Sishen–Saldanha Railway Line
   HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Sishen–Saldanha Railway Line
OR:
Sishen–Saldanha Railway Line on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

The Sishen–Saldanha railway line, also known as the Ore Export Line (OREX), is an heavy-haul railway line in South Africa. It connects
iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
mines near
Sishen Dingleton is a town in Northern Cape, South Africa. The nearby Sishen mine is an iron ore mining activity, connected to the port of Saldanha Bay by the Sishen-Saldanha Railway Line. The line is electrified at 50 kV AC 5 (five) is a number, n ...
in the
Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...
with the port at
Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay ( af, Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Mu ...
in the
Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
. It is used primarily to transport iron ore (60 million tonnes per year) and does not carry passenger traffic. The Sishen–Saldanha line was built by Iscor, the then iron and steel
parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
, opening in 1976. In 1977 the line was transferred to
Transnet Freight Rail Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...
, then known as ''South African Railways & Harbours'', and was electrified. A voltage of 50 kV AC was chosen instead of the usual 25 kV to haul heavier loads and allow greater distance between transformers. A single-track line with 10 crossing loops to allow trains travelling in opposite directions to pass was constructed. The number of crossing loops has increased to 19 to increase line capacity. From an altitude of at Sishen, the line climbs for before descending to cross the
Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
about downstream of
Groblershoop Groblershoop is a settlement in ZF Mgcawu District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about 2 km west of the Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in ...
. For the next , the line rises and falls before descending towards the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
coast. The railway crosses the Olifants River on a viaduct between
Vredendal Vredendal is a town in the northern Olifants River Valley in the Western Cape province of South Africa, with a population (according to the 2001 census) of 16,164 people. It is situated north of Cape Town on the banks of the Olifants River at th ...
and
Lutzville Lutzville is a settlement in West Coast District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It resides under the Matzikama Local Municipality. Village 22 km north-west of Vredendal and 45 km west of Vanrhynsdorp. Established in A ...
and reaches the coast about north of Saldanha. From there the line follows a coastal route. Initial train lengths consisted of three class 9E electric locomotives, hauling 210 type CR
ore wagon Open wagons (trucks in the UK) form a large group of railway goods wagons designed primarily for the transportation of bulk goods that are not moisture-retentive and can usually be tipped, dumped or shovelled. The International Union of Ra ...
s with a payload of 80 tonnes. Upgraded wagons now carry 100 tonnes. Train lengths were increased in 2007 to 342 wagons, employing Radio Distributed Power (RDP) technology. These trains (initially with 10 locomotives, a mix of electric and diesel-electric) and 342 wagons have a total mass of 41,400 tonnes and are long, the longest production trains in the world. The same 342-wagon trains are now powered by just five 15Es, crewed by one driver and one assistant. The train length was increased in October 2019 to 375 wagons


See also

*
South African Class 9E, Series 1 The South African Railways Class 9E, Series 1 of 1978 is an electric locomotive. In 1978 and 1979, the South African Railways placed twenty-five 50 kV AC , Series 1 electric locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service on the Sishen-S ...
*
South African Class 9E, Series 2 The South African Railways Class 9E, Series 2 of 1982 is an electric locomotive. In 1982 and 1983, the South African Railways expanded its existing Class 9E fleet by placing six new Class 9E, Series 2 General Electric Company electric locomot ...
*
South African Class 15E The Transnet Freight Rail Class 15E of 2010 is a South African electric locomotive. In 2010, Transnet Freight Rail placed the first of seventy-six Class 15E heavy electric freight locomotives with a Co-Co wheel arrangement in service on the S ...
*
South African Class 34-000 The South African Railways Class 34-000 of 1971 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Between July 1971 and March 1973, the South African Railways placed 125 Class 34-000 General Electric type U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.South Afric ...
*
South African Class 34-400 The South African Railways Class 34-400 of 1973 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Between April 1973 and November 1974, the South African Railways placed one hundred Class 34-400 General Electric type U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service. ...
*
South African Class 34-500 The South African Railways Class of 1974 is a diesel-electric locomotive. Between 1974 and 1977, the state-owned South African Iron and Steel Corporation placed forty-four General Electric type U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service. The ...
*
South African Class 34-900 The South African Railways Class of 1980 is a diesel-electric locomotive. In 1980 and 1981, the South African Railways placed thirty General Electric type U26C diesel-electric locomotives in service.South African Railways Index and Diagrams El ...
*
South African Class 43-000 The Transnet Freight Rail Class 43-000 of 2011 is a South African diesel-electric locomotive. In January 2011, Transnet Rail Engineering at Koedoespoort in Pretoria took delivery of the first two of 203 Class 43-000 General Electric type C30AC ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sishen-Saldanha Railway Line Railway lines in South Africa Iron ore railways Mining railways Mining in South Africa 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in South Africa Articles containing video clips