Railways Africa Issue 1 2012

ISSUE 1 // 2012

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RAILWAYS AFRICA / FOREWORD

Foreword

China, we pointed out, is working on countless rail-related projects on the continent but none we knew comprised more than one at a time, and certainly none concerning two completely different countries. Djibouti (fractionally south of the Red Sea) and Nigeria (a very long way to the west, beyond Ethiopia, Sudan and Chad) are hardly close, in geographic or any other respects.

Djibouti has only one railway, the one that runs – which may not be the most appropriate word - to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Two contracts were awarded to a Chinese company late in 2011 – one in October, the other in December - each for the reconstruction of a designated part of the line on the Ethiopian side of the border. Djibouti, it was explained at the time, would look after the 100km or so remaining on their side of things – a hundred kms that might (we suggested) be the subject of this latest contract with China.

Meanwhile in Nigeria, China has been conspicuous in many railway contracts in recent times, several being in progress at the moment; a new light rail system in the capital, Abuja, for instance, a new line from Abuja to Kaduna, the rebuilding of the main-line from Lagos to Kano (1,126km), and so on. Were we talking of one of these?

Well, attempts to identify the exact matter under discussion continued round in circles, and I’m not sure that either

interviewer of interviewee really managed to reach common ground. One rather suspected the BBC thought they were onto a brand-new news scoop – a hitherto unexpected Chinese foray into Africa, and didn’t really want their thunder stolen.

A fascinating part of the Djibouti story is the announced intention of replacing the existing metre gauge with 1,435mm, electrified. Electric railways are currently all the rage in Africa. (As, of course, is 1,435mm “standard”gauge. Nigeria was the first on the continent – if you don’t count Gautrain, Mauritania, Gabon, Egypt and Morocco - to test these waters, so to speak, but abandoned its ideas when funding realities came to light.)

The new line from Addis into Kenya is to be electric, too. That’s the one just agreed by the presidents of Ethiopia and Kenya, to run more than 1,000km to Lamu – a port that doesn’t actually exist as yet, some 250km up the coast from Mombasa.

Elsewhere, the expected costs of new 1,435mm lines planned to replace the metre gauge in Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, etc are happily quoted in billions of US dollars, though where exactly the cash is to be sourced isn’t spelled out in great detail. Even less clear is the extent to which the price of completely new locomotives and rolling stock has been realistically factored in. Another consideration: there’s no immediately obvious secondhand market for used (wellused) metre gauge equipment. India has been selling off it’s own discarded items to Africa, but unfortunately this isn’t by any means a two-way trade.

BARBARA SHEAT Publisher / Railways Africa

ISSUE 1 // 2012

There was this BBC interview recently with Railways Africa. The question as to who should take the hot seat – publisher or editor – was quickly settled. The editor filled the bill (the publisher having the casting vote!) but there was a problem with what the subject of the discussion was supposed to be. The people in London wanted to talk about a contract said to have been clinched with China, apparently involving railways in Djibouti and Nigeria.

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PUBLISHER Barbara Sheat EDITOR Rollo Dickson DESIGN & LAYOUT Grazia Muto ADVERTISING Kim Bevan SUBSCRIPTIONS Kim Bevan CONTRIBUTORS C Baker Chas Rickwood Geoff Cooke Jacque Wepener John Batwell Peter Bagshawe Pierre-Noël Rietsch Roderick Smith

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

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

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Issue 1 // 2012 Railways Africa

3

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RAILWAYS AFRICA / CONTENTS

Contents

Features KAPSCH CARRIERCOM Kapsch CarrierCom Breaks Into The African Market

6 6

Africa Update Iran to Set Up Wagon Plant in Algeria

8

New Line to Malawi

11

Strike Cripples Transnamib

12

10

Mishaps & Blunders Buttskop Booms Broken 64 Times

14

Chicago Derailment Delays Commuters

15

Kroonstad Station Fire

16

20 Railway Heritage Umgeni Steam Railway, KwaZulu Natal

20

Jan Kempdorp Army Depot Loco gets Reprieve

21

www.railwaysafrica.com

Issue 1 // 2012 Railways Africa

5

KAPSCH CARRIERCOM

Kapsch CarrierCom Breaks Into The African Market Kapsch CarrierCom, a global leader in seamless integration of GSM-R networks for over 70,000 track kilometres in Europe, was recently awarded a contract for the installation of an end-to-end solution for Agence nationale d’études et de suivi de la réalisation des investissements ferroviaires (Anesrif), the national agency responsible for railway infrastructure investments in Algeria.

The order includes the delivery and installation of a GSM-R end-to-end solution on the 110km Saida-Moulay-Slissen route.

Moreover, the company is responsible for the delivery of SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy) equipment, a telecommunication multiplex technology, which allows the combining of low-rate traffic streams into a high-rate traffic stream.

The associated consulting, designing and construction work, such as installing and integrating telephone masts, to the maintaining, operating and support of the entire network, will be managed by Kapsch CarrierCom. The route will form part of the “Rocade des hauts Plateaux” route network.

The company has set up an office in Algier, in order to better service the client’s needs; currently employing a staff of 10 with a view

6

Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

to expanding the number of employees depending on further projects.

of pilgrims to the holy sites in Mecca has been a resounding success.

“We are especially pleased about this order in North Africa as this region, together with the Middle East, is the absolute growth market for innovative wireless train communication solutions”, says Kapsch CarrierCom’s GSM-R vice president, Michel Clement.

Kapsch CarrierCom continues to pioneer the development of applications and services for next generation networks and innovative OSS/BSS solutions in its seven R&D centres in Europe and Asia.

The company’s considerable experience and relevant expertise drew significant attention at the Dubai Rail Exhibition held in February. The Middle East and surrounds have identified rail as a cost-effective way to move freight over long distances without damaging the environment, and with the FIFA World Cup to be hosted in Qatar in 2020 there is also an urgent need for additional passenger services. The metro system installed in Syria for the movement

Kapsch CarrierCom is an internationally recognised specialist and trusted partner for railway operators such as the French railway RFF, the German railway DB and Network Rail in the United Kingdom. In the public operator segment, customers include service providers such as the companies of the Telekom Austria Group and Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan.

www.kapschcarrier.com | www.kapsch.net

www.railwaysafrica.com

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

Since 1932 Timken has played an integral role in the development of the South African railroad industry, delivering more than 900,000 locally made bearings for the most challenging environments and applications—from locomotives to rolling stock, freight to passenger service, trams to high-speed rail. With innovations ranging from the nation’s first Mobile Rail Service (MRS) units to the first Black Economically Empowered (BEE) agreement in the bearing industry, Timken is where South Africa turns for quality products, service and business leadership—today and tomorrow. Visit Timken.com/rail or call +27 11 741-3800 for more information.

