Sidelined locomotives will be
speedily refurbished
Mafika Mkwanazi É
‘The R200 million is not
part of the R15 billion
re-capitalisation programme.’
Leonard Neill
SPOORNET HAS been allocated an additional R200 million to enable it to refurbish rolling stock which has been sidelined for lengthy periods. The rail utility plans to return hundreds of wagons and some locomotives to service as soon as possible to meet the current shortage.
“We are rolling them out of mothballs,” said Transnet’s group chief executive Mafika Mkwanazi when he made the announcement last week.
“The R200 million is not part of the R15 billion re-capitalisation programme in which Spoornet will acquire urgently-needed locomotives and wagon stock over a 15 year period. Instead it is a short term measure to address customer needs, and it is being labelled urgent.”
The money will be spent on infrastructure as well as locomotives and wagons, he said. The spending on wagons will focus on making a larger fleet available and ensuring that overall reliability is maintained and improved.
“One factor that has to be handled is the accelerated phase-out of plain bearings that have been the cause
of many derailments. We will move firmly to roller bearings which are far more satisfactory and dependable.
“As far as infrastructure is concerned, an accelerated programme to replace copper overhead cables with tiger wire is being initiated. This has become a priority because rail network availability has been compromised by copper cable thefts. With the focus on safety, more man-hours can then be spent on securing signalling to enhance the safe passage of trains.”
