Railways in South Africa are dependent on the transport of heavy bulk minerals and other commodities. At present, revenue from the coal and ore lines subsidies the rest of the railway system. There are two heavy haul lines in South Africa: (1) double track, 585 km coal line from Witbank to Richards Bay (Indian Ocean), with 421 km section from Ermelo to Richards Bay electrified with 25 kV d.c. and (2) single track, 861 km iron ore line from Sishen to Saldanha (Atlantic Ocean), electrified with 50 kV a.c. Both electrification schemes were commissioned in 1978. The heavy ore train on Sishen-Saldanha line consists of 210 wagons, is hauled by three class 9E electric locomotives, the length of the train is +/- 2.2 km and maximum mass of the ore per train is +/- 17850 t. The Sishen-Saldana line was the second line in the world electrified at 50 kV a.c.
Electrification at 50 kV: heavy haul Sishen-Saldanha railway in South Africa
Elektrifizierung mit 50 kV: die südafrikanische Sishe-Saldana-Bahn für schwere Lasten
1997
6 Seiten, 5 Bilder, 4 Tabellen, 7 Quellen
Conference paper
English
Sishen - Saldanha pulls back from the brink
British Library Online Contents | 1997
Heavy Haul Railway Electrification: Experiences and Prospects
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2010
|British Library Conference Proceedings | 1997
|Railway electrification in South Africa
Engineering Index Backfile | 1925
|Railway electrification in South Africa
Engineering Index Backfile | 1933
|