© 2010 The Timken Company Timken® and Where You Turn® are registered trademarks of The Timken Company. www.timken.com

AFRICA UPDATE

AFRICA UPDATE AFRICAN EXPRESS The African Regional Assembly of the International Union of Railways (UIC), with offices based in Tunis, has initiated an important project backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep).

This is in recognition of 2012 being declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.

mission, in the form of a 20,000km tour of Africa by train, starting in Tangier.

The aim is to study initiatives in the field of energy, to identify their key success factors, replicability and durability, and to attract national and international investors to implement and reproduce these projects.

A White Paper will be released afterwards to promote good practice and target energy stakeholders in Africa (international donors, governments, NGOs, companies and national electric power companies,

Office National des Chemins de fer (ONCF – the national railway of Morocco) in conjunction with UIC’s African region endorsed the concept of an “Africa Express”

etc.). A film targeting the general public will show the main issues and aspects of the mission.

A 20,000km tour of Africa by train is going to run into problems – notably stopblocks where the continent’s many discontinuous railways suddenly end. - Editor: Railways Africa.

For more information on “Africa Express”: Website: www.africaexpress.org Email: claire@africaexpress.org

ALGERIA IRAN TO SET UP WAGON PLANT IN ALGERIA

Zenza

Luanda

Malanje

Dondo

ANGOLA

ATLANTIC Lobito Benguela

DRC Luau

Dilolo

Camacupa Luena

Caaia

Kuito Huambo

Cubal Lubango

Dongo

Menongue

Namibe Chamutete

Chiange

Km 300

ZAMBIA Oshikango Ondangwa NAMIBIA Tsumeb

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Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

BOTSWANA

Wagon Pars deputy director for sales and exports Omid Hezareh says the company plans a wagon assembly line in Algeria.

The aim is to supply rolling stock to both Algeria and other countries in Africa.

Wagon Pars, an Iranian firm, is the largest manufacturer of railway vehicles in the Middle East, producing some 40 locomotives, 1,500 goods wagons, and 250 passenger coaches annually.

ANGOLA BENGUELA RAILWAY PROGRESS Railways of Angola national director Julio Bango Joaquim says rehabilitation work on Caminhos de ferro de Benguela (CFB) in the district of Kunje is almost complete and effort is now concentrated in the province of Bie, towards eastern Moxico.

Joaquim was speaking to the press in the city of Kuito, 575km from Lobito, following the arrival of the first train.

On 25 February, Angolan transport minister Augusto da Silva Tomas inspected rail and related projects at the port of Lobito, including construction work on the ore and container terminals.

MOÇAMEDES LINE TO OPEN SOON Moçâmedes Railways CEO Daniel Quipaxe has told the Angop News Agency that public passenger trains are to start running on the sections Namibe-LubangoMenongue between March and April 2012.

Quipaxe was speaking in Lubango city, in Angola’s southern Huíla province.

www.railwaysafrica.com

AFRICA UPDATE CAMEROON CAMEROON RAIL MASTER PLAN On 10 February, Cameroon’s economy, planning and regional development minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi revealed a national railway master plan, dovetailing with government objectives to transform the country into an “emerging economy” by 2035. The plan was prepared in partnership with South Korea’s Korpec and Chunsuk Engineering company. Cameroon’s existing railway extends some 987km on metre gauge.

A much improved railway is seen as a stepping stone to expanded trade with adjoining countries, including the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. The first three of these, being landlocked, rely on Cameroon’s port-capital of Douala for exports and imports. More importantly, in the short term, existing and planned mining sites in Cameroon – involving iron ore, nickel, cobalt, manganese, gold, diamond and bauxite – are to be linked to a new deep-sea port being built at Lolabe-Kribi, about 140km south of Douala.

Nigeria

Ngaoundéré

Central African Republic

Cameroon Kumba

Nkongsamba Mbanga Douala

Yaoundé Mbaimayo Eséka Ngoumou

Guinea

Gabon

Congo

70km/h and 90 for freight.

New rail extensions are envisaged to serve cocoa production in the south-west as well as coffee trading centres such as Mbanga, Nkongsamba, Bafoussam, Foumban and Bamenda in the littoral, western and northwest. In addition, connection is foreseen with the proposed new railway from Sudan through Chad.

Options under consideration for funding and operating include Public/Private Partnership (PPP) and Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT). The master plan foresees operating speeds of between 150 km/h and 170 for passenger trains and between

Régie Nationale des Chemins de fer (RNCF – the state railway of Cameroon) metre-gauge loco CC 2209, Bombardier-built (Canada), type MLW MX 620, used for goods traffic between Douala-YaoundéNgaoundéré, also passenger trains Yaoundé-Ngaoundéré. Photo: Pierre-Noël Rietsch.

EGYPT THIRD METRO LINE FOR CAIRO According to the Egyptian State Information Service, Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri officially inaugurated the £E4.2 billion first phase of Cairo’s third underground line on 27 February. It is expected to divert some 300,000 current users from surface transport. The new trains, which began running on 21 February, serve five stations between Attaba and Abbasiya. Ganzouri inspected construction in progress on the second phase, already 60% complete. All three phases are to be running within five years, he told a press conference.

www.railwaysafrica.com

A consortium led by Vinci Construction with Bouygues Travaux Publics, Orascom and Arab Contractors, took 51 months to complete the new underground section at a cost of €235m. Vinci subsidiary ETFEurovia Travaux Ferrorviaires led the consortium responsible for the supply and installation of 11km of track with third rail in the tunnel.

Phase II continues the line eastwards some 6.5kkm from Abbasiya to Al Ahram, with five more stations. It is scheduled to

open by 2014. Phase III is to run westwards from Attaba to Imbaba, with an extension from Abbasiya to Cairo International Airport in the east.

ETHIOPIA STANDARD GAUGE TO DJIBOUTI In October 2011, China Railway Group (CREC) was appointed main contractor to the Ethiopian Railways for a $US1.2 billion reconstruction project involving the 683km Ethiopian section of the metre-gauge Addis Ababa-Djibouti line, currently out of use.

Issue 1 // 2012 Railways Africa

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AFRICA UPDATE It is understood that the new line is to be on 1,435mm gauge, and reports talk of electrification. The first phase covers 317km between Addis Ababa and Mieso. India has allocated $300 million towards the project and Ethiopia is currently looking for a further $300 million.

