Encyclopedic Entry no.2 - Fastraxx Commuter Rail Network
This entry is quite different then my usual updates. I'm not completely finished with Dresden, but I figured now might be a good time to take a little break from city focused entries. It's been a long while since I made an E2 entry, the last(and first) one I made was over 9 months ago.
E2 is short for Encyclopedic Entry and it is a comprehensive analysis/overview of one specific system covering the entire region.
Today's E2 will focus on the commuter rail network of Pretoria, named Fastraxx. Since I work in the rail industry this entry will be very elaborate and will reference many industry specific terms with an extensive amount of dialog. If that's not your cup of tea I would suggest skipping to the "Synopsis of the Fastraxx system" about half way down the page which hopefully will be interesting to all 
History
The Fastraxx network was established by the Pretoria Regional Governing Authority(PRGA) in 1969 shortly after and in compliance with the Rail Safety Compliance Act(RSCA) of 1967. The RSCA was an act of parliament/congress passed into law on July 17, 1967. The act banned passenger trains from operating on any line where freight trains operated on. The act was in response to the Continental 51 disaster, where a commuter train speed collided into a stalled freight train which resulted in 156 fatalities(5 crew, 151 passengers) as well as several other less deadly but increasingly frequent incidents leading up to it. Think Chatsworth 2008(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Chatsworth_train_collision), which lead to the U.S. Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 mandating PTC on all lines, except PTC didn't exist in Pretoria back in 1967, so this was the nation of Albion's solution. The RSCA had 5 year deadline date of July 16, 1972 for complete separation. Unlike the U.S. Rail Safety Improvement Act, no delays would be accepted. If a the passenger rail service was not running on a rail line with no freight trains, then it would not run at all! The only exception being non-revenue passenger equipment trains(no passengers aboard).
Prior to this it was very common for preexisting rail lines to serve both passenger and freight traffic in Pretoria and across the country. Few cities even had an established commuter rail networks. It was common place for the freight companies themselves provided low frequency passenger train service on some of their lines using antiquated equipment several decades old. The Fed's however did operate a national long distance train service called Hallmark(Albion's version of Amtrak) which was established back in 1923.
Prior to the RSCA there were dozens of freight line companies operating across the nation. The RSCA created an environment where mergers and consolidation between these companies became advantageous, knowing that the local governments would be paying out large sums of money to purchase rail 'rights of way'(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-of-way_(transportation)) for use in the creation of passenger-only rail lines. It was around this time that the ICR(Intercontinental Railway), GWR(the Great Western Railway) and ACER(Ablion Central Railway) established themselves as the three main railways of the nation, though only two of them operate in Pretoria region(the ICR & GWR).
Pretoria, the nation's third largest city by population wasted no time getting its act together. Following several local freight mergers, it quickly bought up multiple rail right of ways that were either deemed excessive stock or being abandoned by the freight companies. And on Nov 22, 1969 regular commuter train service begin on portions of 2 lines; the O line(Ocean) from Dresden to Noriega and the ME line(Middle East) to Lindin City.
The original Fastraxx System Map, circa 1969;
These map(s) are to scale and the distances between stations are generally accurate. The dotted black line represents my region's current size and Pretoria's city limits, the metro area continues further beyond.
The Ocean line was later extended and then split in two separate lines(NP & L). Three additional lines were opened over the following decades; A line in 1976, the SS line in 1979 and the C line in 1985. This increased the number of stations from 13 to 33. Train frequencies were also increased from rush hour only on the original two lines to all day service on the L & NP lines.. However by the late 1990's the system was starting to encounter severe congestion problems and more trains could not be added until these issues were resolved.
Fastraxx system map, circa 1999;
In the early 2000's the system underwent its largest expansion to date the most important of which was the electrification project. Prior to electrification, trains were powered by diesel locomotives. In combination with the system wide electrification new equipment had to be purchased. Electric locomotives replaced the diesel units operating on the rush hour only lines(C, ME & SS) and EMU's(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_multiple_unit) were purchased for use on the all day service lines. The electric trainsets provide much better acceleration than the previous diesel trains which allowed for the addition of 13 new stations without increasing overall travel time and greatly improved train frequencies during rush hour. Station spacing was reduced from one station every 2.8 km to one every 2.1 km and the C line was added to the all-day service loop on the L & NP lines. Trains are typically 5 or 6 coaches long and have a seating capacity of between 400 to 480 people per train. When accounting for standees a rush hour trains typically holds as many as a 1000 people. Additionally these new trains were built to be operated by cab signalling and are PTC(Positive Train Control) compliant. This improved system reliability and most importantly safety. Trains would no longer be solely directed by line of sight way side and most signal masts were removed except for those at major junction or interlocking points, that is where trains can crossover tracks. Any train exceeding its operating limits will be stopped automatically by the PTC system. This also reduced crewing requirements from two per train to just one greatly reducing yearly operating costs.
The automated Airport Express was also built during this time provided a direct connection from Pretoria International Airport to downtown Astoria. Astoria for the record is Pretoria's Manhattan. The Airport Express is serviced by automated 4-car EMU's running on an elevated viaduct until just before Pretoria Central where the line runs in an underground tunnel and station. Several extension projects were also initiated on the ME(2009) C(2014) and NP(2017) lines. Another important project was the separation of the ME & SS lines from the L line. Previously these line merged onto the same set of tracks which created congestion. A new set of tracks was built parallel to the L line extending all the way from Pretoria Central to Lindin City and the routing of the ME line was changed to accommodate this. Commuters wishing to stop at points in between Calgon & Pretoria Central from the ME & SS lines have to transfer over to the L line at Calgon station. In all the system is 100km long and which is almost entirely double tracked giving a total of 205 kms of mainline track and plus another 15 kms of yard tracks.
