South Africa’s accident-prone rail network is disrupting the economy, including the mining industry, and claiming hundreds of lives each year.
In its State of Safety Report 2023/24 tabled in parliament, the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) found there was a 36% increase in "operational occurrences" — accidents involving freight and passenger trains. It said ports and rail utility Transnet and Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) were responsible for 90% of the accidents.
There were 2,496 operational occurances during the period under review, which resulted in 85 deaths and 181 injuries.
There were also 7,420 security-related incidents, resulting in a further 74 fatalities and 98 injuries.
The regulator — an entity of the department of transport responsible for upholding safety on the rail network — reported 687 collisions and 278 derailments in the period under review
RSR acting CEO Mmuso Selaledi told Business Times that derailments, collisions and other incidents on the network resulted not only in costly damage, loss of life and injuries, but also affected bulk commodity exports as lines are closed, sometimes for days, in clearing operations.
"Firstly, products are not getting to the ports in time; secondly, derailments damage the infrastructure, but also you take a lot of time to clean up. Imagine trying to clean up 100 wagons that have derailed. It does have an impact on the mining companies, the profitability and how they are able to move their product to the port for exports," he said.
The regulator is especially concerned about derailments in train yards as these can mainly be attributed to human error.
"Operators should have good control of their operations [in the yards]. We are zooming in on that area to understand why we have so many [of these] derailments."
In its 2024 annual report, Transnet Freight Rail said derailments in shunting operations decreased by 13%, from 93 in 2023 to 81 in 2024. It said mainline derailments decreased by 5%, from 85 in 2023 to 81 in 2024, while there was just one train-on-train collision in 2023 compared with three in the previous period.
Selaledi said derailments were also caused by noncompliance with train-watching rules.
"These two categories, 87 for collisions and 278 for derailments, are a source of worry for the regulator and we are pinpointing a lot of our work to understand it better and issuing direction to operators."
Selaledi said a shortage of locomotives as a result of an impasse with its Chinese supplier, meant Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has trains with as many as 200 wagons at a time, which increases risks in the event of derailments or collisions.
"You can imagine it is one train with 200 wagons that it is pulling — whether it is coal, manganese or any minerals. So when that train derails 40 wagons, 80 to 100 wagons at a time [are affected]."
TFR was rocked by a major derailment after a collision between two coal freighters outside Richards Bay in January.
"We believe we are not where we should be. There is much room for improvement for safe railway operations in the country," Selaledi said on Friday.
The RSR said there were 212 rail safety permit holders, among them Transnet and Prasa, and the Bombela Operating Company, which operates the Gautrain.
TFR operates a 20,000km network divided into six main corridors and thousands of kilometres of branch lines.
The corridors include the vital coal export line between Emalahleni and Richards Bay, and the 861km iron-ore line connecting Sishen in the Northern Cape to the Port of Saldanha. It shares the network with Prasa — the troubled commuter rail utility that is being restored with new rolling stock and refurbished stations. Prasa moves 40-million passengers a year.
Other independent rail operators also share the network, while the Gautrain runs its 80km intercity service between Johannesburg, Pretoria, Sandton and OR Tambo International Airport on an international standard-gauge line.
An expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there isn’t enough money to invest in train safety systems, including signalling and telecommunications.
"[Transnet’s] rehabilitation costs and maintenance backlog will cost more than R100bn, with about R150bn in debt and the R47bn government guarantee maxed out," he said.
Theft and vandalism were a criminal matter and the question was why Transnet interventions have been so consistently ineffective, he added.
"Private-sector funded and managed security support on the North Corridor was remarkably effective. It’s therefore likely not necessarily only a funding and crime issue, but like much of Transnet’s woes over the last decade, an effective management problem."
He said the regulator needed more funding independent of train operators.
"They need to gear up for the much-needed, increased safety oversight that third-party access on Transnet’s infrastructure will require. The RSR has really world-class regulations but will need proper teeth to be able to enforce good safety practices. Without improved safety systems and oversight, third-party access can turn out to be a massive disaster," he added.
TFR said security-related incidents increased 5.4% year on year, from 7,335 to 7,733. "Cable theft remains the primary security [threat], accounting for 57% of the reported incidents and is among the factors affecting train cancellations and tonnage losses," it said.
Selaledi said Transnet and Prasa were effectively under attack. "Through theft and vandalism, we have lost large portions of our network, whether it be the track itself, station infrastructure, overhead cables or signalling equipment," he added.
The problem was not only theft and vandalism, but operators were also falling behind on maintenance requirements and investment in the network, he said.
Human error on the part of drivers, train control officers, technicians and supervisors was also contributing to the increase in accidents. Some errors were due to fatigue, the result of understaffing.
"Because there is a large number of vacancies especially in Prasa and Transnet, there are long working hours and the people working in the movement of trains become fatigued, and when they are fatigued they make errors. If they are not fatigued, they are not following their own train working rules — that is why you get occurrences," Selaledi said.
South Africa has an advanced regulatory environment — meaning it collects and reports statistics more accurately than other countries in the Southern African Development Community
He said neighbouring countries and other African counterparts were not producing reports with the same level of detail and accuracy.
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