The second phase comprises the 339km section of the route from Mieso, through Dire Dawa to Dewale on the border with Djibouti. On 16 December, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation signed an agreement in respect of this.

Here the Ethiopian government is to meet 40% of the cost, with the rest funded through a soft loan from China. The government of Djibouti is expected to construct the final 100km from Dewale to the Doraleh container terminal on the Red Sea.

Ladybrand and Ficksburg. The aim is to reduce problems on the road, which saw 98 fatalities in 2011 and 95 in 2010. The statement issued says: “There is no railway line within Lesotho, but the South African railway line to Bloemfontein and Bohlokong runs along the north-western Lesotho border, with a stop in Ficksburg.

The train is also expected to travel between Kimberley in the Northern Cape and Maseru.”

[There is an existing line from Bloemfontein to Marseilles junction (113km) from where a 26km branch goes to Maseru but neither run through Ladybrand (32km further to the north) - or Ficksburg (another 70km). Somebody has their railway lines crossed. – Editor: Railways Africa.]

LIBERIA LIBERIA’S TOKADEH-BUCHANAN LINE. DJIBOUTI 0

50

100

150 Km

Dewale

SOMALI

ETHIOPIA

Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, invested $US800 million to refurbish an iron ore mine, port and railways to produce the first exports from Liberia in about 20 years in September 2011. The company renovated the railway, rebuilt bridges and roads and installed a new drainage system in the first phase of the project’s development. The 240km line runs from the Tokadeh mine to the sea port at Buchanan.

Dire Dawa

MADAGASCAR

Addis Ababa

MADAGASCAR JOURNEY Roderick Smith (Rail News Victoria editor) reporting on sar-L:

Metahara Nazaret

“I went to Madagascar knowing little more than ‘the home of Michelins’ [French-built railcars]. With a small group, we achieved a lot of riding.

GUINEA ORE FROM GUINEA

LAMU-ADDIS RAILWAY

“What I wasn’t expecting, but which I enjoyed: • The grand scenery, vivid green and highly productive on the east coast.

• The great architecture (simple two-storey mudbrick houses for farmers; elaborate colonial stations and civic buildings).

• The climate: hot and dry, and often hot and humid.

• The variety of food available.

• The excellent railway rehabilitation achieved by the Belgian management company.

• A morning in a lemur park, finding four breeds, plus other exotic rainforest denizens.

• Good local beer, and quite adequate French, South African and local wines which were not extortionate.

• And above all: the friendly people (staff and locals).

A 1,435mm gauge railway is to be built from Kenya’s Lamu (where a port is to be developed) to Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia. An agreement to this effect was signed at State House Nairobi on 1 March 2012, witnessed by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. The proposed new line will be approximately 1,300km in length.

“A solo visit would be tricky: it would have to fit around public Michelin runs, and I saw no evidence of long-distance buses to link the railheads. It would be safe, and not overcrowded, and station vendors would ensure you don’t starve. Booking with a group offers convenience and efficiency, and the LCGB formula worked well.”

London-based Rio Tinto is spending $US1 billion on the first phase of its Simandou project in Guinea, estimated to produce 95 million tons of ore by 2015. It is to invest more than $10 billion on an iron-ore mine, 650km of industrial railway, 21km of tunnels and a new deep- water port south of the capital, Conakry. Minister of mines Mohamed Lamine Fofana foresees the creation of some 10,000 jobs.

Though the most direct route from Simandou to the sea would be by way of Liberia, it is understood that Guinea favours a railway wholly within its borders.

KENYA

LESOTHO

David Wood added more on pakistanrailways@yahoogroups.com:

PASSENGER TRAINS TO MASERU According to Orange Free State MEC for roads and transport Butana Khompela, it is planned to run main-line passenger trains between Bloemfontein and Maseru (in Lesotho), via Thaba Nchu, Botshabelo,

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Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

“Two or three years ago there was some correspondence about railways crossing runways. Manakara, Madagascar, should be added to the list. LCGB recently operated a tour here which covered all the lines on the island, with both diesel locos and the French Michelin railcars with six-wheel bogies carrying pneumatic tyres. The east line runs from Fianarantsoa in the highlands down to the coast at Manakara. A few kilometres short of Manakara Photo: Jacque Wepener

www.railwaysafrica.com

AFRICA UPDATE the line performs a left-right S-bend across the [airport] runway.

Steam disappeared many years ago, but it’s still a delightful country and railway to visit.”

Tete province to 22 million tons a year. It plans to move 18mt of this annually by way of Malawi to the northern Mozambique deepwater port of Nacala.

On 11 January, the government of Malawi signed a $1 billion deal with Vale covering the rehabilitation of the country’s railway and the construction of a new line, approximately 145km in length, to a junction with the existing railway near Blantyre from a point about 50km east of Moatize in Mozambique. The new line is to be built by Portuguese group Mota-Engil. The contract – funded by the Brazilian mining group Vale - is worth $US 703 million, according to a statement filed with Portuguese stock market regulator CMVM. The work is to be completed by mid-2014.

A train on the east line in Madagascar crossing the airport runway near Manakara. Photo: Roderick Smith

SAUDI ARABIA

EGYPT

On the Mozambican side of Malawi’s eastern border, substantial work is needed to strengthen both track and bridges along the 615km of track through Cuamba and Nampula to Nacala.

RED SEA

Vale commenced limited exports in June 2011, using the Sena line to the coal terminal at the port of Beira, but capacity on this route is unlikely to exceed about 6mta, even when upgrading is finally complete.

ERITREA

SUDAN

Khartoum

Vale recently acquired the majority shareholding in Central East African Railways (CEAR) which holds a 20-year concession to operate the complete Malawi rail network. The original lead shareholder in CEAR when the concession was awarded in 1999 was the Railroad Development Corporation (RDC) of Pittsburgh USA, headed by Henry Posner III. RDC sold to the Mozambiquan investor group Insitec in 2008 and Insitec’s share has now passed to Vale. About $1 billion is to be invested by Vale in Malawi over a period of three years for construction and rehabilitation of the railway and it expects to employ some 4,500 workers of which 70% are to be Malawians.

