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Rail transport in South Africa

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A Metrorail train pulling out of Kalk Bay station near Cape Town

Rail transport in South Africa is an important element of the country's transport infrastructure. All major cities are connected by rail, and South Africa's railway system is the most highly developed in Africa.[1] The South African rail industry is publicly owned.

History

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See also: South African locomotive history
Rail network in 1892
Rail network in 1906
Rail network in 1950

Construction of the first railway from Cape Town to Wellington was commenced in 1858. However the first passenger-carrying and goods service was a small line of about 3.2 kilometres (2 mi) built by the Natal Railway Company, linking the town of Durban with Harbour Point, opened on 26 June 1860.[2] Cape Town had already started building a 72-kilometre (45 mi) line, track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), linking Cape Town to Wellington in 1858 but was hampered by delays and could only begin service to the first section of the line to the Eerste River on 13 February 1862. However, Cape railway construction began a massive expansion after the formation in 1872 of the Cape Government Railways.[3]

In the north, in the independent South African Republic, the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (NZASM) constructed railways: one from Pretoria to Lourenço Marques in Portuguese East Africa Colony and a shorter line connecting Pretoria to Johannesburg.

Later railway development was driven by Cecil Rhodes, whose original intention was for a railway extending across Africa as a great Cape-Cairo railway linking all the British territories of Africa. However, Rhodes was as much a capitalist in his motivation as a visionary. When little gold was found in Mashonaland in Southern Rhodesia, he accepted that the scheme to reach Lake Tanganyika had no economic justification. Railways built by private companies without government subsidies need enough traffic to pay high freight rates and recover construction costs. The agricultural products that fuelled much of Rhodesia's early economic growth could not provide this traffic; large quantities of minerals could. Most early railways in Africa were built by the British government rather than by Companies—the need to raise capital and produce dividends prevented most Companies from undertaking such infrastructure investments. However, in the early period of railway construction, BSAC obtained finance from South African companies, including Consolidated Gold Fields and De Beers, in which Rhodes was a dominant force. BSAC also benefited from Rhodes's fortunes before his death.[4][5] The railway stopped at Mafeking was extended to Bulawayo by October 1897. The first train arrived in Victoria Falls on the Zambesi in 1904, driven by two women.[6]

A national "link-up" was established in 1898, creating a national transport network.[7] This national network was largely completed by 1910.[1] Though railway lines were also being extended outside of South Africa, as far north as Northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia),[8] the vision of Cecil John Rhodes, to have a rail system that would run from the "Cape to Cairo", would never materialise.

Upon the merger of four provinces to establish the modern state of South Africa in 1910, the railway lines across the country were also merged. South African Railways and Harbours (SAR & H) was the government agency responsible for, amongst other things, the country's rail system.

Electrification of the railways began in the 1920s with the building of the Colenso Power Station for the Glencoe to Pietermaritzburg route, and the introduction of the South African Class 1E.[9]

During the 1980s, the transport industry was reorganised. Instead of being a direct government agency, it was modelled along business lines into a government-owned corporation called Transnet. Transnet Freight Rail (until recently known as Spoornet) is the division of Transnet that runs the rail system.[10] Though there are no plans to end government ownership of the national rail network, some small portions of the rail system have recently been privatised.[11]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa, the rail system suffered looting.[12][13]

Network

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The rail network of South Africa

Two public companies operate freight and commuter services: Transnet Freight Rail and PRASA, respectively. Transnet Freight Rail is the largest division of Transnet, a State-Owned Company (SOC) wholly owned by the Government of the Republic of South Africa and the custodian of rail, ports, and pipelines.

The passengers' network is divided into urban commuter and long-distance routes. Metrorail, the urban commuter transport service present in Gauteng, Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape, is responsible for transporting up to 2 million passengers daily.

With the increasing coverage the nation's highway system provides, long-distance passenger travel has declined in South Africa. While many commuters still use rail for their daily commute, nationally, only half of the nation's 36,000 kilometres (22,000 mi) of track is being fully utilised, and some 35% of the nation's track carries no activity or very low activity.[1] Accordingly, Transnet is moving towards an emphasis on freight, rather than passengers, to keep its rail system profitable.

