THE quick thinking of a resident living near the route of a popular steam train operation in the Upper Highway area recently prevented the possible derailing of the locomotive pulling carriages with more than 200 passengers on board.
A section of an embankment on which the railway track was set in the vicinity of Phezulu Safari Park near Botha’s Hill was washed away, leaving five railway sleepers suspended in the air.
The breach of the embankment’s integrity possibly occurred on the evening of July 7 or the early hours of the next day.
That’s when water gushed from a pipeline which had been worked on by employees from the eThekwini Municipality’s water and sanitation department, and caused the washaway.
Having noticed the hazard and the danger it posed to the Umgeni Steam Railway (USR) trips for tourists that were known to be run on weekends, the resident immediately informed an official from the railway company.
The alert reached the driver who was able to halt the train about 300 metres from the compromised section of track, close to the Alverstone level crossing.
What incensed volunteers and members of the USR was the municipality's failure to inform them immediately about the washing away of the embankment and that senior City officials did not respond to their subsequent correspondence.
Adrian Rowe, a USR volunteer who has been writing to the municipality, initially complained about the conduct of the municipality’s employees.
“They did wilfully and unlawfully, whilst repairing a damaged water main, discharge water, causing the complete washaway of the embankment, which supports the railway track in the vicinity of Phezulu Safari Park.
“By the grace of God, a resident called one of our members.”
Rowe suspected a venting valve had been triggered to release air from the repaired pipe.
“They blasted water straight onto the track. The power of the jet of water was quite intense. We have video footage of it.
“No attempt was made to notify the USR of the impending danger.”
Rowe said it was common knowledge that the USR, with the authority of Transnet Freight Rail (the owner of the infrastructure), operated tourist passenger trains on the section of railway line.
The USR is a non-profit company that operated round trips (50km) between Kloof and Inchanga, but those trips were halved in distance (Inchanga to Botha’s Hill, approximately 25km) after April 2022’s floods.
“About R1.2m was spent on reopening the track for the shortened trip after we got hammered by the floods.”
Rowe said they were unable to afford the repairs needed for the rest of the track.
Having received no response from water and sanitation’s heads, Rowe addressed a letter to the city manager, Musa Mbhele, but also received no reply.
Urgent temporary repairs to the affected area became necessary for the train to pass through. About two weeks later, repairs to the same pipe resulted in the washing away of the same section of embankment once again.
Rowe said on this occasion a Transnet-approved contractor had to be hired to reinstate the embankment and both repair bills totalled nearly R160 000.
“The municipality's staff were grossly negligent but we haven’t heard a word from them to date.
“I can't understand the conduct of the municipality's management because if we don't pay our utilities bill they disconnect us.
“We feel very aggrieved at their complete lack of interest to the extent that they would evidently be happy to drive our tourist operation out of business. There has been no apology, no undertaking to desist from the same callous destruction of property in future and no offer of assistance or compensation,” said Rowe.
Gugu Sisilana, the municipality’s spokesperson, said their insurance office would be handling the matter of the costs incurred by the USR.
Sisilana said the railway line ran parallel to the water supply line to Botha’s Hill reservoir.
“Unfortunately, this water main burst three times in July and, each time, it was repaired immediately, resulting in flooding and damage to the railway line infrastructure.
“The interim measure of installing a chamber has been implemented to avoid excessive water discharge towards the railway line should it burst again.
“We are busy with the reinstatement process.”
Sisilana said it was an oversight that the USR had not been informed about the damage to the embankment as their primary concern was to urgently attend to the burst pipe.
“This is an oversight the City is addressing. We also acknowledge that feedback to the query took longer than acceptable and we apologise for this. However, this does not mean that the issue was neglected.”
SUNDAY TRIBUNE