SAIEE Railway Chapter

The first track for steam-powered locomotives was a line of about 3.2 kilometres by the Natal Railway Company, linking the town of Durban with Harbour Point, opened on 26 June 1860. Cape Town had already started building a 72-kilometre line, track gauge 1,435 mm, linking Cape Town to Wellington in 1859. However Cape railway construction began a massive expansion, after the formation in 1872 of the Cape Government Railways. Railway lines in other provinces "link-up" was established in 1898, creating a national transport network. Electrification of the railways began in the 1920s with the building of the Colenso Power Station for the Glencoe to Pietermaritzburg route and the introduction of the South African Class 1E. The establishment of the Railway Chapter will bridge the gap and ensure that technical/general knowledge and case studies learned and shared locally and at International level for the advancement of Southern African Railways development. In addition, this will also provide an opportunity for technical advancements originating from South Africa to be shared at the international stage. Also the engineering complexity of railway engineering is not acknowledged by the education sector and communities at large. For example, considering the historic physical clearances that existed in the era preceding railway electrification, Rail Operators face the same restrictions that other railways have had to deal with in this regard. In addition to electrical locomotives, diesel powered locomotives also traverse the same lines. Whereas some international solutions might be viable for electric traction in its context, the additional factor relating to heat and gases emitted from diesel locomotives have not been considered adequately. Hence it is realized that for example reduced clearances adopted in some railways are not necessarily applicable elsewhere.