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Two Transnet Freight Rail trains travelling on the export coal line to Richard’s Bay collided on Sunday after a reported shift change issue.

The crash comes as the government and businesses try to restore SA’s failing logistics sector. The crash knee-caps any attempt to get exports going again.

The crash results from a communications failure as Transnet runs a manual train management system and cannot remotely track trains in real time.

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) doesn’t have a digitised train management system like most countries, instead relying on a series of signals and phone calls to schedule and operate their trains. Because of constant equipment and infrastructure theft, the only option to avoid crashes is by phone communication between the train control operator and the drivers.

Two Transnet Freight Rail trains, ferrying tonnes of coal, collided in the Elubana region, near eNseleni, in northern KwaZulu-Natal yesterday morning (Sunday at 6am). One train rear-ended the other, which is believed to have been stationary due to a power outage. OS pic.twitter.com/kTWh7038Mr

— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) January 15, 2024

TFR has tendered for a digital system, but implementation will take time – as with all things government.

“In the interim, specifically for the export coal line, we are in the process of acquiring a service provider to upgrade the current scheduling system. For TFR as a whole, the longer-term intervention is that we onboarded a service provider in December, and the first phase of the implementation is underway,” TFR said.

Sunday’s crash came about as a train stopped because of a power outage in Richard’s Bay line, with the outgoing shift failing to notify the incoming crew. The crash, which took place at Elubana in northern KwaZulu-Natal, was not the first serious incident in the area as two near-collisions at the same spot were reported in the last few months. In both cases, the trains stopped just short of colliding with a stationary train on the line.

TFR confirmed the incident on Monday and said recovery efforts were underway. “The cause of the accident was being investigated, it said, and further details would be communicated in due course.”

Before the recent derailment, the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC), a combined venture of business and government founded in June of last year, was beginning to show signs of success.  In 2022/23, TFR moved only 149 million tonnes, which is the same amount moved in the 1990s.

While yesterday’s incident was not as serious as it could have been, both locomotives and several wagons were smashed.

So too any hopes of getting the country’s freight moving again soon.

[source:news24]