Photo by: Duane Daws
The Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) this week imposed a 15 km/h speed restriction on the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) rail lines outside Bellville station, in the Western Cape, as well as on all the PRASA main lines into Cape Town Station, owing to the poor condition of the track infrastructure.
The defects identified by the RSR with regard to TFR’s rail infrastructure on the east side of Belville Station included cracked turnout components, worn rails and track geometry that was in poor condition.
TFR was required to submit a comprehensive corrective action plan to the RSR by April 18, detailing how the line would be refurbished to its original design specifications.
Meanwhile, with regard to the PRASA Metrorail infrastructure between Cape Town Station and Woodstock, in the vicinity of the Christiaan Barnard overpass, the RSR found defects on the line including rotten sleepers, missing bolts, worn and cracked turnout components and faults in the general track geometry.
The PRASA tracks on the east and west sides of the Belville Station were found to have similar defects as the track outside Cape Town, the RSR said.
PRASA had to submit a corrective action plan for the Belville and Cape Town lines to the RSR by April 18.
Failure to comply with the RSR’s directives by PRASA or TFR would result in the regulator imposing penalties and closing the affected lines until the risks had been eliminated.