transport minister Steven Joyce said the Gisborne-Napier line was one of four identiﬁed that could be closed or mothballed by 2012.

LONDON TRAM OFF THE LINE The UK Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is looking into an incident on 17 February when a three-section articulated tramcar derailed in East Croydon, South London. “At about 06:25, tram 2538 was approaching East Croydon tram stop travelling west from the direction of Sandilands at a speed of about 12km/h. The driver observed that a “points set” indication was showing for the left-hand route, towards platform three. As the tram passed over motorised facing points, they changed between the ﬁrst and second bogies, so that the leading bogie took the left-hand route and the centre and trailing bogies took the right-hand route (towards platform two). The centre bogie was dragged into derailment, the pantograph came off the contact wire, and the

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

TILT-TRAIN: Charlie Lewis took this photo in Romania in 2007. The Resitabuilt 0-8-0T forestry loco is hauling logs on the Viseu de Sus 750mm-gauge system.

www.railwaysafrica.com

GM592_Presslink

We offer proven rail products with strong after sales service and support in the key markets of:

Â&#x2021; 3DVVHQJHU VDIHW\ Â&#x2021; 3DVVHQJHU FRPIRUW Â&#x2021; 0HFKDQLFDO HTXLSPHQW Â&#x2021; &XUUHQW FROOHFWLRQ DQG PDQDJHPHQW

Our locally manufactured and assembled product offerings are further enhanced by reliably engineered products supplied through strategic alliances with leading international and locally based Original (TXLSPHQW 0DQXIDFWXUHUV 9RLWK ,VULQJKDXVHQ :LGQH\ 7UDQVSRUW &RPSRQHQWV DQG )DLYHOH\ 7UDQVSRUW

2XU PLVVLRQ NHHSLQJ \RX RQ WUDFN +HDG RIÂżFH 7HOHSKRQH )D[

( PDLO LQIR#LPIX\R FRP ZZZ LPIX\R FRP

MISHAPS & BLUNDERS PATAGONIA NARROW-GAUGE IN TROUBLE

THROWN FROM METRORAIL TRAIN

A disastrous storm on 8 March caused serious damage to the Patagonian narrow-gauge line, Bryan Acford reports following a Farrail tour to the area. At a point about 60km west of Ing Jacobaci, long sections over a distance of some 20km were covered in sand or washed away. The line was severed in two places - one around Futa Ruin / Mamuel Choique the other just south of Leleque.

On 14 March, two men were thrown from a moving Metrorail commuter train in Johannesburg. Press reports described the location as “between the Mayfair and Florida stations” though these lie some distance apart and there are other stations in between. Both victims were hurt badly, one critically with head injuries. According to a statement by Netcare 911, “He was intubated and placed on a manual ventilator at the scene before he was transported, along with his seriously injured friend, to the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital for further urgent care.”

“The management actually suspended services on 27/29 Jan in order to repair the track which was apparently the cause of frequent derailments. Given the effects of the storm one must wonder whether it will ever be repaired. Both Ing Jac & Barloche stations look very smart inside, effectively museums! We found the steam loco and its stock in a locked corrugated shed at Bariloche. “La Trochita: Currently in three sections: * Esquel - Only no 4 working here, 107 is on display without rods. No 4 is running as a 2-2-6-2. Tourist trains to Nahuel Pan had ﬁve well loaded coaches. * El Maiten - Only 101 working here (in good shape as we used it for four days). Used on a Tue & Sat tourist train to Desvio Thomae, sometimes Lelque. 1,6 & 16 all inside workshop (two had boilers in the boiler shop) - 105 looks as though it will be next to be repaired * Ing Jacobaci - 3,19 & 104 all serviceable, nice coaches etc and could make a nice tourist operation if anybody ever visited the ﬂyblown place. We used 104 but it bent a main rod when it reached the broad gauge junction so our trip was curtailed.

LIGHTNING KNOCKS OUT TRAINS Metrorail train services were disrupted in several parts of Gauteng on 12 March because of damage due to lightning, Spokesman Tony Games told the press that electronic equipment was hit, affecting controllers and data cards and causing delays to trains between Johannesburg, Naledi and Vereeniging. A technical team was sent in to assess the extent of damage and to effect repairs as soon as possible.

BOOK THROWN AT COPPER THIEF The theft of copper wire from Amtrak resulted in James Martin, 40, being charged on 25 February with “theft by unlawful taking, risking catastrophe, criminal trespass” as well as related charges. He was jailed when unable to post bail set at $75,000 in the Phoenixville District Court, Philadelphia. Evidence said he was seen by an Amtrak repair technician and was arrested “without incident” at the Whiford station in Exton.

FOURTH CT TRAIN FIRE IN 12 DAYS “The line remains superb - what does the future hold? Who knows but it has carried on in this way for 20 years now so let’s hope they continue”

Metrorail in Cape Town reported yet another train arson attack the fourth in twelve days - on the morning of 23 March. Two coaches were gutted near the Philippi station.