Massawa

Asmara

TANZANIA MALAWI

ZAMBIA

GULF

DJIBOUTI OF ADEN

Lake Malawi

YEMEN

Lichinga

MOZAMBIQUE

Chipata

Dire Dawa

Addis Ababa Waw

Lilongwe

ETHIOPIA

SOUTHERN SUDAN

Cabora

Bassa D

ZIMBABWE

SOMALIA

Moyale

UGANDA

Bujumbura

Musoma

Mocuba

Mutarara

Morrumbala

Vila de Sena Caia

Quelimane

Inhamitanga

Marromeu

Indian Ocean

Mutare

0

N

Dondo

150

300

450 Km

Beira

Lamu

Mwanza

Lake

BURUNDI Isaka

Chiromo

Manica

Nairobi

Lumbo

Blantyre

Za Tete m be si R ive r

To Harare

Kisumu

Lake Victoria

Kigali

KENYA

Tororo

RWANDA

Monapo

Entre Lagos Nampula

Gulu

C

Nkaya

Moatize

Juba

Kampala

Nacala

Cuamba

am

Arusha

Kigoma

Mombasa To Bulawayo

a Tang

Tabora

nyika

TANZANIA

Tanga

INDIAN OCEAN

SOUTH AFRICA

To Johannesburg

Boane Goba

e kw

Cho

na ba gu ba am Mo a rci Ga

www.railwaysafrica.com

no

At a cost of some $US6 billion, Brazil’s Vale mining group intends to double production at its Moatize coal mine in Mozambique’s

ssa

NEW LINE TO MALAWI

Un

Re

MALAWI

Inhambane Marao

Chicome Manjacaze Xin Xai - Xai a Ma van nh e ica

Inharrime

MAPUTO

SWAZILAND

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AFRICA UPDATE ANOTHER NEW LINE TO NACALA The Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (Enrc), based in Kazakhstan, is planning to build a completely new railway from Mozambique’s mining area at Moatize to the port of Nacala. The Dow Jones Newsletter quotes Enrc general manager Paul Craven foreseeing 60 million tonnes of coal moving along the line “initially”.

Unlike Brazilian mining group Vale’s intended route to Nacala via Blantyre, Enrc’s trains are to bypass Malawi altogether, which means the line is to run through Mozambiquan territory throughout.

PROJECTIONS FOR MOZAMBIQUE’S LIMPOPO LINE The Limpopo line of Caminhos de ferro do Moçambique (CFM – the state railway & harbours) is expected to carry some 700,000 tonnes of coal and other goods in 2012. This projection is based on signs of improvement in the economic situation in Zimbabwe, and growing regional interest in the port of Maputo for international trade. The 522km railway, running from the Indian Ocean to the Zimbabwe border at Chicualacuala, was rebuilt in 2004 following extensive flood damage but there has been little demand for goods traffic to and from Zimbabwe since then. The line was leased to Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd (Rites) together with the Sena Line but CFM - disappointed with the company’s performance, especially with regard to infrastructure maintenance - has taken back the operation. CFM Board Chairman Rosario Mualeia says maintenance is to be stepped up to optimise capacity, which should be close to 2mta. He told Radio Mozambique: “We already have customers who want to move 500,000 tonnes of ferrochrome along the line.”

NAMIBIA STRIKE CRIPPLES TRANSNAMIB On 2 February, industrial action which began in Walvis Bay spread to other stations, halting train operations. According to employees, wage negotiations have been proceeding on and off since 2006 without reaching any acceptable solution. Adjustments implemented late in 2011, and again more recently, were regarded as unfair, with recently appointed staff allegedly receiving substantially more than those with long service. TransNamib chief corporate communications officer Ailly Hangula-Paulino told The Namibian that the effect of the strike was nationwide.

would work and how much each country would contribute, Rwanda Focus quoted Twagira saying: “Whoever comes to invest in this project will pay all the money because this is a joint venture between Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi; if we fail to get the investor, then each country may have to pay its portion depending on the distance.”

In terms of the proposals, Tanzania is to lay 980km of track from Dar es Salaam to Isaka along the route of the existing metre-gauge and construct a new 360km section from there to Rusomo on the border with Rwanda. Rwanda has to build a new 135km line from Rusumo to Kigali, while Burundi will be required to construct 195km of line from Keza to Musongati.

To overcome problems posed by the undulating topography in Rwanda, the proposed route is to run in the main along valleys and the lower level of hill slopes. Another challenge is that expensive, skilled manpower is needed. A potential difficulty that has not escaped notice concerns the inevitability of delays in a project requiring three-way consensus in decision-making.

SIERRA LEONE RAILWAYS IN SIERRA LEONE Nearly 10 years have passed since the civil war in Sierra Leone ended (in 2002) and in that time there has been no functioning railway in the country - ranked third-lowest of 155 on the World Bank’s 2010 logistics performance index. The global boom in ironore is motivating African Minerals, Rio Tinto Plc and ArcelorMittal to spend $US25 billion on 11 new ports and more than 5,000km of new and rebuilt railways in West Africa, according to J P Morgan Chase & company, quoted by Bloombergs. It is believed West Africa may have ore deposits rivalling Australia’s Pilbara region. In Sierra Leone, African Minerals Limited has already spent $1,2 billion on rail and port facilities serving its Tonkolili project. Its output, together with that from London Mining Plc’s Marampa mines, are expected to boost Sierra Leone’s economy by 51% in 2012. If this is achieved, the International Monetary Fund says, it will rate as the fastest in the world.

TANZANIA THAT TANGA-UGANDA-SUDAN LINE

RWANDA RWANDA RAILWAY “EVALUATION” According to the Daily Monitor (published in Kampala), “Tanzania recently signed a $US4.7 billion railway project that will link the country to Rwanda and Burundi.” A detailed evaluation is to be carried out on the proposed new 1,435mm gauge line including expropriation, rail alignment, geo-technical investigations and environmental management.

A report in October 2011 put the expected project cost at $5.1 billion. The African Development Bank signed a grant and loan agreement with the three countries involved.

Earlier studies by DB International from Germany and BNSF from the USA predicted an internal rate of return ranging between 25 and 35%. According to Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) director-general Elias Twagira, these findings mean the project is economically viable. The mining industry in the region alone, he says, would make the railway profitable by transporting minerals to Dar. He points out that one has to look at long-term benefits, not the short-term investment. Asked how funding

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Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

The old saying: “always something new out of Africa” is alive and well in Tanzania. Very recently, Uganda’s Daily Monitor quoted minister of works and transport Abraham Byandala saying that $US3 billion was budgeted by the governments of his country and Tanzania for a new railway to run from the Tanzanian port of Tanga to Nimule (on the Sudanese border) by way of Arusha, Musoma, Kampala, Tororo and Gulu.

Only a week later, Transport World Africa on line quoted The East African giving a figure of $4.7 billion for a new line along the same route. A curious thing about this second version is a statement indicating the new line “will run alongside the $3 billion TangaArusha-Musoma-Kampala railway”. As there is no such line at present (except the metre-gauge, out-of-use Tanga-Arusha portion) this sounds as though $3bn is to be spent on one new line, and a separate $4.7bn on a line running alongside it.

