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I hopped a couple of South African freight trains and discovered that all things are not equal on Transnet’s tracks.
6.30am, Voorbaai rail yard DAN Pienaar, driver of 1174, the weekday freight from Mossel Bay to Worcester, is champing at the bit. It’s going to be hot and, with a pair of ailing 46-year-old diesels up front, who knows what trials the day may bring. Read More…
It’s no surprise that the city of Mossel Bay is unhappy about Transnet’s decision to pull the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe tourist train off the rails. After all, 115 000 passengers a year means a lot of tourist spending in the town as well. Read More…
Transnet has finally pulled the plug on the struggling Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe tourist train, bringing the curtain down on the country’s last scheduled – when it ran – steam-hauled passenger train. Read More…
Transnet has issued a vigorous response to a statement from the Passenger Rail Agency of SA which claimed that Transnet was falling short on its obligations to the passenger train operator. Read More…
So, the country’s long-distance passenger trains have ground to a halt, leaving an estimated 250 000 passengers stranded. Oh how the bus companies and taxi operators must be laughing. Read More…
Railways, as an American railroad entrepreneur I know often reminds me, are, like UFO sightings, a stealth industry. Read More…
This is a transcript of the interview between Transnet acting CEO Chris Wells and Business Times on the railway company’s decision to concession some 7 000km of branch lines to private operators.
BUSINESS TIMES: Let’s get right to it. This move to concession the branch lines is revolutionary. How did it come about? Read More…
So, angry Transnet strikers threw rocks at some locomotives and burned others in Durban yesterday. Talk about throttling your golden goose. Read More…
The road repair backlog is now R164 BILLION! In some parts of the country, the rural roads are in such terrible condition that truckers refuse to use them because of the damage that potholes and craters do to their trucks.
That’s too bad since it was heavy and overloaded trucks that caused all the trouble in the first place. South Africa runs some of the heaviest trucks in the world – 56 tonnes gross vehicle mass – the combined weight of the truck, trailer, and cargo – compared to 36 tonnes in America. Read More…
Trying to make rail tourism really work in this country is not a job any sane person would want, surely? Certainly not when years of begging letters, meetings, deputations and entreaties are reduced to nothing but dust when an irreplaceable piece of rail history and once-viable tourism asset is turned into scrap? Read More…
