All South Africa articles
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NewsSouth African operator addresses maintenance backlog with turnout contract
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet Freight Rail has awarded Voestalpine VAE SA a three-year contract to supply turnouts and components. VAESA Chief Executive Pulane Tshabalala Kingston said this is the first substantial turnout contract to have be successfully awarded by TFR in the last five years. She said ...
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In depthViewpoint: The challenge of pricing South African rail access
Predictable and evidence-based regulation will be needed to support a viable pricing model for access to a vertically separated South African rail network under the government’s reform programme. Economist Sarah Truen explains the challenge.
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NewsPrasa reintroduces Gauteng suburban service
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has restarted a limited service on the Germiston – Leralla line in the Johannesburg suburbs. The reintroduction of services on June 27 follows a 14-month blockade to restore vandalised infrastructure. Trains are currently only calling at Leralla, Limindlela, ...
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NewsMinister blocks Cape Town suburban rail devolution ‘for now’
SOUTH AFRICA: ‘For now we are not in the process of devolving railway services, that is why Prasa is busy building up railway services in the Western Cape’, national Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga told local media during a site visit to Cape Town in May. ...
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NewsAlstom Ubunye opens South African welding school
SOUTH AFRICA: The Alstom Ubunye Welding School in Nigel has opened to provide free professional welding training for unemployed young people. It is accredited by the South African Institute of Welding, and will provide theoretical and practical modules developed under the guidance of industry specialists and ...
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NewsPrasa reaches milestone in Cape Town suburban rail restoration
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa restarted services on April 4 between Langa and Nyanga on Cape Town’s Central Line.
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NewsFreight operator investigates whether ghost trains are haunting its network
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet has started investigating allegations of ‘ghost trains’ on its network, following reports that services may be operating which are not formally scheduled, with the revenue not flowing back to the national freight operator. In a statement on March 27, Transnet emphasised that ‘these ...
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NewsSix 8E locos to receive HVAC upgrade
SOUTH AFRICA: Booyco Engineering has been commissioned to update the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system fitted to the driver’s cabs of six Class 8E locomotives operated by a South African coal producer. The HVAC systems are designed and manufactured at Booyco Engineering’s Germiston facilities. However, the ...
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NewsTransnet seeks locomotive rehabilitation options
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet has announced its intention to call an open tender for the rehabilitation of 161 non-operational locomotives ‘as a matter of urgency’, saying it had reached an impasse with the manufacturer. The CRRC Class 22E electric locos are intended for use on the North, ...
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NewsOne bid passes first stage of South African train path sales process
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet Freight Rail has conditionally awarded private operator Traxtion Sheltam paths on the Cape Corridor, but there were no compliant bids for train paths on the Container Corridor. A total of 19 parties had expressed initial interest in 16 slots on the two corridors ...
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NewsPrasa restores Johannesburg Park – Naledi electrification
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa restarted electric services on the Johannesburg Park – Naledi suburban line on November 28.
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NewsTransnet Freight Rail looks at alternative traction energy options
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet Freight Rail is seeking industry feedback on how affordable renewable electricity could be integrated into its traction power supplies to improve energy security and efficiency and reduce the railway’s environmental impact Any changes would need to take into account the scale of the ...
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NewsBids in for South African freight train paths
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet Freight Rail is evaluating the applications it has received to run freight services on two corridors under a pilot scheme to sell train paths to third party operators. Opening up access to the rail network forms part of a reform process set out ...
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NewsBotswana – South Africa rail enhancements agreed
AFRICA: An agreement in principle to provide landlocked Botswana with more efficient rail access to South African ports has been announced by Botswana Railways and Transnet Freight Rail. The two operators are to collaborate to upgrade sections of the 126 km South African line between Swartruggens ...
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NewsGreenfield port plan includes 550 km railway
SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet National Ports Authority has issued a request for qualification for the design, funding and construction of a greenfield deepwater port and 550 km railway connection at Boegoebaai, 20 km south of the Namibian border in Northern Cape Province. The RFQ is intended to ...
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NewsCape Town commuter services restored
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has reinstated suburban services on the Cape Town – Mutual – Langa; Cape Town – Pinelands – Langa; and Cape Town – Ysterplaat – Lavistown – Bellville routes after a long hiatus caused by the pandemic and vandalism. ...
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In depthInterview: Gautrain sees a stable path to growth
Having made a positive socio-economic impact since opening a decade ago, the 1 435 mm gauge Gautrain network serving Johannesburg and Tshwane is seeing passengers return gradually after the pandemic. Benjámin Zelki asks William Dachs, CEO of the province’s organising authority Gautrain Management Agency, how he sees the future.
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NewsThrough running accord to boost chrome exports
AFRICA: Transnet Freight Rail has signed a cross-border through-running agreement with Mozambique’s CFM, aimed at boosting the export of South African chrome and ferrochrome through the port of Maputo.
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In depthSouth Africa: PRASA revival hangs by a thread
Infrastructure theft and vandalism brought South Africa’s passenger railways to their knees during the pandemic lockdown of spring 2020. Restoration of PRASA’s Western Cape suburban services is now offering hope for the future, but in populous Gauteng the outlook seems bleak, with many routes rendered inoperable. Benjámin Zelki visited in early 2022.
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NewsCape Town to study commuter rail devolution
SOUTH AFRICA: Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana has authorised the city of Cape Town to undertake a detailed feasibility study for the potential devolution of control of suburban rail services from the national government. ‘This is a big deal, because up until now, the national government ...