South Africa: a ruined railway to rebuild

28/09/2022 – By Frédéric de Kemmeter – Railway signalling and freelance copywriter – Suscribe my blog
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Once the pride of Africa, South Africa’s rail networks and infrastructure have been devastated by the theft of copper cables and vandalism to the extent that “there is nothing left to steal anymore“. And now all must be rebuilt in a crisis country.

It was sad to see it. With a network of over 30,000km (18,600 miles) of track, South Africa has the most advanced railway system on the continent, but it has been stripped by criminals looking to make money from scrap metal. Over the past two years, during the pandemic, thieves and vandals have targeted all train stations around Johannesburg and Pretoria.

South Africa’s 1067 mm gauge conventional network totals more than 22000 route-km and is the longest national railway in Africa. While much of it is dedicated to freight, state-owned Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa operates a complex 2300 route-km mix of suburban passenger services across five urbanized regions, as Johannesburg, Pretoria or Cape Town.

An alarming decline

But, as explains Railway Gazette, for a decade, South Africa’s rail network has undergone an alarming decline in quality and viability. No fewer than 1496 vehicles were vandalised in 2017-18, while arson attacks on stations and trains had cost the operator $37 million over the previous years.

Power utility Eskom recently said it loses up to $111 million a year to cable theft. Platinum mines report losses of up to R15m a day from cable thefts underground at a shaft if protesters block roads and prevent worker access.

To further complicate matters, problems have arisen within PRASA with all kinds of contracts. As BBC World explains, PRASA made the decision in late 2019 to cancel all private security contracts exacerbated an already difficult situation. Essentially because the Rail Safety Regulator found the correct process was not followed when the contracts were awarded.

Left to themselves, the stations became easy prey for those who saw that there was a quick buck to be made. When Covid-19 struck in 2020 and the country went into lockdown, train stations became even more vulnerable. On the whole network, the damage to the tracks was severe and infrastructure had been stolen, including catenary. In Netreg, rail tracks had been completely removed. Many stations all along the lines are simply in ruin.

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The situation in Cape Town is not much better, but not only because the pandemic. For many years, railways in cape town, have also been beset by issues including rising crime rates and unreliable services.

Hundreds of thousands of people have now left train services in favour of taxis and buses,” the ripple effect being increased congestion and rocketing pollution rates in the city. The busiest line was the Central line, which links the city centre with Kaapteinsklip and Chris Hani. was closed in October 2019. Since then families have set up informal settlements on the track in Langa, Philippi and in Khayelitsha.

Fortunately, the Gautrain network, a modern 80 km 1435 mm gauge line serving Johannesburg, Pretoria and OR Tambo Airport has stood up rather better to the threat of vandalism and antisocial behaviour during the pandemic lockdowns. It is not operated by PRASA but by Bombela Operating Company, 51% owned by the Parisian operator RATP Dev. This network remained fully operational but it is hotly debated, with some accusing the train of being a financial luxury.

Rebuild it all

PRASA estimates that $4 billion is needed to repair and rehabilitate stations and damaged infrastructure. The five contractors appointed to undertake work in four regions including the Western Cape are expected to repair and rebuild. This is part of the modernisation program of the passenger rail network which includes a rolling stock general overhaul, a rolling stock fleet renewal program, and signalling and communications.

But money will not solve all problems. In Cape Town, it is firstly necessary to dislodge people living in informal settlements on the railway lines. The PRASA infrastructure will then have to be reinstalled and the stations restored, in fact from scratch. It’s a complete rebuild.

We will see in the future how this railway network, one of Africa’s prides, will be able to regain its former glory. 🟧

28/09/2022 – By Frédéric de Kemmeter – Railway signalling
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