The $4.7bn line, according to The East African, is to be 1,435mm gauge. The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the paper says, is busy with a feasibility study. It quotes CCECC managing director Wang Xiangdong saying: “We

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AFRICA UPDATE are expecting to hand over the feasibility study by April, while construction of the 880km railway line is expected to be completed by 2015.”

[We suspect the papers’ journalists got their lines crossed. Exactly the same figure - $4.7bn - is the price-tag quoted for the new Dar es Salaam-Rwanda line which goes nowhere near Tanga, Arusha, Musoma or Kampala. It does run parallel to the existing metre gauge as far as Isaka – and that happens to be 880km from Dar. – Editor: Railways Africa.]

Bujumbura

According to National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) general manager Air Commodore (retd) Mike Karakadzai, the railway is to be restructured based on vertical separation. In terms of this rearrangement, the operation of trains will be divorced from the ownership and maintenance of infrastructure. Minister of transport communication and infrastructural development Nicholas Goche is to present a draft memorandum for recommendation to cabinet.

Singida Muheza

Mpanda

VERTICAL SEPARATION FOR NRZ

Karakadzai was quoted saying that other operators would be admitted to the system and that they - as well as NRZ - would have to pay access fees to use the tracks. Concessioning had been considered as an option, he said, but was discarded because “countries that followed this route produced catastrophic failures.

Britain, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi all had to withdraw their concessions.”

Moshi

Kaliua

ZIMBABWE

Manyoni

Tanga

Kilosa

[On a point of information, which railway concessions have been “withdrawn” by Britain? Our understanding was that the privatised UK rail operations were carrying record passenger numbers. As for Kenya and Malawi – both countries’ rail concessions are still very much in place. – Editor: Railways Africa.]

ZAMBIA ZAMBIAN GOVT CONSULTING RSZ The Zambian government is concerned about the country’s railways, says minister of communications and transport Yamfwa Mukanga, who has been reviewing the problems faced by the Railway Systems of Zambia (RSZ) concession, and the TanzaniaZambia Railway (Tazara). Transparency International Zambia (TIZ) president Reuben Lifuka has questioned the way in which the Zambia Railways concession was awarded and has proposed that government consider its cancellation.

NRZ 15th class 395 photographed by C Rickwood in December 2010.

According to minister Mukanga, RSZ has serious problems, especially with sleepers, and says that all issues to do with the concession are enjoying thorough scrutiny.

Commenting on Lifuka’s remarks, RSZ CEO Benjamin Even points out that the concession was awarded following a competitive World Bank tender. “It is credible and legal,” he told the Daily Mail, adding “We therefore humbly request TIZ to double-check their facts before commenting on issues they hardly understand.” RSZ, he told the paper, has engaged government in “constructive dialogue which is on-going to address various policy and operational challenges which the company continues to face, with the aim of improving its operations.”

According to Even, RSZ has invested over $US 50 million in the concession since December 2003.

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Issue 1 // 2012 Railways Africa

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS

Mishaps & Blunders One objective of our regular feature reporting and commenting on rail mishaps is to provide information and object lessons from Africa and abroad, in the hope that – in some cases at least - this might help avoid recurrences.

BUTTSKOP BOOMS BROKEN 64 TIMES

DEADLY BUENOS AIRES CRASH On 23 February, in the worst Argentinian railway accident since 200 died in a 1970 collision, 50 people lost their lives when a packed morning peak-hour commuter train ran into the platform 2 buffers at Once station in the city. Press reports spoke of 700 injured. According to the BBC, “dozens of people were trapped for hours in the wreckage” but all were safely extricated eventually.

However, a number were hurt critically. Two days of mourning were ordered by the government and planned carnival festivities were cancelled. The driver tested negative for alcohol but one rumour suggested “his attention was distracted by his mobile phone”.

COAL TRAIN DERAILS 45 WAGONS Western Cape provincial road safety programme director David Frost told the Cape Town High Court on 21 February that 64 instances of damage to the barriers at the Buttskop level crossing at Blackheath were reported for 2011, compared with 43 in 2010.

He was testifying in aggravation of sentence in the case against taxi driver Jacob Humphreys. While taking children to school on 25 August 2010, Humphreys overtook a row of cars queuing at the lowered Buttskop barriers while the warning lights were flashing, drove round the boom and was hit by a Metrorail commuter train.

Ten children died and four were badly hurt. Judge Robert Henney said he was shocked by Frost’s evidence. “What are you guys doing wrong?” he was reported asking. “Why hasn’t it stopped?

What are you people doing to curb this?”

[Previously, Humphreys had been found guilty of 10 murders and four attempted murders. Blaming the province for failing to prevent other people driving into the gates seems a strange reaction from the Bench. – Editor. ]

On 21 February, 45 wagons in a Canadian National coal train derailed about 25km north of Houston in British Columbia, on the Prince Rupert line. The locomotives and 19 wagons remained on the track, but it took two days to clear the line, lay new rails and restore traffic. Concertina-ed wagons and spilled coal made an “inordinate mess”, according to local property owners.

A POWER FAILURE, NOT A BASH Suggestions that intercity passenger trains to and from Port Elizabeth were disrupted due to the ANC’s centenary celebrations were nonsense, Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) CEO Lucky Montana says. The actual cause was a locomotive pantograph that tangled in the catenary about 150km from Port Elizabeth, resulting in a power failure. No traffic could pass through the affected section, neither passenger nor goods trains. Arrangements were made to convey passengers south of Bloemfontein by bus.

CANADIAN DERAILMENT: 3 DIE

14

On 26 February, two locomotive drivers and a learner employee in the cab were killed and 45 people injured when VIA Rail Canada passenger train no 92 from Niagara Falls to Toronto derailed in Burlington, Ontario at about 15:30. According to VIA Rail, there were 75 passengers on board and five crew. The locomotive and five coaches all came off the track.

All but nine of these had been released by soon after midnight.

VIA Rail said three passengers were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, including a broken back, a broken leg and a heart attack, while 42 other passengers and one crew member were taken to local hospitals.

After the accident, all passenger trains on the Toronto-Niagara Falls and TorontoLondon-Windsor routes were replaced by buses. Burlington mayor Rick Goldring was quoted saying the crash damaged nearby

Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

buildings. Canada’s Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Apparently engineering work was in progress on the line. “Black box” recording equipment revealed that the train was travelling at 110km/h – four times the permitted speed over the crossover where it derailed.

