INDUSTRY WATCH
SOUTH AFRICAN
RAIL OPERATORS WILL
NEED TO INVEST IN A
SOLUTION THAT CAN
PROVIDE THEM WITH A
HIGH-PERFORMANCE
SERVICE PLATFORM.
S
outh Africa’s current rail network
is the 11th largest in the world,
comprising of 12,801km of national
network, 7,278km of branch lines and
2,228km of narrow gauge urban network,
as well as 80km of standard gauge
regional rapid transit network.
Urban rail continues to play a significant
role in transporting residents in South
Africa’s metropolitan areas. With the
scale and passenger volume set to
continue growing, these lines will need to
be integrated into multiple-line networks,
requiring more efficient smart operations.
Legacy systems a constraint
to growth
This is because legacy rail operations
are often hampered by data centres
that in today’s standards are inefficient,
complex and costly to maintain and
adapt to current demands. A reliance on
mass transit WiFi or analogue systems
that are susceptible to interference results
in unreliable critical communications
services further hindering reliable and
agile operations.
In addition, these lines are often
operated independently as technology
islands and lack consistent service
architecture, technical platforms and
data, with a myriad of IT systems that
cannot support the unified operation of
multiple lines.
This becomes a problem, as switching
to automatic train operation – one way
of improving efficiency – requires more
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reliable information systems and service
linkages between different data silos.
South Africa’s National Development
Plan identified that the country needs
reliable economical and smooth-flowing
corridors linking its various modes of
transport, including road, rail and air. It
adds that these corridors are primarily
dominated by old railway technology
that is prone to malfunction and poor
intermodal linkages.
Railway organisations globally are
increasingly turning to ICT paving
the path to Digital Transformation to
maximise their investment providing a
more convenient transport service for
commuters and improving operations
efficiency and management of their
assets and rail networks – showing that
similar improvements can be gained
here too.
The government has recognised the
critical role that rail plays in socio-
economic development, with commuter
rail services making work centres and
central business districts accessible to
the country’s workforce by providing
affordable transport at set times.
As such, the country is to invest R173
billion toward the modernisation of
South Africa’s railway systems, including
the fleet and depots among others.
One of the improvements already
underway includes the implementation of
a GSM-R based critical communications
network to improve signalling on the
urban rail network.
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