Civil Engineering September 2022 | Vol 30 No 8

10 September 2022 Civil Engineering C abinet’s approval of the Rail White Paper concluded a protracted process that started with a discus- sion paper in 2009 and eventually led to Cabinet approving a Green Paper on National Rail Policy in 2015. After further extensive consultation over several years with all role players in the rail industry, the Green Paper was re-written into the hard-hitting White Paper on National Rail Policy. It is geared to dramatically change rail transportation in South Africa and intends to re-establish rail as the backbone mode of both freight transpor- tation and urban commuter mobility. New developments expected as the new policy gains traction are discussed in this article. WHAT WENT WRONG? The question must be asked: What went so dramatically wrong with rail transpor- tation in South Africa that it required a new rail policy to totally re-vamp a failed industry? The Rail White Paper explains as follows 1 : While rail is a well-established industry in the country, it has ex- perienced challenges over time and several historic events have impacted adversely on the industry’s overall development and the socio-economic impact it should have had on the economy. Rail is currently not per- forming at the level that it should, as indicated by its low market share, less than 20% for general freight and less than 10% for passengers. Even in bulk minerals, where rail should be unbeatable, road-going side-tipper interlink trailers with tandem axles have captured significant market share, and compete even more aggressively with tridem axles that are now allowed under abnormal performance-based specifications. A massive capital investment backlog and inadequate funding, obsolete and ageing infrastructure, deteriorating rolling stock and outdated technologies, limitations of narrow gauge, and insufficient specialised technical skills contributed to rail’s gener- ally moribund state. Quality issues such as passenger and freight safety and security, train overcrowding, and service reliability also challenge rail. These challenges have resulted in uncompetitively positioned, ineffectively equipped, and operationally inefficient railways that lost their ability to dominate both local logistics and mobility markets and to support global exports. While South Africa still takes pride in the length of its heavy haul trains on narrow gauge track, the two other key railway met- rics – axle load and speed – are mediocre compared to countries with standard (or broad) gauge railways. Consequently, the ratios between the output measures tonne- km per route km and passenger-km per route km, and the input measure route km (which are the key measures of operational efficiency) are well below those achieved in standard gauge countries. THE RAIL RENAISSANCE In the second half of the twentieth century, the majority of the rest of the world experienced a real renaissance in rail transportation, based on leveraging the inherent competitiveness of rail, as detailed in Figure 1. With heavy axle loads of 40 tonnes per axle (versus 8 tonnes for trucks), speeds of 180 km/h and higher (versus 80/h km to 120/h km for trucks), and lengths as long as desired, trains certainly won back the bulk of the long-distance heavy freight markets and made significant inroads into the fast rail passenger markets from short-haul air- lines. The competitive market spaces where rail competes best are shown in Figure 2. Sadly for South Africa, our inherently uncompetitive, old technology Cape gauge network missed out on the opportunities Transport eng i neer i ng A new era for the rail industry in South Africa A new era dawned for South Africa’s rail industry in May 2022 with the publication of the White Paper on National Rail Policy in the Government Gazette. Following approval from Cabinet in March 2022, publication of the Rail White Paper was met with great excitement, as it serves as the first rail policy document in over 150 years of rail transportation in South Africa. Figure 1 Rail’s three genetic technologies distinguish it from other modes