Shosholoza Meyl used to operate long-distance routes covering the major metros in the country: Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London. However, after a train collision killed one person in Horizon View west of Johannesburg on 12 February 2020, the Railway Safety Regulator suspended all Shosholoza Meyl train operations indefinitely.[14] In 2024 the service shall be reassumed, but the reactivation of the dervice between Johannesburg and Cape Town, planned for 24 July 2024, has been delayed until further notice due to a rail damage. The reactivation of the service between Johannesburg and Musina is announced for 30 August 2024.[15] But the frequency will be very low, only one couple of trains per week is offered. The Blue Train is a luxurious passenger train and a popular tourist attraction for South Africa,[11] which runs from Cape Town to Pretoria. It was the winner of the most luxurious train in Africa for the tenth consecutive year in 2019 and the three-time winner of the world's most luxurious train at the World Travel Awards. The Blue Train, however, is operated by Transnet Freight Rail.

To look at the South African transport network, including the railways, view this map from the United Nations.

A high-speed rail link has been proposed, between Johannesburg and Durban.[16]

Specifications

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Nearly all railways in South Africa use a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge track.[17][18][19] This was selected in the 19th century to reduce the cost of building tracks across and through the mountains in several parts of the country.[11] The Gautrain rapid transit railway uses 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) (standard gauge).

Numerous two-foot narrow gauge railways were constructed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

South African trains connect through the AAR coupler, developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century. Remarkably, though South Africa has long been ahead of Europe in coupling systems, it has lagged behind most of the world in its braking system; most trains in South Africa continue to use vacuum braking. However, the conversion to air brakes has finally commenced.

Between 50% and 80% of the rail lines in South Africa are electrified.[11] Different voltages are used for different types of trains. Most electrified trains run 3 kV DC (overhead); this is used primarily for commuter lines and has been in use since the 1920s. During the 1980s, higher voltages (25 kV AC and—much less frequently—50 kV AC (both overhead) have been used for heavy-duty lines (which also require more Railroad ties per mile) primarily used for the transport of iron ore.

Rolling stock

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Main article: List of South African locomotive classes

South Africa uses a variety of rolling stock from several manufacturers.

In 1957, Union Carriage & Wagon was founded in Nigel for local production of rolling stock.[20]

Accidents and incidents

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Rail systems in nearby countries

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The following countries mostly use 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge and are mostly connected. Countries beyond those listed are of other gauges.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c South Africa – ICOMOS World Report on Monuments and Sites in Danger 2002: Heritage @ Risk
  2. ^ Talbot, Frederick Arthur Ambrose. Railway wonders of the world. Cassell and Company. p. 606.
  3. ^ Burman, Jose (1984), Early Railways at the Cape, Cape Town: Human & Rousseau, ISBN 0-7981-1760-5
  4. ^ J Lunn, (1992). The Political Economy of Primary Railway Construction in the Rhodesias, 1890-1911, pp. 239, 244.
  5. ^ S Katzenellenbogen, (1974). Zambia and Rhodesia: Prisoners of the Past: A Note on the History of Railway Politics in Central Africa, pp. 63-4.
  6. ^ "Railway line opened Vic Falls to the world". 16 April 2021.
  7. ^ "SAR & Transnet History". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  8. ^ SA Railway History Archived 5 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "South African Railways Power Plant". Electric Railway Journal. 60 (24): 914. 9 December 1922. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  10. ^ Spoornet history
  11. ^ a b c d South Africa :: Railways and roads – Britannica Online Encyclopedia
  12. ^ "South Africa's railways: How thieves have destroyed the network". BBC News. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  13. ^ "Hope for decrepit stations". Benoni City Times. 25 August 2022.
  14. ^ "'Speeding' Shosholoza Meyl stopped in its tracks following fatal train crash". News24.
  15. ^ Shosholoza Meyl Train Reservation, retrieved on 2024-08-08.
  16. ^ "Railway Gazette: Ambitious plans will still need funding". Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  17. ^ "Freight Rail International Joint Ventures". Transnet – Freight Rail. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009.
  18. ^ "Rail Engineering Wheels Business". Transnet – Rail Engineering. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008.
  19. ^ "Railway Transportation in South Africa" (PDF). Global View. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2009.
  20. ^ "History". Union Carriage & Wagon. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
  21. ^ "Train crash death toll false, say police". Independent Online. Retrieved 18 November 2006.

Further reading

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rail transport in South Africa.
External images
image icon The South African Railways "History, Scope and Organisation (1947)"
image icon The Cape Town Foreshore Plan (1947)
image icon Meet the South African Railways (1975)
image icon Meet the South African Railways (1979)
image icon A collection of SAR&H Publicity and Travel Department photographs
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