Members of the Southern African Railway Association (Sara) represent each of the region’s railways. The government of Lesotho, which has no railway, is to send observers to all future meetings of the association, which has agreed to support the small landlocked country in its endeavour to build a rail system for itself. An existing Transnet [...]
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EGYPT-SAUDI LANDBRIDGE SCHEME
The study on a proposed landbridge project that would link Egypt with Saudi Arabia via a Red Sea bridge, has yet to begin, the Arabic Al Hayat daily reports. Chairman of the Saudi-Egyptian Business Council Abdullah Dahlan says Egypt is still undecided on the matter. He is quoted explaining: “The project has been delayed due [...]
UMGENI STEAM RAILWAY
www.umgenisteamrailway.co.za
Steam excursion running days:
Sunday, 29 Jan 2012: Kloof – Inchanga 08:30 & 12:30
Sunday, 26 Feb 2012: Kloof – Inchanga 08:30 & 12:30
Original article [Railways Africa]
BLUE TRAIN RAPTURE
The following reached us from an undisclosed source in Australia. Endeavours to track down the original of the wording “The Blue Train has an aura of mystique about it … this moving five-star hotel on wheels has hosted countless presidents, celebrities, and royalty” were fruitless. It appears on countless websites, even one to do with [...]
NACALA PORT AND RAILWAY
Brazil’s Vale mining company intends to double production of its Moatize coal mine to 22 million tons a year at a cost of $US6 billion. Limited exports began in June 2011, using the Sena line to the coal terminal at the port of Beira, but even when upgrading is finally complete, capacity on this [...]
RAILWAY TO LINK WEST AFRICAN STATES
On 31 November 2011, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Burkina Faso agreed to a 2,700km new rail construction project to link the four countries. Two of the region’s main ports – Cotonou in Benin and Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire – are to be the endpoints, with rails running the full length of Benin, continuing through [...]
COAL LINE CAPACITY INCREASE
South Africa’s minister of public enterprises Malusi Gigaba has confirmed the intention to increase capacity on the coal line to over 80mta by 2014. At the same time, coal for Eskom use is to “migrate” systematically from road to rail. And within the course of the next five years, R3 billion is to be invested [...]
ANOTHER GAUTRAIN BUS STRIKE
Dismayed commuters who have been inconvenienced yet again by striking Gautrain bus drivers – the second time in three months and the fifth strike in a year – say the service is becoming unpredictable and unreliable and feel they are not getting their money’s worth. Providing the premium rail and connecting bus service has cost [...]
SANRASM UPDATE
From a report by Geoff Pethick on the South African National Railway and Steam Museum (Sanrasm):
“Major efforts have been made with the dining car Shashi. The entire floor is suffering from wet rot and will be removed and replaced. About a third has been done already. This involves removing the tables, seats etc, a big [...]
R1M BLUE TRAIN SPONSORSHIP FOR ANC
Someone (management declined to name exactly who) paid out around R1 million in sponsoring a Blue Train jaunt for VIPs to Bloemfontein on 6 January. According to press reports there were 58 “guests” on board, all headed for the ANC celebrations. Among those identified were Johanna Nkomo, widow of Zimbabwe’s Joshua Nkomo, and former Mozambiquan [...]
