TSD consulting services
A division of R&H Railway Consultants
Background
TSD Consulting Services was founded in 1999. At
that time the three founders collectively had over fifty years of
experience working for the South African national railways in the
fields of railway mechanical engineering, train service design
and train operating. In March 2005, after six years of
exponential growth, TSD Consulting Services joined R&H Railway
Consultants, a wholly owned subsidiary of the DAR Group. The DAR
Group is a global network of distinguished consulting firms
ranked amongst the top firms in the world.
Consulting Services
Our scope of services extends from railway traffic studies and train feasibility studies through to train design, rolling stock procurement, full service implementation, operations, rolling stock maintenance and driver training. This covers:
- Analysis of current or projected tonnages and traffic volume characteristics
- Measurement and analysis of route constraints
- Designing trains to satisfy volumes, route constraints and budget
- Designing/sourcing suitable locomotives and wagons
- Designing train, staff, locomotive and wagon flows
- Deriving operating staff requirements coupled to train working rules
- Designing of maintenance facilities, location, equipment and staffing for locomotives and wagons
- Deriving operating rules, maintenance procedures and staff training
- Deriving train handling methods
- Conducting train commissioning tests and verifying performance against designs
- Finalising service designs and sign-off
- Auditing train performance and rolling stock maintenance
- Producing trains working time tables and diagrams, operating rule books and safety instructions
- Audits, applications and review for Safety Permits to RSR (Act 16 of 2002)
- Training of operating staff (including train driver simulator training)
- Implementing train services
- Derailment/train incident investigation
- Managing the operation and maintenance of fleets (MIS), including refinement and updating of service, technical and safety audits, training, and fleet management (up to total outsourcing).
Train Design
Train design is a vital part of full service
design. For a railway system to transport a given tonnage
optimally, it must be running suitable trains. We utilize our
sophisticated train simulation software to design trains for our
clients.
Locomotive and Wagon Engineering
Our clients need to make sure their locomotives and wagons are safe and productive. We offer them this peace of mind by measuring performance parameters and conducting visual inspections. We combine measurement of tractive effort, power, braking performance, wheel-on-rail forces and other performance parameters with visual inspections to assess design and maintenance deficiencies. We then implement procedures and training to address these deficiencies.
Derailment Investigation
Over the last decade we have been intricately involved in over 20 major derailment and incident investigations. TSD Consulting Services prides itself in being able to offer full services from accident reconstruction to simulation of scenarios to presenting expert evidence.
Driver Training
We offer assessments and training of train operating crews. This includes training on operating rules, locomotive knowledge and road knowledge. We also do on-site simulator training of train drivers. Our train simulator can be delivered to your site with your specific rolling stock and track built into the system.
Resources
TSD uses flexible, real time instrumentation and data acquisition equipment, which we attach to locomotives, wagons or track to scientifically measure and record parameters on the specific railway system. Computer simulations and mathematical analyses are done under the conditions of the specific system. Our equipment is portable and can be set up and dismantled from rolling stock and/or infrastructure within minutes and without any major disruptions to productivity.
TSD projects
Assmang Cato Ridge Wagon Procurement
Client: Assmang
Location: Cato Ridge Kwazulu Natal
Completed: January to June 2007
Assmang Cato Ridge appointed TSD Consulting Services to:
- Procure used wagons from Spoornet
- Refurbish and upgrade the wagons to suit client requirements
- Commission and deliver to site.
BHP Billiton Boschmanskrans Efficiency Study
Client: BHP Billiton Boschmanskrans
Location: Mphumalanga
Completed: October 2005
BHP Billiton Boschmanskrans appointed TSD Consulting Services to:
- Perform a detailed time motion study of current loading and offloading operations
- Measure locomotive performance and utilisation
- Find optimized solutions for increased production and reduced turnaround times.
BHP Billiton Douglas Brake Audit
Client: BHP Billiton Boschmanskrans
Location: Mphumalanga
Completed: October 2005
BHP Billiton Boschmanskrans appointed TSD Consulting Services to:
- Perform a detailed hopper brake audit and visual inspection
- Measure train stopping distances and speed profiles
- Recommend corrective actions for non-conformities to acceptable railway standards.
BHP Billiton Hotazel
Client: BHP Billiton Hotazel (HMM)
Location: Northern Cape
Completed: December 2006
BHP Billiton Hotazel (HMM) appointed TSD Consulting Services to:
- Conduct comprehensive condition assessments of two shunting locomotives
- Recommend actions to be taken with the required budgetary planning in order to fully refurbish and upgrade the locomotives.
BHP Billiton Hotazel Time Motion Study
Client: BHP Billiton Hotazel (HMM)
Location: Northern Cape
Completed: December 2005
BHP Billiton Hotazel (HMM) appointed TSD Consulting Services to:
- Perform a Time Motion Study on their current operations
- Recommend optimized shunting and handover operations to improve turnaround times of loading operations
- Suggest possible infrastructure upgrades to increase tonnages handled.
BHP Billiton Hotazel Train Capacity Tests
Client: BHP Billiton Hotazel (HMM)
Location: Northern Cape
Completed: August 2005
BHP Billiton Hotazel (HMM) appointed TSD Consulting Services to:
- Measure locomotive capacity during shunting operations in terms of traction motor currents and speed profiles
- Recommend optimum train lengths for most efficient wagon turnaround and exchange with Spoornet.
