Africa – Page 5
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In depthAfrica: Reviving Sénégal’s run-down network
Dakar’s TER suburban service kickstarted a rail revival in Sénégal, but further progress hinges on the direction of transport policy chosen following the presidential election in March. Murray Hughes reports.
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In depthInterview: ‘The commuter experience will be back to its best’
South Africa’s Railway Safety Regulator is tasked with overseeing safe and secure rail services on a network ravaged by vandalism and asset theft over recent years. RSR is also implementing the government’s plan to open up the Transnet network to new entrants. Acting CEO Mmuso Selaledi explains the scale of the challenge to Benjámin Zelki.
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NewsNairobi battery commuter train study
KENYA: Consultancy Systra has undertaken a study into the potential use of battery-powered trains on commuter services between Nairobi and Thika, around 40 km to the northeast. The study presented to Kenya Railways and World Bank officials in April looked at what would be involved in ...
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NewsKenya Railways sets out strategic plan for 2023-27
KENYA: Kenya Railways has launched its strategic plan for 2023-27, setting out a medium-term policy, legal, institutional and regulatory framework to transform itself into the ’leading transport service provider in the region’. The plan includes developing and upgrading rail infrastructure, increasing freight and passenger capacity, expanding ...
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Metro Report InternationalAbuja metro services relaunched
NIGERIA: President Bola Tinubu relaunched passenger services on the Abuja metro on May 29, when he announced that travel would be free until the end of the year. His predecessor had launched a limited passenger service in 2018, but it was suspended in 2020 because of ...
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NewsInland port association aims to get more freight onto South Africa’s railways
SOUTH AFRICA: The Multimodal Inland Port Association has been formed to act as a unified voice advocating for freight modal shift from road to rail. MIPA aims to encourage private investment and participation in rail reform, to foster trade activities that meet social objectives and to ...
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Metro Report InternationalAlstom to support Kinshasa urban rail project
DR CONGO: Alstom has signed a memorandum of understanding to co-operate with Africa Finance Corp in the development of the 300 km MetroKin urban rail project in fast-growing Kinshasa.
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NewsEgyptian resignalling project completed
EGYPT: Alstom has completed a programme to resignal the 240 km line running up the Nile south of Cairo from Beni Suef to Asyut. This has increased capacity and raised the line speed to 160 km/h. The signalling renewals included replacement of the previous electro-mechanical equipment, ...
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NewsLocos modernised for African lease fleet
SOUTH AFRICA: Leasing company Traxtion has completed a major overhaul of five Class 39 diesel locomotives which it acquired from South Africa’s Transnet Freight Rail as part of a strategy of expanding its fleet to meet a growing demand for rail freight services in Sub-Saharan Africa. ...
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NewsVelaro EGY high speed train for Egypt on test
Source: Siemens Mobility EGYPT: The first of the Velaro EGY high speed trainsets which Siemens Mobility is to supply to Egypt is undergoing dynamic testing at the Wegberg-Wildenrath circuit in Germany ahead of delivery later this year. Siemens said the start of testing marked ‘a big ...
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Metro Report InternationalCairo metro line 3 Phase 3C opens
EGYPT: Phase 3C of Cairo metro Line 3 opened for passenger services on May 15. The extension runs 7 km from Kit-Kat to Cairo University in Giza with three underground and two elevated stations, and takes Line 3 to 41·2 km with 34 stations in total. ...
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NewsPresident unveils Sierra Leone iron ore railway locos
SIERRA LEONE: President Julius Maada Bio attended the unveiling of 10 diesel locomotives which CRRC Ziyang has supplied for the 197 km railway linking Leone Rock Metal Group’s New Tonkoliri Iron Mine with the port of Pepel. The locos were unveiled on ...
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NewsModernised Port Harcourt – Aba railway reopens
NIGERIA: Minister of Transportation Sa’idu Alkali flagged off an inaugural train to mark the completion of work to modernise the 62 km Port Harcourt – Aba line on April 30, and has provided an update on progress with other ongoing rail projects. The upgrading of the ...
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NewsPrasa reports completion of resignalling schemes
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has resignalled six suburban rail lines across the country, Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga reported on April 24. Under a project that is expected to take seven years to complete, Prasa is resignalling the network in phases, the minister ...
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NewsSpain – Morocco tunnel investigations underway
INTERNATIONAL: Spanish state-owned engineering consultancy Ineco has told Railway Gazette International that the long-proposed Spain – Morocco inter-continental tunnel ’is highly complex and is currently undergoing feasibility studies’. The Strait of Gibraltar is around 13 km wide at its narrowest point, but is up to 900 ...
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NewsSiemens presents Egyptian Desiro as high speed rail construction progresses
EGYPT: Siemens Mobility presented one of the 94 Desiro HC electric multiple-units that it is supplying for Egypt to the international press at its Wegberg-Wildenrath Test & Validation Centre on May 8. A consortium of Siemens, Orascom Construction and The Arab Contractors was awarded a turnkey ...
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NewsONCF seeks to complete Kénitra – Marrakech high speed line before 2030 World Cup
MOROCCO: National operator ONCF is stepping up the pace of planning and preliminary construction work for the 40bn dirhams high speed line between Kénitra and Marrakech. Due to open between September and November 2029 in time for the FIFA World Cup being staged the following year ...
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NewsChinese consortium starts work on Algeria’s Western Mining Railway
ALGERIA: Work has started on construction of a Heavy haul railway in the southwest of the country which will extend the national network by 575 km. On April 9, lead contractor China Railway Construction Corp and local partner Cosider Travaux Publics began civil works on the ...
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NewsPrasa restores more suburban rail services
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has restarted its Metrorail suburban rail services on five sections of the networks in the provinces of Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape. Local rail services across the country had been disrupted by a spate of vandalism and cable ...
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NewsFirst Tema – Mpakadan DMU arrives
GHANA: The first of two Pesa diesel multiple-units for the 1 435 mm gauge Tema – Mpakadan railway was delivered to the port of Tema in early April. The two-car DMU from the manufacturer’s Link family had been taken by road from the assembly plant in ...