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Improvement of freight-rail efficiencies stressed to alleviate strain on roads

12th April 2013

By: Chantelle Kotze

  

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The South African rail industry can only become a cost-effective alter- native to road transport if the operational efficiencies of freight rail are increased to deliver a predictable and reliable service, says engineering and management consultant Arup.

However, this is a major challenge, Arup railway specialist Dr Friedel Mulke tells Engineering News. The freight-rail operators in certain bulk-haul markets operate at an average of 65% operational efficiency and capital investment projects in a railway system alone cannot overcome and improve operational inefficiencies, he notes.

What is needed is an efficiency-improvement plan, which needs to be rigorously launched and driven with purpose to unlock the inherent capacities and improve the productivity of rail assets and operating resources.

Further, investment programmes aimed at sustaining capacity must be launched to timeously upgrade and replace assets in terms of a well-scoped life-cycle philosophy and management regime, as opposed to assets being used until they are almost obsolete.

As a company with the rail capabilities and experience to assist rail operators in compiling a rail-efficiency programme and implementing and monitoring such programmes, Arup suggests that the freight-rail infrastructure in South Africa be re-evaluated and redesigned to meet the freight needs of export markets in future.

Focus Areas
Mulke says the freight-rail location and network layouts will need to be assessed from a functional point of view, after which the capacity of train operations and axle loads will need to be dealt with.

“In some cases, the heavy-haul railway lines’ axle-load capacities of 26 t an axle in South Africa, might have to be upgraded and increased in line with the latest axle- load capacities in the range of 30 t to 40 t an axle, such as those used in Australia, to handle the country’s future bulk-export programmes,” he explains.

Further, the advantages of rail gauge will have to be assessed to evaluate the current 1 065 mm Carl Abraham Pihl (CAP) gauge networks used in Southern Africa, with the standard gauge of 1 435 mm.

This will have to be assessed because of the advantages of securing, deploying and operating rolling stock for standard gauge systems because standard gauge systems outperform narrow CAP gauge rail systems at high activity levels, such as the activity levels on heavy-haul lines, says Mulke.

However, he points out that the rail network in South Africa is still of a high standard, owing to the renewed focus on rail projects that have been and are being undertaken, primarily by major rail opera- tors and mining houses, to achieve more efficient operations.

An example of such a project is the investment programme of R6.9-billion being undertaken by State-owned Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) to replace its signalling systems in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape to ensure the efficiency of passenger rail transport.

Similarly, State-owned rail utility Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is increasing the capacities and efficiencies of its networks, specifically to transport more coal by rail to State-owned power utility Eskom’s power stations.

This will, in turn, reduce the hauling of coal by road and the risks to other road users in the coalfields areas of South Africa.

Further, the investment in the existing coal rail line to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), in KwaZulu-Natal, will also enable other junior miners to export coal.

Mulke says the current capacity of the RBCT is more than 90-million tons a year and the coal line handles 77% of this.

“The planned upgrades on the coal line by TFR will ensure South Africa’s position as one of the five prominent exporters of coal in the world,” says Mulke.

Further, he adds that the planned upgrading of the Hotazel-Coega line for the export of 16-million tons a year of manganese ore will also put South Africa at the forefront with Australia as a manganese exporter.

In preparation for the development of heavy-haul bulk export projects in South Africa and its neighbouring countries, which promise to draw on all the railway expertise and skills in the country, Arup has holistically developed skills in its rail businesses.

These include strategic planning, train ope- rations, dynamic train simulations, electrical systemic simulations, locomotive and rolling-stock skills and signalling expertise.

Passenger Rail Involvement
Arup, as the independent certifier (IC) of the Gautrain rapid rail link project, was asked by the Gautrain Management Agency (GMA), the Gautrain operator Bombela Concession Company (BCC) and the lenders to extend its contract on the project until June 7, as not all the snags and retention items have been completed.

Gautrain project director Ric Snowden says Arup is still involved in dealing with the closing out of snags and retention items. Once these are completed, the final completion certificate will be issued and Arup’s involvement on the Gautrain project will come to an end.

Arup has been involved in the project for nearly ten years since the proposal of the underground route through Sandton, which resulted in the two green lungs, Mushroom Farm Park and Innisfree Park, being unaffected by the permanent routing of the railway.

As the IC, Arup carries out high-level monitoring and inspections in relation to the civil, electrical and mechanical works.

This includes site visits and technical audits of construction and design reviews – on a sampling basis. The IC is also responsible for the monthly issuing of interim payment certificates and the final payment certificate.

Further, Arup meets monthly with the GMA and the BCC to review the IC progress reports.

“The Concession Agreement (CA) between the GMA and the BCC prescribes the specifications for the works and all the standards that are required to be achieved. It is Arup’s role as the IC to certify whether these have been met before the BCC can claim any milestone pay- ments,” says Snowden.

To date, 77 monthly certifications have been undertaken, three operational commencement date certifications have been issued and 1 031 milestones have been certified.

Snowden says Arup was required to act with absolute fairness, professionalism and impartiality at all times. Arup took its independence seriously and discussed complex issues with both parties simultaneously or individually, before arriving at decisions as to whether to certify or not.

“We took our milestone submissions under review, discussed them among the IC team, which was based in the Linbro Park project office, in Johannesburg, and often with our overseas colleagues. We would always need to be able to fully substantiate why we rejected a milestone, or why we had certified it,” he says.

Disputes on milestone certifications have been minimal, reflecting the competence of the Arup IC team, concludes Snowden.

Edited by Tracy Hancock
Creamer Media Contributing Editor

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