Modernisation and digitalisation will be critical to driving the future growth of Southern Africa’s railway industry.

Key technological developments that will be central to creating interconnected rail services in the region include broadband, cloud services and artificial intelligence (AI), which are increasingly influencing the digitalisation of the railway industry, said Huawei Smart Transportation Business VP Guoyu Wang.

Speaking at the Southern African Railways Association’s (SARA’s) thirteenth yearly conference and exhibition held at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg, late last month, he said that Huawei has a long-standing partnership with leading railway partners across SARA-operated corridors.

This was further strengthened by a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote efficient and cost-effective information and communication technology (ICT) solutions to rail operators in Southern Africa.

The MoU was signed in November 2023 between Huawei and SARA to unify technical standards for regional railway networks and help railways build smart systems for secure and efficient rail transport that enables the growth and development of trade across the region.

This includes supporting and strengthening the Passenger Railway Agency of South Africa’s (PRASA’s) railway recovery programme through Huawei’s safety innovations.

“Safety is a central issue as companies in the SARA region endeavour to modernise their railways and create an integrated transport system. The industry should leverage public and private partnerships to build the railways of the future,” says SARA president and PRASA CEO Hishaam Emeran.

“We must prioritise the development and implementation of robust safety standards and invest in state-of-the-art safety technologies to maintain the integrity of rail networks in Southern Africa,” he continues.

Huawei’s smart railway perimeter detection tools support PRASA’s e-guarding system to precisely detect intrusions, such as attempts to climb over or break a fence to steal valuable infrastructure, through vibration- sensing optical fibre sensors deployed every 20 km.

When combined with AI tools, this smart detection product forms a highly accurate early-warning system. It also monitors activity around mission-critical assets like substations, relay rooms and railway tracks, which are often targeted by criminals.

Highlighting how technology can improve railway systems, Wang points to an example of how cloud platforms and Big Data analysis can be deployed to reduce costly and time-consuming maintenance work from days to just hours.

New technologies can also be used to make passenger transport experiences more efficient.

“In China, for instance, dynamic rail scheduling tools are deployed on the countryʼs 45 000 km high-speed rail network to provide passengers with real-time information on when their train will arrive and depart.”