Safety Crisis in South Africa

[LNW-GW Joint]

Passenger rail services in South Africa are at risk of suspension because of the recent safety record.
The regulator has told national operator PRASA to shut down, but they have a temporary stay pending a court hearing.
It looks very serious.
This piece in Railway Gazette paints a grim picture of service safety and how the management have been unable to cope with the deteriorating situation.
https://www.railwaygazette.com/anal...he-brink-as-court-defers-safety-shutdown.html

SOUTH AFRICA: The future of the 2 300 route-km network operated by Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa is in grave doubt amid a spiralling safety crisis that has seen the national rail regulator request suspension of the operator’s licence.

Coupled with the financial crisis at state-run South African Airways, the passenger transport scene in South Africa does not look good at all.

 

[Groningen]

Together with Morocco and Egypt SA is the only country with a serious railwaysystem in Africa.

 

[JB_B]

Together with Morocco and Egypt SA is the only country with a serious railwaysystem in Africa.

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'serious' - Tunisia and Algeria have significant railway systems.

 

[MarcVD]

And Sudan used to be quite 'serious' too, although I wonder how much of that is still operational today.

 

[Royston Vasey]

And Sudan used to be quite 'serious' too, although I wonder how much of that is still operational today.

The Chinese are investing heavily in rail and infrastructure in East Africa including Sudan and Uganda. You'd be surprised!

http://cnn.it/2fMcgnx

 

[MarcVD]

Railways heavily depend, for their day to day operation, on a well organized and functioning society. Bring social unrest in a country, and railways are quasi always one of the first things that stop working, and one of the last to come back once peace is reinstated. So even with chinese investment, I doubt very much that Sudan is in the conditions today to bring in or maintain railway prosperity. Same can be said, unfortunately, about many african and middle east countries (I'm afraid that my trip by train to Bahgdad will be for another life...). But if peace comes back, may be the chinese will indeed make Cecil Rhodes' dream come true...

 

[Groningen]

China tries with its "support" to get influence in the rest of the world. There is not such thing as a free lunch! We (in the Netherlands) had this week visit from a chinese delegation. Oh; those jobs; even if we give up our freedom to China.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

It seems the potential shutdown in South Africa has been averted, but only by putting PRASA on continuous safety review.
The next major incident could trigger a further crisis.
The dialogue between the regulator and the train operator seems to be non-existent.
https://www.railwaygazette.com/news...rt-instructs-prasa-to-apply-safety-rules.html

. Explaining that PRASA’s application to be allowed to continue running trains ‘was solely to avoid what could have been a national crisis if the notice was carried out’, she said that PRASA would not ‘put this country on a knife edge ever again as a result of us defaulting on our commitment and responsibility to ensure the safety of the commuters’. Group CEO Sibusiso Sithole said that he would be putting stringent monitoring measures in place ‘that will guarantee the safety of our operations and that of the commuters we serve’

 

[Gostav]

China tries with its "support" to get influence in the rest of the world. There is not such thing as a free lunch! We (in the Netherlands) had this week visit from a chinese delegation. Oh; those jobs; even if we give up our freedom to China.

Yes, China built new railway for East Africa because they need local copper resources.