Green Paper Envisages Standard Gauge

[John Ashworth]

Green Paper Envisages Standard Gauge

What Std Gauge Would Cost South Africa

[Steve Appleton]

Why this "love affair" with standard gauge beats me. SA runs technically very competent and efficient railways on 1065 mm. Will the conversion of, for example, the coal or iron ore lines increase capacity in proportion with the cost? Absolutely not. Will standard gauge increase the speed of passenger trains in proportion with the cost and bring passengers back to rail? Not unless massive engineering work is incorporated into the standard gauge installation to create easy gradients and curves. Engineering work that would have almost the same benefits to the already existing 1065 mm trains and their routes without the cost of building a totally unique and new infrastructure.
The only reason I can see for the drive to standard gauge in SA is its funding by foreign entities with interests in the supply chain, funding that would bring largess to those who make the decisions. Funding that would not come their way if the current 1065 mm gauge was to be similarly upgraded using available local expertise.
It is my view that instead of championing an unlikely or hugely expensive dream, the Government should be championing the realistic upgrading, improvement and expansion of the existing network with much greater cost-effective benefit to local industry.

[John Ashworth]

As I've said before, I tend to agree with Steve in the case of South Africa, which already has an extensive and very well-developed railway network. It would seem to make sense to develop the existing network rather than try to create a new one.

I believe it is different in countries like Kenya and Uganda which basically only have a single railway route which has become pretty decrepit. To repair the old one would really entail rebuilding it completely, so might as well build a completely new one on a better alignment using standard gauge.

[John Ashworth]

Don’t widen freeways – make rail more competitive