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Systems Failure Stops BR in Its TracksFrancistown, Jan 19, 2009 (Mmegi/The Reporter/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- It seems it does not rain but pours at Botswana Railways where the movement of trains ceased for more than two hours on Tuesday night. BR spokesperson Alina Masenya confirmed to Mmegi that the two passenger trains that ply the Lobatse-Francistown route stopped in their tracks because of power and communication failure. In addition, 10 freight trains, some carrying cargo like cement, salt and fuel, while others were empty rolling stock, were also ordered stopped by train controllers when they could not communicate with the drivers. As for the passenger trains, the one bound for Francistown stopped at Mahalapye at 1.15am, staying put until 4am after BR had resorted to the old manual operating system. The southbound train had similarly stopped at Palapye at the same time as the northbound, also resuming its journey at 4am. The Francistown-bound train arrived at its destination at 11am, more than five hours behind the scheduled 6.45am. The Gaborone-bound train arrived at 9.40am. "The transformer which powers our communication system was not working," said Masenya, hinting at power failures in Mahalapye recently. "The signalling and telecommunication system allows train controllers to communicate with drivers; if that does not happen, there is no other way than to stop the trains. Emphasizing the fact that they had no idea about what may have caused the power failure, Masenya said there was disruption of power in their workshop in Mahalapye, which added to their confusion."May be we will know once the experts have investigated the matter fully," she said. The good thing is that by stopping the train movements, we managed to avert possible collisions". BR disclosed that the locomotives that were damaged in a collision some time ago had to be repaired at over P4million in order to relieve Christmas time congestion, especially at the Gaborone Station. There was anxiety among relatives of the stranded passengers who waited patiently at the Francistown Station. Some were already expecting the worst news and gave a sigh a relief when the train finally trundled onto the platform. "Re ne re setse re ipotsa go re go rileng ga terena e sa goroge jaana (We were already asking ourselves what could be holding back the train for such a long time)," said a woman who was waiting for a relative and could not get communicate with her because she did not have a mobile phone. Though BR seems to be getting into the news for the wrong reasons, Masenya steered clear of discussing the topic, electing to note that what occurred on Tuesday night amounted to a near-crisis. She could not even say how much BR had lost due to the problem, saying the amount could only be ascertained after investigations were completed. |