R12M DAMAGE IN KHAYELITSHA TRAIN FIRE According to Metrorail’s Western Cape regional management, damage estimated at R12 million was caused when three coaches burned in Khayelitsha on 20 March. Services on the line were delayed until the ﬁre was put out. Metrorail appealed to members of the public to come forward with information on the vandalising and torching of trains. A reward of up to R25,000 is offered for information leading to a successful conviction.

INDIAN CROSSING ACCIDENT KILLS 15 On 20 March 2012, 15 people were killed when an express train from Mathura to Kasganj ran into a vehicle carrying 17 on a level crossing near Madu station in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. A recent ofﬁcial report revealed that nearly 15,000 people die every year crossing the line in India.

@RailwaysAfrica

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

www.railwaysafrica.com

COACH BUSINESS Specialist supplier of repair, refurbishing, upgrade and manufacturing services for suburban electric train sets

GM516_TRE Presslink

and mainline coaches and the Blue Train.

Tel: +27 (0)12 391 1304

Fax: +27 (0)12 391 1371

Email: sales@transnet.net

RAILWAY HERITAGE

Preservation is A Vital Part of The Picture

By John Batwell

Reefsteamers, Germiston The club’s class 12AR no 1535 has returned to service. It worked on the Magaliesburg line on Saturday 3 March, following “down time” owing to inner injector cones wearing out. Work is in progress to put class 15F no 2914 back into service so as to have another loco to operate fund-raising trains. A donations’ drive for the repair of no 2914 is under way. The class 15CA 4-8-2 no 2056 has worn wheel proﬁles so it would not be possible to get this locomotive up and running even if the group did re-ﬂue the boiler. Meanwhile, 15F no 3046 worked the Easter Express on 7 April.

recent months – not a full overhaul but some rotten wood around the window has been sorted out, followed by a quick sand-down and repaint. Much work remains to be done on the ﬂoor and interior but further rot has been stopped for a while. Plans are being made to relocate certain loco assets to other preservation clubs’ premises, speciﬁcally Reefsteamers and Friends of The Rail.

Umgeni Steam Railway, KwaZulu Natal Class 3BR no 1486’s boiler certiﬁcate expired in May. Work on class 19D 4-8-2 no 2685 is progressing but with the considerable amount of work still to be undertaken, train operations have had to be suspended until this loco is ready.

NGG16 Garratt goes to Australia NGG16 no 127, ex-Alfred County Railway in KwaZulu Natal, has arrived in Victoria, Australia, headed for The Pufﬁng Billy preservation organisation and operating railway as a source of spares for sister locomotive no 129.

Atlantic Rail, Cape Town This Western Cape group is raising funds with the aim of returning class 16DA Paciﬁc no 879 to running order. During March, some R5,500 were still needed to move the loco to Atlantic Rail’s site so that a full ﬁnancial assessment of the implications may be made. Reefsteamers’ class 12AR no 1535 has returned to service following problems with worn inner injector cones. Photo: J. Batwell.

Friends of The Rail, Pretoria On 9 April, the club’s domeless class 19D 4-8-2 loco no 2650 was back in service on the holiday week-end, running out to Cullinan and back.

Sandstone Steam Extravaganza, Free State A steam extravaganza was held at Sandstone Estates in late March into April. A miscellany of locomotives entertained the visitors to the narrow gauge system despite inclement weather that did nothing to deter the enthusiasm of the photographic brigade.

Rovos Rail, Pretoria This up-market tour operator used its reinstated North British-built class 19D 4-8-2 locomotive no 3360 on a charter to Cullinan on 14 April. This class 19D currently appears in a television commercial for Dentyne.

Sanrasm, Krugersdorp A quick repair and paint job to one side of A-18 single diner Phantom Pass has been undertaken. The roof has been redone in

One of Mozambique’s Marromeu sugar estates’ Peckett tank locos, no 2161, worked during Sandstone’s recent steam gala. Photo: A. McCarthy.

Work on class 59 in Nairobi, Kenya

Restoration of Sanrasm’s A-18 dining car Phantom Pass has been under way at the Krugersdorp site. Photo: G. Pethick.

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

After dismantling, the class 59 Garratt’s two brake cylinders were found to be in good condition. Cleaned and lubricated, they await new springs. Problems with both this loco and the preserved class 30 included slack in the oil ﬁring rods resulting in erratic ﬁring and unnecessary black smoke. The cause was traced to the link pins and holes on the rods and also a slack bracket on no 5918. This has been removed and sent off for welding. In order to locate the

www.railwaysafrica.com

steam leak on this engine, the static boiler was used to get it up to 150 psi. Three holes in three separate super-heater tubes were detected, one on the left of the petticoat and two which were finally revealed following the clearing of an avalanche of soot. To replace these tubes, an overhead crane or five-ton chain block would be needed. Alternatively one could cut and cap the tubes and remove six of the fifty elements. As the need for the Garratt to move 1,100 tons is never going to arise again, this surgery would not adversely affect its performance on tour duty.

The future of mobility

Royal Livingstone Express, Zambia At the end of March, a visitor observed that either the class 10 no 156 or class 12 no 204 (both North British-built) were being used on the dinner trains operated along part of the Mulobesi line.

