Africa – Page 22
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NewsLocomotives delivered to Tunisia
TUNISIA: National railway SNCFT has taken delivery of the first 10 of 20 EMD Type GT42AC diesel locomotives which are being supplied by Progress Rail under a 165m dinar contract awarded in December 2016. The locomotives are being produced at Progress Rail’s site in Muncie, Indiana. Numbered 060DS651 to ...
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NewsHyundai Rotem wins further Cairo metro train contract
EGYPT: National Authority for Tunnels has awarded Hyundai Rotem a 150·8bn won contract for the supply of 48 cars to operate on Cairo metro Line 2. Deliveries are due to be completed in 2021, and the manufacturer will provide maintenance until 2031. The trainsets will have a maximum speed ...
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NewsTransNamib and Botswana Railways sign container terminal MoU
NAMIBIA: National railway TransNamib and its Botswana counterpart Botswana Railways have signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of a container terminal at Gobabis. Located around 110 km west of Namibia’s border with Botswana, Gobabis is the terminus of a 1 067 mm gauge line from the port of ...
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NewsCNG buses delivered to Abidjan
CÔTE D’IVOIRE: Iveco Bus officially handed over 26 compressed natural gas buses to Abidjan transport operator SOTRA on December 13, at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly and Transport Minister Amadou Koné. In January the government signed a contract with Iveco for the supply of 450 ...
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NewsCRRC wins Egyptian EMU order
EGYPT: CRRC Qingdao Sifang has won an order to supply 22 six-car electric multiple-units to operate on a railway linking Cairo to 10th of Ramadan City. The 120 km/h EMUs will be designed with wind- and sand-resistant components to cope with conditions on the 68 km route with 11 ...
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NewsAfrica’s first high speed line inaugurated
MOROCCO: The first high speed railway in Africa was inaugurated by King Mohammed VI and French President Emmanuel Macron with a ceremony in Tanger on November 15. Revenue services are expected to begin before the end of the year. During the event the king officially named the high speed line ...
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NewsWegh Group invests in Mozambique sleeper plant
MOZAMBIQUE: Italian company Wegh Group has increased its stake in concrete sleeper manufacturer Travessas Do Norte, which was already 52% owned by Wegh Mocambique. The company’s plant at Namialo on the Nacala – Nampula railway is one of the largest in southern Africa with a capacity of 1 600 sleepers ...
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NewsNigeria plans railway northwards to Niger
NIGERIA: Alongside the many projects to develop new 1 435 mm gauge railways to augment and gradually replace Nigeria’s 1 067 mm gauge network, the government has unveiled plans for a line running north into the neighbouring Niger Republic. The 248 km standard gauge route from Kano to Maradi would ...
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NewsTMH Africa completes purchase of DCD Rolling Stock factory
SOUTH AFRICA: Transmashholding completed its previously-announced acquisition of the DCD Rolling Stock plant in Boksburg from DCD Group on October 29. ‘We are very proud of closing this deal’, said Martin Vaujour, CEO of the Russian group’s overseas business development unit TMH International. ‘This is a major milestone in our ...
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NewsGibela assembly plant inaugurated
SOUTH AFRICA: The Dunnottar industrial park where the Alstom-led Gibela joint venture will manufacture new EMUs for Prasa was officially inaugurated by President Cyril Ramaphosa and Transport Minister Blade Nzimande on October 25. The ceremony was also attended by Deputy Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga and the Premier of ...
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NewsTAZARA awards dry port concession
ZAMBIA: Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority and Dar es Salaam Corridor Group have entered into an agreement for the development of a rail-served dry port at New Kapiri Mposhi. DCG was the winner of a competitive bidding process, and is to develop the facility under a 25-year build-lease-transfer public-private partnership. TAZARA ...
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NewsUganda rail revival funding agreed
UGANDA: An agreement to fund rehabilitation of the 375 km Northern Line between Tororo and Gulu has been signed by the European Union which will provide a €21·5m grant and the government of Uganda which is to contribute €13·1m. The metre gauge line from the Kenyan border to northern Uganda ...
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NewsAlstom ships Senegal trainsets
SENEGAL: Following the completion of testing, Alstom has begun shipping 15 Coradia Polyvalent electro-diesel trainsets for the 55 km Train Express Régional line which is being built to connect central Dakar with Blaise Diagne International Airport. Similar to units previously supplied to France and Algeria, the 160 km/h four-car trainsets ...
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NewsLongest train heralds manganese export drive
SOUTH AFRICA: Rising demand for manganese from steel mills has prompted Transnet Freight Rail to launch a programme to drive up capacity for handling manganese ore on its 1 067 mm gauge network. Manganese traffic has grown from around 5 million tonnes a year in 2012 to 12·8 million ...
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NewsCourt instructs PRASA to apply safety rules
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa must comply with the safety requirements set by the Railway Safety Regulator under a ruling made by the North Gauteng High Court on October 11. An initial court ruling on October 5 had lifted the suspension of PRASA’s operating licence imposed on ...
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NewsPRASA on the brink as court defers safety shutdown
SOUTH AFRICA: The future of the 2 300 route-km network operated by Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is in grave doubt amid a spiralling safety crisis that has seen the national rail regulator request suspension of the operator’s licence. The Rail Safety Regulator suspended PRASA’s right to operate on ...
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NewsEgyptian National Railways orders 1 300 coaches
EGYPT: A five-year contract worth more than €1bn covering the supply of 1 300 coaches was signed by Egyptian National Railways and the Transmashholding-Hungary Kft consortium on September 25. The agreement covers five types of coach: Third class with forced ventilation (500); Third class, with air-conditioning (500); Second class, with ...
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NewsEgyptian National Railways signs fleet modernisation MOU
EGYPT: Progress Rail and Egyptian National Railways have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore opportunities for the possible supply of new locomotives, as well as terms to modernise, overhaul and maintain a portion of ENR’s existing locomotive fleet under a long-term service agreement. Announcing the MOU on September 18, ...
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Rail Business UKRail market still growing, confirms UNIFE
INNOTRANS: Steady growth in the demand for railway products and services can be expected for the next six years, according to the 2018 World Rail Market Study compiled for UNIFE by Roland Berger and launched by UNIFE Chair Sabrina Soussan at InnoTrans on September 18. The seventh biennial study ...
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News'Sterling' performance at Transnet
SOUTH AFRICA: Growth in multiple sectors of Transnet Freight Rail's business helped achieve 'sterling' financial results for Transnet in 2017-18. Figures in Transnet’s annual report published on August 20 showed that overall rail tonnage was 7·6% higher at 226·3 million, with export coal handled by TFR growing by 4·3% to ...