Posted on 05 February 2010
Metrorail suburban passenger services in central Gauteng were badly disrupted from Monday 25 January by striking employees. Members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) refused to work as scheduled in terms of a new roster, claiming this constituted a unilateral change in the employees’ conditions of employment and would result in [...] Continue Reading...
Posted on 22 January 2010
Full system trial operating of Gautrain trains is to begin in March on the section between Sandton station and the OR Tambo International Airport. According to spokesperson Dr Barbara Jensen, the Bombela consortium is expected to complete ten-week trial runs here in May. Although, in terms of the contract, the completion date for the project’s first [...] Continue Reading...
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
There are no plans to change the gauge of South Africa’s railways from the existing 1,067mm “Cape Gauge” to the 1.435 metre “Standard Gauge”, Transnet acting chief executive officer Chris Wells told Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications on 3 February. He was quoted saying that it is not thought “appropriate” to change the network in the [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Canadian engineering firm Dessau has won a $38.8 million contract to conduct the preliminary and final design for the construction of a 170km double track between Algiers and Constantine in Algeria’s north-east. The contract is part of a $2.3 billion government project. The contract was awarded by a consortium comprising China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Transnet acting chief executive officer Chris Wells told Parliament’s portfolio committee on communications on 3 February that the country’s locomotives are on average 30 years old. Sapa quoted him saying that the fleet totals some 2,000: “We haven’t purchased a new locomotive for well over ten years, which has caused a lot of problems in [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
On Saturday 30 January 2010, the first train to arrive at Moatize in the western Mozambican province of Tete in more than two decades was met by an impressive contingent: members of the central committee of the ruling Frelimo resident locally, Frelimo members of parliament, members of the provincial and district governments, and a large [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Auction 10 by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) closed on 28 January. Of the 59 lots on offer, Peter Bagshawe reports, only 22 were sold (comprising 605 wagons and the friction bearings), while the other 37 lots (1,844 wagons and one coach) were closed either because the reserve wasn’t reached or no bids were made. Only [...] [...more]
Posted on 05 February 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
From October 2010, new electric trains will gradually phase out diesel traction between the main railway station in Tunis’ Place Barcelone and Hammam El Chatt, south of the city. Sets with a capacity of 2,500 are to be introduced by Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Tunisiens (SNCFT – the Tunisian National Railways). They will [...] [...more]
