On 17 December 2015, Railways Africa reported:
South Africa’s Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) has cleared the new Afro4000 locomotives for use on the country’s railways, saying in its report: “With the exception of locomotive height limitations in certain areas of the network and subject to the highlighted conditions in this report, the Prasa Afro 4000 series locomotives possess acceptable performance capabilities to operate on the South African network.
At the measured height of 4,140mm, the locomotives cannot always maintain the required minimum vertical gap of 150mm between the roof and the contact wire. This will lead to a higher risk of contact and flashover with the overhead traction equipment and operational delays. There is evidence on some of the Afro 4000 locomotives inspected that such contact/flashover has occurred during testing.
Footnotes:
It sounds as though the locos can be safely operated anywhere except under certain 3kV DC overhead lines. Unfortunately this includes all major cities except Port Elizabeth and East London – and trains working from these two would be in potential trouble when approaching Bloemfontein."
MLD:: Of course, restricted approval for the South African network is good news for Vossloh Rail Vehicles (now part of Stadler Rail), as it allows further expansion of AFRO 4000 operations. However, recently, Prasa announced to take the Valencia based manufacturer to court to take back the locomotives, mainly because they are too high. Whether restrictive clearance will change Prasa's decision is something only the future will tell.