Steam Tour to Eritrea There are no scheduled passenger services on the Eritrean railway, but enthusiast visitors are able to charter a diesel railcar or a steam-hauled train. Many make the long journey from Europe or America to do just that. The 950mm-gauge Ansaldo-built 0-4-4-0 tank locos date from the Italian occupation in the thirties. The Littorina railcars are not much younger. A steam tour behind the unique 1930s vintage Italian-built Mallet tank locomotives is planned from 15 to 30 September 2012 between Lessa, Arbaroba, Sheregeni and Asmara in Eritrea. The tour focuses on the spectacular section from Lessa to Arbaroba, followed by the steep climb into the small station of Sheregeni. Here one enjoys the breath-taking vistas at the Devil’s Gate. Just above Sheregeni, one of the many stone-arched bridges offers numerous photographic opportunities, followed by the really steep section with many twists and turns into Asmara at 2,300 metres. Night shots at the depot, staged shunting and photography at Asmara station are included, as is a ride with the Krupp-built diesel locomotive and a set of authentic Krupp freight wagons. Nowhere else in the world can one travel in a double-headed steam train up gradients as steep as 1:28. The 117km line has over 500 bridges and stone-built viaducts, 30 tunnels, in many places clinging to cliff edges through stunning scenery. The number of participants on this tour is strictly limited to ensure photographic quality. All operational classes of steam and diesel locomotives in Eritrea are to be used: the sole class 202 (0-4-0 built by Breda), small Mallet 440.008 (0-4-4-0 built 1915 by Ansaldo), class 442 Mallets (0-4-4-0 built 1938 by Ansaldo), Krupp diesel D27 (built 1957) and, if operational by then, the Fiat railcars Littorina and Littorinella. For more details contact Geoff Cooke at: geoff@geoffs-trains.com

InnoTrans 2012 International Trade Fair for Transport Technology Innovative Components · Vehicles · Systems

18 – 21 September · Berlin · Germany www.innotrans.com

Italian-built steam locomotives entertain enthusiasts during visits to the country of Eritrea.

www.railwaysafrica.com

Messe Berlin GmbH Messedamm 22 · 14055 Berlin · Germany Tel. +49(0)30/3038-2376 · Fax +49(0)30/3038-2190 innotrans@messe-berlin.com

BOOK REVIEW

STEAM ENCOUNTERS Lingering Whispers of the South African Locomotive’s Story by Paul Hloben Review by John Batwell A number of years ago, Canada’s Nils Huxtable published some stunning black-and-white steam photography. Not too many coffee table books come out in black-and-white – it’s all colour these days. However, there is something wonderful about viewing steam pictures in black-and-white and this has prompted Hloben to use this medium in a follow-up to his colour presentation Steam Passion. The 176 pages of Steam Encounters are in landscape format and the photographic coverage - on glossy paper - embraces steam locomotives in a variety of contexts: from attendant personnel minding a newly-lit ﬁre in the lonely dead of night to the glitz, glamour and clamour of next-day steam running, characterised by the paparazzi taking up vantage points for the potential photographic “great shot”. The contemporary steam scene in black-and-white features primarily the locomotives of the clubs Reefsteamers and Friends of The Rail, captured through the lenses of Hloben (and others), many during sunrise and sunset line operations as well as in atmospheric sheds. Photos on one of South Africa’s most scenic lines, the Bethlehem-Bloemfontein section, were made possible by Reefsteamers’ operations. Hloben has pulled in veteran South African photographer Mike Wright for a wealth of steam shots from decades back – from times before the word “preservation” was even mentioned. Wright’s evocative images include the really big locomotives of the old SAR – the class 25 condensors and the mighty GL Garratts, for instance.

Paul Hloben has captured not only steam engines in all their glory, but also those responsible for their demanding physical preparations – the greasing, watering, ﬁre-lighting, polishing and shovelling, mostly unseen, that precede the Great Day. Bringing out the best of South Africa’s many diverse classes of steam locos, Steam Encounters will make a worthy addition to anyone’s railway library. Steam Encounters ISBN 978-0-620-50286-3 First Edition 2011 – 30cm x 22cm Published by Rexxon Publishing P O Box 71860, Bryanston 2021, Johannesburg, South Africa Email: rexxonmedia@gmail.com Phone: +27 11 705 2003; +27 83 269 0667

Black and white steam photography has an appeal all of its own – here two local 4-8-4 locomotives roar dramatically eastbound out of Petrusberg, Orange Free State.

Railways Africa Issue 2 // 2012

www.railwaysafrica.com

GM620_VAE_Presslink

Gautrain Turnout Assembly

www.voestalpine.com/vaesa

WHEEL BUSINESS Specialists in the manufacturing and refurbishing of all types of railway wheelsets for the Southern African

GM517_TRE Presslink

region, using the latest technology in wheel-proďŹ ling portal lathes and laser measuring equipment.

Tel: +27 (0)12 391 1304

Fax: +27 (0)12 391 1371

Email: sales@transnet.net