Africa – Page 34
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NewsCairo - Alexandria train supply and maintenance contract planned
EGYPT: Egyptian National Railways is planning to call tenders for a contract to supply and maintain six 10-car locomotive-hauled trainsets for the Cairo - Alexandria route. The aim is to reduce overcrowding and improve service quality, safety and energy efficiency on the 208 km route, which has 32 daily through ...
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NewsNew Zealand trains sold to Tanzania and Zimbabwe
AFRICA: An initial 34 Ganz-Mavag Class EM/ET electric multiple-unit cars which a South African rolling stock broker has acquired from Greater Wellington Regional Council for reuse in Tanzania and Zimbabwe has been shipped from New Zealand. The 44 Hungarian-built two-car EMUs entered service in 1982. They are being replaced by ...
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NewsOptimism returns but skills gap a worry, survey finds
INTERNATIONAL: Optimism is returning to the global rail industry following the economic downturn, according to the results of the fifth Way Ahead survey of the transport industry conducted by legal practice Norton Rose Fulbright. The survey, which was launched at an event in London on February 26, received 850 responses ...
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NewsOpen access in Africa
AFRICA: Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority and major customer Impala Warehousing & Logistics International signed a memorandum of understanding on January 21 which could lead to the private company running its own trains. The planned track access agreement would mark the beginning of private sector participation in the operations of Tazara, reflecting ...
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NewsZambian Copperbelt railway agreement
ZAMBIA: An agreement to complete a bankable feasibility study for the construction of a 590 km railway to serve the Copperbelt area of northern Zambia and the Angolan border was signed by project promoter Northwest Rail Co and South African logistics company Grindrod on February 3. Road infrastructure in the ...
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NewsCFM takes delivery of GE locomotives
MOZAMBIQUE: Deputy Minister of Transport & Communications Eusébio Saíde unveiled the first four of 10 GE Transportation C30ACi diesel locomotives for Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique on Janaury 29. The 1 067 mm gauge locomotives were ordered in 2011 at a cost of US$41·2m for use on passenger and freight ...
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NewsFaster track maintenance at RVR
AFRICA: Kenya - Uganda railway concessionaire Rift Valley Railways has taken delivery of a ballast tamper and ballast profiler ordered from Plasser & Theurer at a cost of USh3bn to significantly reduce the time taken to undertake track maintenance. The two machines will work in tandem to correctly align track ...
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NewsMining companies could share Liberian railway
LIBERIA: The government of Liberia is to convene discussions this year which could lead to Sable Mining exporting iron ore from neighbouring Guinea using the 273 km Yekepa - Buchanan line. The former Lamco railway was rehabilitated by ArcelorMittal and operations restarted in 2011 under a 2006 mineral development agreement ...
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NewsGreat prospects in sight at Tazara
AFRICA: Private finance from customers and stakeholders is to be sought to meet at least 15% of the cost of a five-year strategic investment plan which was approved by the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority board in December. Spending of US$211m is proposed in 2013-18, including US$177m targeted at increasing capacity. ...
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NewsChinese firm to modernise Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan
CONGO: Minister of Transport & Civil Aviation Rodolphe Adada and China Railway Construction Corp signed an agreement to study rehabilitation of the 1 067 mm gauge Chemin de Fer Congo-Océan network on December 21. Both the Pointe Noire - Brazzaville main line and the Mont Bélo - ...
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NewsDCD begins rolling stock plant upgrade
SOUTH AFRICA: The R100m first phase of DCD Rolling Stock's R240m programme of investment in its Boksburg plant was launched by Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba during December. Running for up to five years, the programme is intended to enable DCD to benefit from the multi-billion rand and long-term spending ...
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NewsDR Congo locomotive contract signed
DR CONGO: Chinese manufacturer CNR Beijing February 7th Railway Transportation Equipment Co is to supply 18 diesel-electric locomotives to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The order has been placed as part of the World Bank-backed national Multimodal Transport Project. This was launched in in 2010 with the aim of restoring ...
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NewsConcession signed for construction of 525 km coal railway
MOZAMBIQUE: Two concession agreements for the construction of a coal export port at Macuse in Zambezia province and a 525 km railway to the Moatize coalfields in Tete province were signed on December 13. The agreements were signed by Minister of Transport & Communications Gabriel Muthisse and Premchai Karnasuta, President ...
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NewsPassive hydraulic steering trial
SOUTH AFRICA: Three freight locomotives are being used for a six-month trial of the Jika passive hydraulic steering system which has been developed by DCD Rolling Stock. DCD says this can increase locomotive wheel life by three times and reduce track wear by 60%, energy consumption by 3% and ...
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NewsSiemens awarded Gauteng signalling contract
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has awarded Siemens a €180m contract to complete the replacement of signalling and train control systems on lines around Johannesburg and Pretoria by 2018. In 2011 Siemens was awarded an initial €90m contract covering the replacement of around a quarter of the ...
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News‘MoKaKi’ project breaks ground in Mombasa
KENYA: A ceremony led by President Uhuru Kenyatta in Mombasa on November 28 marked the start of construction of the first phase of the planned 2 937 km standard gauge cross-border corridor linking the Kenyan port city with Kampala in Uganda and the Rwandan capital Kigali. The initial phase of ...
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NewsEBRD publishes new transport strategy
INTERNATIONAL: The European Bank for Reconstruction & Development has published a new strategy for investment in the transport sector. This ‘focuses on the need to promote market-based transport in our region of operations’, according to Director for Transport, Sue Barrett. ‘Another priority is the creation of sustainable transport systems, ...
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NewsAutomotive wagon launch
SOUTH AFRICA: Car-carrying wagons developed by Transnet Engineering's Uitenhage plant to meet the specifications of car manufacturers were officially launched by South Africa's President Zuma on November 5. Transnet is building 350 of the wagons by January 2014 as part of its R307bn seven-year infrastructure improvement programme. The new wagons ...
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NewsMining firms to have access to Chemin de fer Congo-Océan
CONGO: The government has confirmed that it will allow Australian mine developer Equatorial Resources to use the 1 067 mm gauge Chemin de fer Congo-Océan to export iron ore from its proposed Mayoko-Moussondji mine. The Ministry of Transport has agreed that CFCO and Pointe-Noire port authority PAPN ...
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NewsCoal wagon delivery
BOTSWANA: South Africa’s Transnet Engineering is delivering 30 coal wagons, 260 salt wagons and 272 general purpose wagons to Botswana Railways. The national operator is upgrading its fleet and has also called tenders for the supply of eight diesel locomotives. The coal wagons have entered traffic on ...