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS MAN THROWN FROM TRAIN An unidentified man died after being thrown from a moving train at Kaalfontein near Kempton Park on 18 January. At around the same time, an Ekurhuleni metro police officer died when he came into contact with high-tension Metrorail wires. He had rushed to Kempton Park station after hearing that hostages were being held on a train by striking post office workers. The police were unable to force open the doors of the train to gain access and it was then that the officer apparently climbed on the roof.

Columbia. There was nothing hazardous in the cargo, which consisted of lumber and pulp products, and there were no injuries.

SUICIDE BID FAILS A man who apparently tried to commit suicide by throwing himself under a train at Dube in Soweto on 26 January was taken to Baragwanath Academic Hospital in critical condition – without his legs. According to a metro spokesman, the incidents of suicides on railway lines around Soweto is causing concern. They rarely survive, he said.

TRUCK WEDGED IN RAILWAY BRIDGE A man wanting to cross the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia, into South Carolina on 20 January somehow managed to drive his Ford pickup onto a railway bridge where it became wedged between the steel girders. A train from Georgia ran onto the bridge but was able to stop before colliding with the truck, whose speedometer was stuck on 60 miles per hour (96km/h). Police said they believed alcohol was a contributing factor. The occupants of the vehicle – two brothers - were taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Dislodging the truck took some time, delaying two trains, but further rail traffic was diverted to another route. The Norfolk Southern Railroad expected repairs to the bridge to take two days. Photo coutesy of The Augusta Chronicle.

CHICAGO DERAILMENT DELAYS COMMUTERS Major delays affected hundreds of commuters following a derailment in a Waukegan, Chicago rail yard on 20 January. Trains on Metra’s Union Pacific/North Line were running up to 90 minutes late in the morning peak, and a number were cancelled. Both inbound and outbound schedules were involved.

SECURITY STRIKE RICOCHETS A strike since November by personnel employed to protect Metrorail property in Cape Town continued to have serious knock-on effects, well into 2012. Passengers reportedly took the opportunity to travel without tickets due to the absence of security staff on stations and trains. In a combined operation with police, mounted to combat fare evasion on 18 January, three people were hurt when they were chased off a platform and across the tracks at Nolungile station in Khayelitsha. They were apparently hit by a train and were taken to hospital.

Metrorail says it lost “millions” in lost revenue and damage to signals, points and other equipment.

ELEVEN WAGONS DERAIL NEAR PRINCE GEORGE On 18 January, a southbound Canadian National freight train derailed 11 wagons about 16km north of Prince George, British

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It so happens that the only time Railways Africa Editor Rollo Dickson had to detrain because of a goods derailment occurred a short distance south of Prince George – which lies 746km north of Vancouver – one September day in 1981. The photo was taken at North Vancouver early that morning, shortly before departure of the Cariboo Dayliner, formed of Budd RDC units.

KHAYELITSHA TRAIN SERVICE UNDER SIEGE FROM VANDALS Media statement issued by Western Cape Metrorail’s Riana Scott on 26 January: “One hundred and twenty incidents of vandalism since November last year have cumulatively crippled Metrorail’s service in the Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain areas. Sections of track between Langa - Wetton, Langa - Philippi, Langa - Belhar, Woltemade Goodwood, Lentegeur - Kapteinsklip and Stock Road - Chris Hani stations are targeted between 3pm and 4am on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Signalling Infrastructure is so damaged that trains are operating under perpetual contingency measures, thus resulting in major train delays and cancellations in these areas.

“Regional Manager for Metrorail Western Cape Lindelo Matya says that the vandalised system had been compromised by ongoing asset destruction to the point where automated train control and traffic operations in the central service area are no longer possible. Vandals have been responsible for the destruction of 4 facilities, 5 train carriages, more than 110 signals, 17 points machines, 21 track boxes and assorted cables since the start of the strike action. Twenty nine tracks are down, points are clamped in 42 areas and train drivers are receiving up to 38 manual authorisations per trip.

“One hundred and seventy-three trains have been cancelled and 2,503 trains delayed due to vandalism. Whilst contingency measures ensure safe operating conditions, this leads to long delays. In some instances delays of three hours have been recorded, leading to commuter backlash. This excludes the consequential delays and impact on other lines, employers’ productivity losses and the security personnel strike’s impact on the local economy. The total cost of the strike to Metrorail exceeds R23 million to date.

“Matya explains that the rate of vandalism has outstripped the rail operator’s capacity to repair assets and suppliers’ ability to provide sufficient stock for replacement: ‘Whilst our efforts to repair and bring back trains into service in the last 6 months had materialised, resulting in all required trains for scheduled services

Issue 1 // 2012 Railways Africa

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS available, this has been severely hampered by these cowardly acts of vandalism’”

expected to take some time, with the line remaining closed for an *indeterminate period.

It was the third rail accident in Alberta in a week. “About 20” wagons came off the track near Hay Lakes on 20 January. On 17 January, a freight train collided with a stationary train near Hinton.

BRAHMAPUTRA MAIL IN FATAL COLLISION Five people died at Karanpurato station in Jharkhand, India, when the Brahmaputra Mail bound for New Delhi collided with a freight train that reportedly “rolled backwards”. According to The Times of India, “about a dozen passengers were hurt in the crash. The railway ministry has ordered an inquiry into the accident. Six employees were suspended for “dereliction of duty”, including the driver and his assistant on the goods train, as well as the assistant station master at Karanpurato.

WEST BENGAL COLLISION Infrastructure destroyed (file photo).

BUSES REPLACE KHAYELITSHA TRAINS From the media statement issued by Metrorail on 26 January: “To minimise delays for commuters and compensate for loss of capacity and reliability Metrorail has as a contingency re-introduced special express bus services in the Khayelitsha area until the network is restored to its normal automated signalling operation.

These special supplementary services alleviate congestion on busy routes between Cape Town and the stations at Chris Hani, Kuyasa, Nonkqubela, Nolungile, Stock Road and Khayelitsha. Like before the buses express between six stations and Cape Town during peaks and do not stop en route. The Khayelitsha Express has also been replaced by a bus service for the next few days.

“Regional Manager for Metrorail Western Cape Lindelo Matya assures customers that the police have made a breakthrough and that arrests are imminent: ‘Significant progress has been made since the interim interdict and first arrests’. Matya says investigations to date clearly implicate the interdicted striking contract security guards as being responsible for these incidents.

The security companies replaced the fired guards with newly recruited ones, and the services of an additional company were contracted in December and January. These guards insist on being employed by Metrorail. Matya was adamant that Metrorail’s recruitment policy will be complied with at all cost: ‘No responsible company would employ individuals who would stoop to criminal activity to secure employment’.

