Africa's fastest train

[DSY011]

Africa's fastest train has opened its new route to the capital, Pretoria, from Johannesburg in a bid to speed up travel between two of South Africa's major cities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14371113

[27vet]

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Cable-theft-disrupts-Gautrain-20110810

Cable theft disrupts Gautrain

Johannesburg - The Gautrain service between Pretoria, Hatfield and Centurion was disrupted on Wednesday morning due to cable theft, according to a statement on the Gautrain website.

The disruption was caused by cable theft at a substation and was expected to be repaired by 10:00.

According to the operator, a bus service between Hatfield, Pretoria and Centurion was running as an interim measure. This would double the frequency of the service from 12 minutes to 24 minutes.

[Torquay]

Hi 27vet, since you lasted posted on the Gautrain, cables have been stolen again. Also the buses that feed Rosebank Station went on strike,typical of the idiots there. And to think i will be in SA end of Nov to end of March,hope their is no problems as i had enough when i lived there. Torquay.

[27vet]

Yes Torquay, despite a whole array of security. Now the Government is considering changing cable theft from a petty offence to sabotage. So the penalties will be much more severe. But of course by the time that is promulgated there probably won't be any cable left to steal. (Good old steam!)

Anyway we arrived safely on August 13 and had a ride from the airport to Sandton, the coaches are still new and in a clean condition, it is not overcrowded like London or Washington etc. A very pleasant ride and only cost the equivalent of a tenner. I will put some pictures in the gallery.

You can see some pictures here on flickr

[Torquay]

Hi27vet, you most certainly made me laugh with your first paragraph. Glad to see all is ok for you all in JNB,i enjoyed your photographs brought back many good memories,i still miss SA normally i am 6 months UK,6 months SA,this last winter i decided to stay UK side;never again,we had that white stuff so i hibernated, it was bloody freezing,excuse the expression. Talking of snow,when was that photo taken of your little girl in the snow,the last i remember was i think 1981/82,as Joburg ground to a halt with about 1/2 inch of snow,all work ground to a halt in and around Commissioner Straat all were playing snowballs as most people had not seen snow before. By the way as we all know officials throughout are involved in the cable thefts. I wonder if you know about the amount of Diesel Locomotives that have simply vanished,i am trying to find out how many,who said they are thick;very clever eh. I will be going along to see the guys at Reef Steamers as per usual,i find out plenty of information on my frequent visits,weather i will get to Bulawayo or not whilst i am over there is another matter.Look after yourself.Hambani kahle. Torquay..

[DSY011]

Hi Torquay, if you manage to get to Bulawayo, try and get some photos of the remaining Garratts, even the scrapped ones behind the shed. I used to live in the railway estate of Westgate, but that has long gone. Went to school there with the old Salisbury line at the bottom of the school field. Across the track was the asbestos factory where as kids we played on the shutes that they sent the bags of asbestos down to the lorry loading bay. Talk about H&S!!!

[Torquay]

Hi Syd, sorry i am late getting back to you as i have been travelling a lot recently. I am hoping to get to Harare to see my friends, and hopefully i can take in Bulawayo. When you metioned the H&S re asbestos,made me think that i worked with that stuff for years as you did,after all steam engines were lagged with asbestos as you know. By the way i prefere the name Salisbury to Harare. Torquay.

[DSY011]

Hi Torquay, I have to agree with you re-Salisbury. I still call the country Rhodesia. It was Rhodesia when I lived there, it was Rhodesia when I left there, so to me it will always be Rhodesia. I never worked in Salisbury on the railways but I did work in Umtali. I was also stationed at Bulawayo, Thompson Junction, Dett before going to Umtali. In Bulawayo, Thompson Junction and Dett I worked on 9th, 12th 14th 15, 19th & 20th class locos. In Umtali I worked on Davenport shunter, DE2, DE3 DE4 & DE6 locos. I left Rhodesia in 1969 and hich hiked from Umtali to Cape Town in 4 days, before catching the Edinburgh Castle to the UK.

[27vet]

I rode on the Gautrain today. It was pretty full, a few standing passengers. Thank goodness no-one stole the cables I have 2 X 2 minute videos, but not sure if I can get it onto You Tube as they are 170MB each. Might post them to Syd if I have time.