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 15 August, a 72 ton steel construction support structure collapsed, injuring two workers and blocking the main railway near Ysterplaat station, about 5km from the Cape Town CBD. Traction power was switched off, disrupting train services. Fortunately there was no damage to the track. It is not at all clear what would have [...] [...more]
Posted on 20 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Seven people from a single family were killed when a northbound train collided with a minibus carrying students and their families in the south of Israel on 6 August. About 30 were injured. Train traffic was suspended after the accident. Initial investigations suggest that the driver of the minibus drove through a barrier at a [...] [...more]
Posted on 13 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
The following Sapa report appeared in the press on 11 August. “Shosholoza Meyl train services were disrupted on Wednesday due to the unplanned unavailability of rolling stock, operator Passenger Rail Agency of SA said. Buses had been arranged as alternative transport to ferry passengers from stations throughout the regions, said spokeswoman Lillian Mofokeng. Trains were [...] [...more]
Posted on 10 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Acting Metrorail regional manager (Gauteng) Douglas Chauke, announcing the resumption of commuter service between Johannesburg and Randfontein, said the damage caused to a train on 4 June amounted to R7 million. This figure did not include damage to the station, the theft of overhead lines and the loss of income due to the subsequent service [...] [...more]
Posted on 10 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Two pupils and a teacher were killed when a school bus collided with a train near Rolle halt in Thulamahashe, Mpumalanga early on 31 July. The bus carrying 62 children and three teachers was returning to Pretoria from a school tour in Limpopo. The driver of the bus allegedly fled the scene after the accident. [...] [...more]
Posted on 02 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
On 22 July, a serious derailment on the 861km Sishen-Saldanha heavy-haul iron ore line caused traffic disruption expected to last at least five days. At kilometre 203 between Loop 4 (Knersvlak, near Vredendal) and Loop 5 (Saggiesberg), 107 fully laden wagons came off the rails. A number fell off a bridge. Three locomotives (2 x [...] [...more]
Posted on 02 August 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Four Transnet Freight Rail workers were killed and two others seriously injured when a train collided head-on with a motorised track maintenance trolley on 26 July, the Railway Safety Regulator reports. Quoted by Sapa, spokeswoman Lavinia Mahlangu said the trolley was part of scheduled maintenance when the accident occurred at Letaba, outside Tzaneen in Limpopo. [...] [...more]
Posted on 25 July 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
Early in July, Vista – a local newspaper in the Volksblad group – published a photograph of a police official in a closed truck containing 16 lengths of rail. A team of five was busy cutting the long pieces into smaller chunks. The manager of a scrap yard was also in the back of the [...] [...more]
Posted on 25 July 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
It was reported recently that two 4-6-2 class 16CR steam locomotives had been cut up for scrap at the St Helena mine in the Free State. It is learned now that this was done illegally. The engines were never offered on tender. In other words, the locos were literally stolen. [...more]
Posted on 19 July 2010 by Railways Africa Editor
An item recounted here last week concerning an incident at Koelenhof near Stellenbosch was based on a brief news report which gave no detail. The impression may have been gained, Luca Lategan points out, that a head-on collision occurred. He sent us additional detail from which it transpires that the Up train had stopped beyond [...] [...more]