Summary of the system upgrades post 2000
Electrification of the entire Fastraxx network
Project # Fastraxx Project no.1
M Project date: 2002-2008
Projected Costs: $1.65 Billion
Contractor: multiple
Order for new rail equipment - Electric Multiple Units
Order date: 2003
Delivery date: 2008-2010
Total number of coaches: 178
Cost per Unit: $7.8 million
Projected Costs: $1.39 Billion
Contractor: Prototype Equipment
Order for new rail equipment - Electric Locomotives
Order date: 2005
Delivery date: 2007-2009
Total number of engines: 30
Cost per Unit: $16.5 million
Projected Costs: $496 million
Contractor: Electric Motors
In-Cab Signal System installation
Project # Fastraxx Project no.2
M Project date: 2006-08
Projected Costs: $305 million
Contractor: Massive Electric
Positive Train Control Instillation
Project # Fastraxx Project no.4
M Project date: 2008-12
Projected Costs: $580 million
Contractor: Automaton Solutions Inc.
Airport Express Line
Project # Fastraxx Project no.6
M Project date: 2010-13
Length of Line: 4.8 km
Station platforms: 3
Projected Costs: $825 million
Contractor: Supreme Construction
ME Line extension to Fairmount
Project # Fastraxx Project no.3
M Project date: 2007-08
Length of Extension: 4.4 km
Projected Costs: $83 million
Contractor: RealRail corp.
C Line extension to Eastlea
Project # Fastraxx Project no.7
M Project date: 2012-14
Length of Extension: 2.3 km
Projected Costs: $204 million
Contractor: MCR Rail inc.
NP Line extension to Aspen
Project # Fastraxx Project no.8
M Project date: 2013-17
Length of Extension: 6.1 km
Projected Costs: $397 million
Contractor: RealRail corp.
Seperation of the ME & SS from the L line
Project # Fastraxx Project no.5
M Project date: 2008-13
Length of new corridor: 8.9 km
Projected Costs: $1.08 Billion
Contractor: multiple
Total costs: $7.01 Billion
The result of which is this;
Fastraxx system map, 2016;
The all-day service route actually functions as one large loop totaling 50.4 kms long. Trains starts off at either Halcyon on the NP line(green) or at Highland at the end of the short A line(cyan). After departing Halcyon the train(s) proceeds south to Pretoria Central. Next it transfers over to the Inner-Bay route of the L line(Red). From there it will loop around Cisco Bay(the waterbody not the city) and return to Pretoria Central via the Cross-Bay route. After which it will finally transfers onto the A line(Cyan) and continue onto Highland station. There it turns around and the entire process is reversed. So really the NP, L & A lines (green/red/cyan) operate as one big 28 station loop.
The subway system in Pretoria is also quite elaborate as is the local bus network, both of which are run by a separate agency called the Pretoria Transit Authority(PTA). The PTA will be covered in a future E2.
As mentioned before, there is also a long distance train service operated by the federal government called Hallmark. The Hallmark service only operates on the NP, ME & SS lines, basically going to destinations beyond Pretoria further North, East & South. Additionally there are several different long distance bus routes but these are all run by private agencies and not the government.
Synopsis of the Fastraxx system
Number of lines - 7 (3 of which are shared with the Halmark inter-regional/long distance train service)
Total number of stations - 44 + 2 under construction
Total system length - 100 km
Daily ridership(weekdays) - 140,800
Comparison of ridership to real-world systems(North America);
Profile of the Individual lines
Comparisons between the individual lines;
Ridership - daily weekday average
Ridership, rush hour - daily weekday average
Track Lengths
Stations
The ridership numbers are based off in game totals for the A & L lines. The other lines are estimates for now since I've yet to actually build them in game. The actual routes of the Airport Express, NP & C lines have yet to be finalized.
Airport Express(purple):
number of stations - 3
total length - 4.8 km
daily ridership - 7,260
type of service - all day, two-way service 7 days a week
NP - North Point line(green):
number of stations - 12 (includes 2017 extension)
total length - 16.4 km (includes 2017 extension)
daily ridership - 20,900 during rush hours
daily ridership - 32,510
type of service - all day, two-way service 7 days a week
C - Central line(orange):
number of stations - 7
total length - 10.1 km
daily ridership - 6,350
type of service - rush hour weekday service only
A - Astoria line(cyan):
number of stations - 4
total length - 3.8 km
daily ridership - 3,570 during rush hours (actual in game total - combined morning & evening station counts divided by 2)
daily ridership - 10,330 including off-peak service
type of service - all day, two-way service 7 days a week
ME - Middle East line(Grey):
number of stations - 9
total length - 18.9 km
daily ridership - 10,700
type of service - rush hour weekday service only
This service skips 5 stations on the track shared with the L line
L - Loop line(Red):
number of stations - 18(2 served only during rush hour period)
total length - 27.7 km
daily ridership - 43,400 during rush hours (actual in game total - combined morning & evening station counts divided by 2)
daily ridership - 65,250 including off-peak service
type of service - all day, two-way service 7 days a week
As you can see the path the L-line takes is actually a figure 8, rather then a simple loop.
SS- South Shore line(Blue):
number of stations - 7
total length - 18.1 km
daily ridership - 8,400
type of service - rush hour weekday service only
This service skips 4 stations on the track shared with the L line
Fastraxx regional view;
I will profile each corridor individually with in game pics and detailed official railway type track schematics in future entries. And that brings this entry to a close. I can't tell you exactly how long it took me to make this entry, but lets just say I've been working on this for a LONG time.
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