According to an India Today report, one person died and six were hurt when one passenger train ran into another at Fulia station in the Nadia district of West Bengal. Three coaches in the one train derailed on impact, and two in the other. Official investigations into the cause are continuing.

ANOTHER CAPE TOWN COMMUTER DIES Commuters falling from the doors in Metrorail trains was a concern for much of the past decade. In the latest incident, a man fell between platform and train at Sarepta station near Bellville, 20km east of Cape Town. His right leg was severed but he died from other more serious injuries.

KROONSTAD STATION FIRE The historic station at Kroonstad in South Africa’s Orange Free State was destroyed by fire on 20 January. The building had been partially razed in a previous blaze but there is now little left except the stone-built walls.

NAMIBIAN DERAILMENTS According to TransNamib, the company’s management is seriously concerned about derailments between Otjiwarongo and Walvis Bay. Since mid-November there were three such incidents, while a fourth train derailed between Windhoek and Otjiwarongo.

Technical inspections suggest that the condition of the line, including some “tight” curves, coupled with speed, is responsible for the accidents, and a report has been compiled and submitted to cabinet.

SEVENTEEN WAGONS OFF BRIDGE On 21 January, 31 grain wagons derailed and 17 fell off a bridge spanning the Battle River Valley near Wainwright in Canada’s Alberta. The steel structure was damaged and repairs were

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Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

Photo: Jacque Wepener.

NOT TO BLAME FOR JAPANESE CRASH The driver and 106 passengers died in 2005 in Japan’s worst rail accident in 40 years when a commuter train derailed on a bend in the city of Amagasaki (near Kobe) during the morning peak hour and smashed into an apartment building. No less than 500 were injured.

Masao Yamazaki, now 68, was in charge of safety for the West Japan Railway company in 1996, when tracks were relaid at the accident site. Charged with professional negligence and responsibility for the crash, he has been cleared by a recent court decision.

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Prosecutors argued that Yamazaki should have to taken “proper safety precautions”, such as installing a device that can stop a train from travelling too fast. Kobe District Court Judge Makoto Okada ruled there was no negligence.

“There were not foreseeable factors ... that would have given grounds for him to order the (speed-controlling) device be installed,” he found. Yamazaki became Disaster at Amagasaki, 25 April 2005. president of the West Japan company after the accident, but resigned when the indictment against him was filed. However, survivors of the 2005 crash and relatives of the victims are now endeavouring to have charges against other senior employees proceeded with.

The future of mobility

The accident was Japan’s worst rail disaster since 1963 when 161 people died after a freight train collided with a truck in Yokohama and was hit by two passenger trains.

NORWEGIAN DERAILMENT Rail accidents in Norway are rare. On 15 February, a Stadler FLIRT test train derailed south of Oslo. According to the Accident Investigation Board Norway (AIBN), investigations at the accident site and readings from the train’s Teloc data recorder and camera system indicate that the accident occurred in an area where the track has relatively sharp curves and the posted speed limit is 70km/h. The train was apparently travelling at 135 km/h when the brakes were applied, and it came to a complete stop after approximately 340 metres. The train derailed about 50 to 60 metres after the speed limit changes from 130km/h to 70km/h.

The five people who were on board, including three employees of Norges Statsbaner (NSB – the Norwegian state railway), a Polish Stadler employee and a Finnish employee of a sub-supplier, were taken to hospital but subsequently discharged.

FLYING CAR LANDS ON LINE At 02:00 on 21 February, a police officer in Bridgeport, Connecticut, watched in disbelief as a car travelling at high speed hit several parked cars, then a roadside barrier, took off and flew six metres through the air to land on a railway line. The driver was taken to hospital. The line was closed for two hours until the track had been cleared.

CHINA CRASH FINDINGS CONFIRMED

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The official report into the collision between two high-speed trains near China’s Wenzhou on 23 July 2011 - in which 40 people died - appeared on the website of China’s state administration of work safety on 28 December. It confirmed that “serious design flaws” in the signalling and train control equipment, together with “sloppy management and the mishandling of a lightning strike” were among the reasons for the accident. An executive meeting of the state council was informed that 54 people shared the blame for the accident, including former railway minister Liu Zhijun, who was dismissed in 2010 following charges of corruption. The report says station technician Zang Kai noticed three malfunctioning signals near Wenzhou, but did not spot a fourth. This was transmitting a false green aspect following the failure of a fuse

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MISHAPS & BLUNDERS in an LKD2-T1 signal assembly, which appears to have disabled track circuit detection. Dispatcher Zhang Hua was dealing with at least 10 trains during a storm with up to 50 lightning strikes per minute. Having been notified about the defective signals, he authorised train D3115 to proceed with caution, telling the driver He Li “if you come across red lights, switch to visual running procedures, and maintain speed below 20 km/h”. D3115 was brought to a stand by the defective signalling, and He Li tried to override the ATP in order to continue. But he could not contact the dispatcher by radio, and presence of the train was not detected by the faulty track circuit. With the control centre display showing a false clear, Zhang authorised train D301 to proceed. After more than seven minutes, he managed to get D3115 moving again, entering the next track circuit, so that the train reappeared on the control centre display. Although the dispatchers realised the danger and attempted to contact D301’s driver Pan Yiheng by radio, the collision occurred less than a minute later. The official report discusses whether the rapidity of construction of the high-speed network may have contributed to faults in the safety systems, but does not say whether similar problems have been found elsewhere.

YET MORE CABLE THEFT DISRUPTS GAUTENG TRAINS Theft and damage to signal cables during the last week of November disrupted Metrorail commuter train services in Gauteng. Points and signals were disabled due to what a spokesman described as “nothing less than sabotage”.

Apologising for the inconvenience caused to passengers, he conceded that many hours of production must have been lost as a result of early morning disruption on 31 November.

GAUTENG METRORAIL DELAYS Train service delays near Johannesburg on 8 December were attributed to signal failure at Geldenhuys which necessitated manual flagging. All operations east of Johannesburg were affected, also the Vereeniging (via Germiston) and Pretoria lines.

CAPE TOWN TRAINS ON FIRE On 8 December, the motor coach of a Metrorail commuter set was set on fire in Pinelands, Cape Town. In another incident, seats were burned in a train at Langa. These were the third and fourth instances of arson related to suburban trains in the city since security personnel contracted by Metrorail went on strike on 29 November. Both other fires were started on trains on the Cape Flats.

BIG SINGAPORE BREAKDOWN The popular view that rail breakdowns are calamities mainly confined to South Africa is regularly dispelled in this column.

