Thread: Freight operator investigates whether ghost trains are haunting its network

Not a Scooby Doo mystery but something real regarding South African railways.

SOUTH AFRICA: Transnet has started investigating allegations of ‘ghost trains’ on its network, following reports that services may be operating which are not formally scheduled, with the revenue not flowing back to the national freight operator.

In a statement on March 27, Transnet emphasised that ‘these serious allegations have not yet been accompanied by supporting evidence’. It had therefore referred them for independent investigation.

Whistle-blowers are to be approached for further details, and statements sought from any implicated staff and customers. Transnet said that ‘to the extent that the allegations are proven correct’, it intends to ‘act swiftly’. "

If there is any truth to this, whoever is doing it must be aware that running unscheduled trains could be a dangerous thing to do. Then again if it is being done and done safely it must be someone with knowledge of what is being scheduled on tracks at any one time.

Originally Posted by 3toes

There were many rumours from people who were considered to be train spotters going a little far fetched about spotting steam trains at night on British lines long after they were all scrapped

Post collapse of the Warsaw Pact and associated threat there was the disposal of huge amounts of gear that had been in storage in the UK. It was discovered that they had been right. There were some kept back and held in storage in case the electric trains could not operate. They were occasionally run at night. Before you ask they were scrapped

Once on a school camp the teachers told a story about a girl who ran away from the camp and was hit by a steam train, and her ghost was supposed to haunt the area. That night I heard a steam train, I don't know if it was someone playing the fool, or the teachers trying to scare us, but steam trains had also stopped running for many years by then.