Spoornet brings on mechanised efficiency

THE DAYS of long lines of railway workers swinging their pickaxes in unison in the hot sun while lustily singing Shosholoza are well and truly gone. This was shown at a special Spoornet Technical Open Media Day, at Uitkyk Station near Middelburg in Mpumalanga. This line carries 15 million gross tons of rail traffic per year with an axle load of 20 tons and is one of the strategic lines linking the South African rail network to some neighbouring countries. On-site demonstrations were given of the heavy on-track ballast screener and the track renewal machine. Mechanisation has replaced the labour-intensive and rather inefficient, slow process undertaken by hand in the past. Sections of approximately 800 to 1 000 metres per day are screened with one screener machine producing 18 kilometres of screened track per month. Spoornet screens 700 kilometres of track per year, based on long-term maintenance programmes. The track renewal machine replaces sleepers as part of normal rail maintenance, as they have a limited economical life. This is also necessary when lines are upgraded to carry heavier traffic.