Following a derailment in which two trains collided in the early hours of Sunday at Elubana, near Richards Bay on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, which is home to South Africa’s main coal export terminal, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), a division of the state-owned logistics company Transnet, confirmed that recovery efforts had been undertaken.

By Telegram Reporter

In yet another blow to South Africa’s struggling logistics sector, the export coal line to Richard’s Bay was forced to shut down following a collision between two coal freight trains on Sunday. This unfortunate incident comes as a setback to the government and big businesses’ ongoing efforts to revive the country’s ailing rail network.

Due to the lack of a digitised train management system, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) faces challenges in tracking trains and ensuring their safe movement. The high incidence of signalling equipment theft further exacerbates this problem, leaving phone communication as the sole means for train control operators and drivers to avoid potential collisions.

According to unconfirmed reports from sources within Transnet, the accident on Sunday was a result of human error. The incident, it is alleged, occurred when there was a failure to inform the incoming shift about a stationary train on the line during a shift change. The train had stopped due to a power outage in Richard’s Bay, which was causing disruptions further down the line.

This accident in Elubana, located in northern KwaZulu-Natal, is not an isolated incident. There have been two near-miss incidents at the same location. In both cases, a train approaching narrowly escaped a collision with the train already present on the track.

Transnet stated that there were no major injuries as a result of the incident. Nevertheless, the interruption of services to Richards Bay would hinder the transportation of minerals, which was already constrained by a lack of locomotives and extensive theft and vandalism of infrastructure.

“TFR teams were dispatched to the scene immediately and recovery efforts began in earnest. No serious injuries have been reported, and staff involved in the collision were sent for medical observation.

“Environmental teams are also at the scene to ensure compliance in the recovery and clean-up operations.

“An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident,” said the company.

Getting TFR back on track

The National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC), which was established in June 2023 through a partnership between the private sector and the government, has been working hard to address the challenges that are associated with logistics.

In light of the declining performance of TFR over the previous three years, the NLCC has been tasked with the responsibility of revitalising the logistics capacities. TFR only transported 149 million metric tonnes during 2022/23, which is comparable to the amount that was transported during the 1990s.

To address the ongoing disasters and improve operational management, TFR has decided to implement a digital train scheduling and planning system. This system will allow for remote monitoring of trains and real-time connectivity with drivers. The tender for this digital system has been issued, although it may take some time to fully implement.

“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 under way,” TFR told online news site News24.

The goal of digitalisation is to enhance operational management and prevent future accidents like the major derailment in November 2022 on the coal line.

TFR initially attributed the cause of the 2022 derailment to the community in the area sabotaging the track. However, there was compelling evidence suggesting that the train was moving at an excessive speed, indicating a failure of the brakes.

It took TFR two weeks to clear the track, which resulted in significant revenue losses for the company as well as billions in lost output for the mining industry. Even though the incident that occurred on Sunday was not as severe as the one that occurred in 2022, it still caused damage to multiple wagons and locomotives.