Video: White Rule: Apartheid: South Africa had a high-speed train 40 years ago – My Comments
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[The train wasn't anything as fast as what you get in Europe and Japan. But it was a very cool train. It ran between Pretoria and Johannesburg and I went on it a few times. I enjoyed it. It only ran for a short period of time. But it was fun. Yet another White development that is gone. At the source link below you'll see photos of the train. Jan]
South Africa already had a high-speed train (HST) nearly four decades ago.
Many people have criticised or poked fun at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promise to deliver high-speed “bullet “train services in South Africa since his 2019 State of the Nation Address.
Bullet trains operate on the fastest high-speed rail (HSR) services, with speeds over 400km/h.
In a country where railway infrastructure is regularly devastated by vandalism and theft, it is no wonder that South Africans would be sceptical of the feasibility of such services.
Little progress has been made on Ramaphosa’s promise in the past five years.
The latest development in this regard was cabinet’s approval of a framework for HSR in November 2023. This will initially focus on the Johannesburg to Durban corridor.
Definition of HSR not that simple
There is no formal standard for a service to qualify as HSR.
The generally accepted rule has been that a purpose-built railway system should support speeds over 250km/h, while those with upgraded lines should be capable of carrying trains at speeds over 200km/h to be considered HSR.
South Africa achieved those speeds with several experimental locomotives in the 1980s.
Dr Herbert Scheffel of the South African Railways (SAR) was a key figure in South Africa’s advancements in HSR.
He first started experimenting with bogies — the structures underneath a wagon, coach, or locomotive connected via bearing — which were capable of self-steering.
These reduced the flange wear on cargo wagons in the 1970s but also made it possible for HSR passenger train testing.
In 1978, a Series 4 locomotive with the designation E1525 was modified with re-geared traction motors, Scheffel bogies, and an aerodynamic nose cone at one end.
With these changes, the locomotive reached a speed of 245km/h while pulling an adapted suburban coach on a section of rail between Westonaria and Midway on 31 October 1978.
This is still regarded as an unbeaten narrow gauge world speed record on 1,067mm Cape gauge, used in many former British colonies.
Two years later, in November 1980, the E1525 locomotive was again used to test the British Rail-Brecknell Willis single-arm high-speed pantograph.
Pantographs are the parts of electric trains used to connect them to the overhead electrical wiring, called the catenary.
The pantographs were being considered for use on the Class 6E1 locomotives and could support speeds over 145km/h on catenary that typically only handled speeds up to 80km/h.
On a 10km stretch of straight rail between Rosslyn and De Wildt, the trials with the pantograph achieved a speed of 201km/h.
MetroBlitz — The Gautrain of 1984
These developments helped inform the eventual decision to introduce an HSR service between Johannesburg and Pretoria, dubbed the MetroBlitz.
The MetroBlitz service used 3kV DC Class 12E locomotives, modified single-cab versions of Class 6E1 Series 10 locomotives.
Five of these were built and delivered to SAR by Union Carriage & Wagon in Nigel and fitted with electrical equipment supplied by General Electric.
In early 1984, the South African Transport Services (SATS), the evolution of the SAR, launched the MetroBlitz.
It replaced the Jacaranda Express, a commuter service that took roughly 58 minutes to cover a 69.4km route between Pretoria and Johannesburg via Germiston.
The Metroblitz could complete that trip in roughly 42–44 minutes, with a top speed of 160km/h regularly recorded.
This is the same as the top speed as the Gautrain, which would only launch 26 years later.
Transportation History, a blog run by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), said among those travelling on MetroBlitz’s trains on their first day of service was railroad writer Bruno Martin.
Martin penned a piece on his experience in the newsletter of the Natal chapter of the Railway Society of South Africa, in which he described the MetroBlitz’s launch as the entry into a new era for rail transport in South Africa.
He said the overall ride was extremely smooth with “very little jolting” and commented on the interior and exterior design.
“The fully air-conditioned coaches are each fitted with 60 aircraft-type seats in a chequered red/grey material and the floor is covered with plush red carpeting throughout.”
“The livery of the Metroblitz is striking, to say the least – starting with a broad red band, then narrower yellow band below the window level, thereafter dark grey and followed by a yellow and red band above the windows.”
Despite being well received by commuters, the MetroBlitz would only remain in operation until the following year.
According to Transportation History, its short lifespan was due to significant infrastructure costs, the need to accommodate the schedules of slower-moving train services on the same tracks, and stiff competition from other modes of transportation in the region.
The locomotives did not go to waste, however.
They were repainted and replaced the Class 6E1 locomotives on the Blue Train service between Pretoria and Kimberley.
They operated on this service until 2005, before being replaced by dual voltage Classes 14E and 14E1.
Four of the five locomotives were sold on auction by Transnet Freight Rail and scrapped, while one was stored at Koedoespoort by the Transnet Heritage Foundation.
South Africa’s fastest passenger train service currently in operation — the Gautrain — has a top speed of 160km/h.
The video embedded below tells more of the story beind the first high-speed train experiments in South Africa and the MetroBlitz.
Source: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/motoring/525809-south-africa-had-a-high-speed-train-40-years-ago.html
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