Never more so than in December 2011, when thousands were trapped underground in Singapore, where we thought nothing ever went wrong. A Circle Line breakdown on 14 December reportedly delayed some 26,000 commuters. The following day, during a power failure in the afternoon peak hour, the Straits Times reported that commuters smashed coach windows in trains stalled below ground without lights or air-conditioning. Some stranded passengers walked along dark tunnels to reach the nearest station. The cause, which dislocated services for some five hours, was attributed to a third rail defect.

A further breakdown on 17 December – the third in a week - was blamed on a similar problem. Other though less serious disruptions have been reported in recent weeks. The system, which has been in operation for 24 years, carries nearly 2 million people daily.

BERLIN SHUT-DOWN An electric failure shut down the entire Berlin S-Bahn system on 15 December, leaving the German capital without any service on the urban fast train network operated by a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn Police said there was no evidence of sabotage on the S-Bahn, one of three rail systems used by Berlin commuters and which is used by up to 1.3 million passengers a week (a day?), but the cause of the failure was not immediately clear.

/ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂů >ĞǀĞů ƌŽƐƐŝŶŐ ǁĂƌĞŶĞƐƐ ĂLJ

Act Safely at Level Crossings

7 June 2012

18

Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

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RAILWAY HERITAGE

Preservation is A Vital Part of The Picture

By John Batwell

Reefsteamers, Germiston

Umgeni Steam Railway, KwaZulu Natal

As indicated in the November edition, this club’s class 15F 4-8-2 no 3046 worked the holiday season public trains. The run on 16 December was indeed the last main-line trip for Reefsteamers’ driver Frans van Dyk, before retiring from footplate duties. His son, Andre, fired. Owing to health problems, Frans has chosen to “call it a day”.

During the year-end holiday period, the club’s class North British class 3BR no 1486 “Maureen” was in use but narrowly missed the planned 26 February celebratory run on her hundredth birthday, due to problems with boiler tubes at the smokebox end. In addition, her boiler certificate expires in May.

In February, class 12AR 4-8-2 loco no 1535 Susan was still out of use owing to the inner injector cones being worn out. The class 15F has been holding the fort in terms of 2012 runs to date.

Geoff’s Trains of the United Kingdom has had to curtail the proposed South African portion of a regional safari this next winter.

Both class 25NC no 3472 and GMAM Garratt no 4079 are in need of tyres. Water availability at Ficksburg in the Free State is also a problem.

The Umgeni committee is looking to put in an application for Government funding owing to its depleted motive power and recent overheads in resleepering the Inchanga line. Umgeni Steam Railway lost some R130,000 in income as a result of the line being closed. Bush-clearing is an on-going job too. The possible closure of the section of line from Pinetown up through Wyebank on Field’s Hill is another concern as it will isolate club activities to the Kloof-Inchanga section and remove potentially lucrative runs in and around Durban.

On the upside, over 800 passengers travelled on the preservation group’s trains on 18 December. The class 3BR lost part of its ashpan but this was temporarily repaired.

The 14-coach Reefsteamers’ New Year holiday excursion to Port Shepstone was most successful. The Margate Pipes and Drums piped the diesel-hauled train into the South Coast station with a traditional rousing Scottish welcome and then passengers, locals and holidaymakers wandered around some 54 flea market stalls which had been set up on the platform and inside the old railway shed.

KwaZulu Natal Narrow Gauge Operation may be Revived

Reefsteamers’ class 25NC no 3472 will not be available for use this winter on a planned overseas tour owing to a tyres’ issue. Photo: C Baker.

Class NGG 16 locomotives that survived the railway’s closure are pictured in Port Shepstone. Photo: P F Bagshawe

Following the relocation of four NGG16 type locomotives as well as a batch of coaching stock to Paddock, it has come to light that an Expression of Interest has been lodged by a potential new owner of a planned resurrection of part of the Banana Express operation, from Paddock to Izingolweni. The coastal part of the old Alfred County Railway run is now in a state

Friends of The Rail, Pretoria The class 19D 4-8-2 no 2650 should return to service in the early part of 2012. The club’s Nathan Berelowitz, who received his private steam driver’s certificate last year, drove the Friends’ first public train of 2012 to Cullinan and return on 12 February. This was a double-header with Berelowitz in the right-hand seat of North British class 24 no 3664 and Kimberley’s Peter Odell driving Rovos Rail’s North British class 19D no 3360.

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Railways Africa Issue 1 // 2012

Friends of The Rail’s doubleheader train to Cullinan on 12 February is pictured at Rayton – class 24 no 3664 and class 19D no 3360.

Photo: Friends of The Rail.

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of disrepair, notably at the Izotsha River, where the bridge was washed away by floods in 2008. The section of rail up the escarpment is also unsuitable for use without maintenance hence the new route envisaged.

Jan Kempdorp Army Depot Loco gets Reprieve Borsig-built Class 19D 4-8-2 locomotive no 2689, which long stood set aside at Jan Kempdorp in South Africa, has received a reprieve.

Bought by Bamangwato Concessions Ltd (BCL), Selebi Phikwe, Botswana, the loco is being put back into operational service by staff at the mine and is to become LO812 in the fleet’s numbering.

BCL has lost locomotives, owing to irreparable damage, over the years including ex-SAR 19D no 3338 (LO808) and ex-NRZ 14A no 511 (LO811).

Zimbabwe Steam Report The start of 2012 did find two Garratts in steam in Bulawayo, on 2 January – class 14A no 519 and class 16A no 611 were noted.

Class 15 4-6-4 + 4-6-4 no 395 hauled NRZ’s steam Leisure Day trip from Bulawayo-Sawmills and back on 12 February. Zimbabwebased enthusiast Robin Taylor reported that the Valentine’s Day special train consisted of: * * * * * * * * * *

Class 15 Garratt no 395 Water tankcar Service coach Coach no 1823 (NRZ “Eye coach”) Coach no 1058 first class ex-NRZ Museum Dining car no 646 ex-museum Dining car no 660, part of Chimanimani twin-set Twin-diner nos 666/7 Zambesi Baggage van no 272 General Manager’s coach no 754

The locomotive had been shined and appropriate parts painted red. The train with some 72 passengers left Bulawayo promptly at 09:30 and ran well to Sawmills. Departure from Sawmills back to Bulawayo was at 16:30 and this was followed by a non-stop run to Nyamandhlovu.

After water was pumped from the tankcar, the train set off again and during the course of the journey passengers were served a first-class dinner. Arrival in Bulawayo was at 20:20. The NRZ was to be commended on a very well organised and operated day outing.

NRZ class 15 no 395 has been used in latter years on steam specials in Zimbabwe. Photo: G Cooke

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