Posted on 31 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
South Africa’s main coal terminal, which is expanding to become the world’s largest, will assign capacity to junior miners in line with the upgrade of the railway lines leading to the port, Reuters reports. “Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) is due to expand its export capacity to 91 million tonnes by the end of this [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
From SA government information service Buanews: “Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele today [25 August 2010] signed a ground-breaking agreement on railways and other transport-related matters with Chinese Railway Minister Liu Zhijun. Ndebele is part of a South African delegation in China led by President Jacob Zuma during his three-day state visit. “He said through rail, South [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
From the SA Tourism Update news briefs, 26 August: “Transnet Limited has announced that the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe train service operating between George and Mossel Bay will be terminated. Transnet said that it identified the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe service as one of its non-core assets in 2007. Following extensive studies and stakeholder consultation, the company decided to [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Cape Argus 22 August 2010: By Warda Meyer – “A Newlands couple’s dream train trip to Johannesburg and the Kruger National Park has been derailed following a decision to temporarily discontinue the long-distance passenger train service. And a couple from Cornwall planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Cape Town also had their plans upset. “Tim and [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
From Western Cape Metrorail, newspaper “Blits”: “Metrorail use the following communication channels to inform commuters in cases of service interruptions. • Text alerts: Commuters are encouraged to register via e-mail (metrosms@metrorail.co.za) for SMS alerts free of charge. Currently some 20,000 commuters are already recipients of alerts. Metrorail aims to get one in seven commuters registered [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Suspension of Shosholoza Meyl long-distance passenger train services by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) was blamed by executives on the alleged inability of Transnet to service and repair locomotives. Transnet says the allegations are “misleading, false and defamatory”. Tumisang Kgaboesele, special adviser to Prasa CEO Lucky Montana, said that Transnet had refused to [...] [...more]
Posted on 30 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
During the morning peak on 25 August, a minibus-taxi carrying 14 scholars overtook a queue of vehicles waiting at the Buttskop Road crossing 1km south of Blackheath station (29km east of Cape Town), zig-zagged through the closed half-barriers and was hit by Metrorail train 2309, the 06:35 from Bellville to Eerste River. The driver of [...] [...more]
Posted on 25 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
The Railway Safety Regulator’s (RSR) inspectors are on site, investigating a level crossing accident which left eight (8) school children dead in Blackheath in the Western Cape. The collision occurred at 7:10 am on Tuesday morning, when a train collided with a minibus taxi at a level crossing in the Blackheath area. The taxi was [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
On Sunday 26 September, Friends of the Rail will be running a special steam train from Hermanstad (Pretoria) to Cullinan and return. This is to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first public train to run in South Africa (Durban to the Point in 1860). The September run, double-headed by class 19D and 24, will [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
This article appeared in Blits, newsletter of Western Cape Metrorail, on 5 August 2010. It was reprinted from the Cape Argus: “Let nobody deceive themselves, Metrorail in the Western Cape is in near terminal decline. We have this on no lesser authority that the national minister of transport. Speaking in the National Council of Provinces [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
During the period 11 June to 11 July, the 22 eight-coach trainsets allocated to Cape Town’s Southern Line operated an additional 68 weekday, 43 Saturday and 26 Sunday services . According to Metrorail, these extra trips were well supported. At the end of July, timetables reverted to normal. [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Transnet is negotiating to sell the Blue Train [actually there are two sets] to the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) for R1, acting CEO Chris Wells states in Transnet’s annual report released on 10 August. He says previous attempts to dispose of Transnet’s 100% shareholding in the luxury train service were terminated when a [...] [...more]
