Background
The economic development of the African continent and its ability to unlock its trade potential is strongly tied up with the available transport infrastructure; and in particular, the reliability of its railways. Freight costs in Africa are high and are disproportionately higher than other regions of the world. This limits global competitiveness, intra-African trade and consumer buying power.
African railways while predominantly being a legacy of transportation corridors for transferring commodities from the interior to coastal ports, are in today’s assessment of need, sparse -see Table 1. Sixteen countries have no railway lines and many of the existing networks are in significant need of an upgrade and are operated by outdated and bureaucratic management with limited commercial viability and marketing.
While particular circumstances contribute to Africa’s predicament; such as challenging and diverse geography; population density; and its record on social stability and governance; there remains an obvious infrastructure gap in comparison to a world average railway density.
The vision
The African Union (AU), a continental body of 55 member states that promotes peaceful development and unity across the African countries, has set a Programme for Infrastructure Development (PIDA) framework, in collaboration with other partners. This includes the development of the Agenda 2063 Agenda 2063 Integrated High Speed Rail Network – to address the infrastructure gap in Africa.
As one of the flagship projects of the Agenda 2063, this network stands as the commendable forward-thinking project that, although presenting many challenges, brings together Union members to establish long-term goals prioritising railway links. Its aim is:-
[…] to connect all African capitals and commercial centres through an African High-Speed Train Network thereby facilitating the movement of goods, factor services and people. The increased connectivity by rail also aims to reduce transport costs and relieve congestion of current and future systems.
African Union
Publicly available details on the Integrated High Speed Rail Network are limited and this PIDA video has some discrepancies from the AU report. We at Capiro understand that the draft vision between the AU and China, one of the project partners, is still under consultation with preliminary routes and pre-feasibility studies to be progressed.
Nonetheless, PIDA has defined 11 African Regional Transport Infrastructure Network (ARTIN) corridors needing railway updates or entirely new rail lines as soon as possible to meet projected 2040 demands.
At Capiro we were unable to locate a map which outlined the extent of the railways defined in Table 2, and information on how these corridors will align with the wider high-speed network.
Challenges ahead
The implementation of these projects raises a number of important questions on the applicable timescales and technical specifications for a unified and interoperable route:-
- What is the adopted speed? High speed rail often adopts speeds above 250km/h for new lines, or above 200km/h when adopted on existing lines. The only high-speed railway line in Africa is located in Morocco and connects Tangier to Casablanca. It is able to reach 360km/h. We expect the Integrated High Speed Rail Network to adopt the definition of above 200km/h, with options on the method to power these trains across the route varying between diesel, electric or dual system. However, where electrification should be the target, outlining a suitable power supply infrastructure with standard requirements throughout the network is paramount.
- Which rail gauge will be adopted? African railways vary between metric gauge (1000mm wide) which covers 19.2% of existing track; Cape Gauge (1067mm wide) which covers 61.3% of existing track; Standard gauge (1435mm wide) which covers 14.5% of existing track; and six other gauges which cover the remaining 5% of existing track. It is noted that there are train vehicles that can cope with dual gauge, or dual gauge track sleepers, but for a suitable long-term development, a standard gauge should be adopted.
- How will it be operated and governed? Will a continental group under the AU manage and/or set the standards to be applied throughout? A single interoperable signalling system is the approach taken by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) with its European Rail Traffic Management system (ERTMS). However existing railways in Africa have been using both the Chinese Train Control System (CTCS) and the European Train Control system (ETCS) leading to non-interoperable sections of railways such as: Ethiopia’s Awash-Weldiya on ETCS and Addis-Ababa to Djibouti on CTCS. For successful operation of the Integrated High Speed Railway Network, a joined up approach is required.
These are questions which we at Capiro are looking to investigate. A successful and uninterrupted journey from Cape to Cairo will have to fully consider and address these issues and be aligned, if not otherwise part of, the African Integrated High Speed Railway Network.
