IRJ Correspondent

PASSENGER Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has approached the High Court in Johannesburg in a bid to terminate the controversial €250m locomotive deal it signed with Vossloh, alleging that the tender was rigged.

TROUBLES continue at the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) after last week's sacking of its chief executive, suspension of a senior engineer, and a commuter train collision on July 17 that left 200 people injured.

PASSENGER Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has confirmed it expects its new Vossloh Afro 4000 diesel locomotives to enter service on long-distance mainline passenger trains within the next two months.

SOUTH African locomotive builder Grindrod has unveiled a new Cape Gauge shunting and short-trip locomotive which it hopes will find a ready market among rail operators looking for affordable replacements for ageing second-hand units.

SWAZILAND Railway - one of Africa's smallest state-owned rail networks - celebrated its 50th birthday on Friday by finally getting its own locomotives and wagons.

The Ministry of Transport has appointed Japan Railway Technical Service (Jarts) and Yachiyo Engineering to conduct a pre-feasibility study for a public-private partnership scheme to build a 144km 210km/h line between Jakarta and Bandung.

Trains using the existing 1067mm-gauge line take around 3 hours to complete the 173km trip.