New order
Johan Schlebusch, managing director of R&H Railway Consultants, talks to Jayne Flannery about the companyÔÇÖs expanding international reach.
Johan Schlebusch is a man keen to share his passion for railways. Having cut his teeth with the De Beers Anglo Group, he says his next challenge was to ÔÇ£identify an engineering product that could provide a social and economic backbone to developing nations and also become a value added item for the next generation to enjoyÔÇØ. Railways fitted the bill perfectly.
ÔÇ£It is an excellent product, with huge social and economic value,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£Infrastructure development will be AfricaÔÇÖs saviour and railways have many advantages.ÔÇØ In an era beset by concern over carbon emissions and climate change, Schlebusch is convinced that congested roads and petrol-guzzling trucks and cars are fast becoming yesterdayÔÇÖs news.
ÔÇ£There has already been enormous investment in improving airport facilities across the continent. The next big challenge is to find a clean, fast and efficient way to facilitate the mass movement of goods and people across land. Railways are the product that can deliver that,ÔÇØ he adds.
Schlebusch points out that the old image of coal-fired engines, all dirty and black, could not be further from reality. ÔÇ£The new generation of electric trains can be powered by renewable energy sources. Even in diesel locomotives, there have been huge advances in environmental terms.ÔÇØ
R&H Railway Consultants was established over 50 years ago and specialises in railway framework planning; track design and construction management; railway maintenance management; signalling and telecommunications; and the electro-mechanical installations that make railways work.
Five years ago, the company joined the Dar Al-Handasah Group. This is one of the worldÔÇÖs leading multi-disciplinary development groups, which has been a pioneer in the planning, design and implementation of development projects in the Middle East, Africa and Asia for more than half a century. The group has more than 40 offices throughout 30 countries and is recognised worldwide for its expertise in problem identification, customised design solutions, quality and multi-disciplinary expertise.┬á
Prior to joining the Dar Al-Handasah Group, R&H Railway had worked in the SADC region with many major mining companies, including BHP, Rio Tinto, Coal of Africa and Xstrata Coal. ÔÇ£We were already established as one of the biggest railway companies in our part of the worldÔÇöwe were the oldest and most prolific railway consultant in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, despite our impact within SADC, in global terms we were just a small South African institution. The great benefit of working with Dar Al-Handasah is the immediate global footprint it gave us,ÔÇØ he says.
Before the union with R&H Railway, Dar Al-Handasah as the holding company could only provide railway expertise through sub-contractors and joint ventures. Dar Al-Handasah can now take on much more complex rail projects and has a great deal more control over the final outcome. ÔÇ£They now have immediate access to one of the most skilled teams in the world. There is a complete company at their disposal with 80 outstanding railway specialists,ÔÇØ Schlebusch points out. ÔÇ£Without doubt we have found the correct partner. It is very much a win-win situation for both of us.ÔÇØ
Big parents also make it easy to link up with big partners. R&H Railway has since developed a close alliance with Thales, one of the biggest railway systems providers in the world, as well as with Siemens and General Electric. ÔÇ£We are used as a sounding board and as consultants, but it also means that we can tap into the expertise of the worldÔÇÖs leading providers in related fields.ÔÇØ
Since developing a springboard to the international stage, R&H Railway has already worked on high profile projects in Guinea and Ghana. The company also provides technical adjudication on the state-of-the-art, high speed connection to Johannesburg International Airport from Pretoria. In addition, it is the driving force behind the Lagos metro. ÔÇ£Lagos is one of the biggest cities in the world with no metro, just the terrible congestion that comes from 17 million people having to find their way around. When complete, we will have delivered the third largest metro system in the world after Tokyo and Moscow,ÔÇØ he explains.
The expertise needed to participate in projects such as this has been carefully honed over the past five years. Traditionally, the company had focused on being an adviser to the private sector, particularly mining, given that 50 per cent of railways in South Africa exist to support the mining sector and industrial production. ÔÇ£Since the ramp-up, we have taken a different approach to our recruitment of signal, mechanical and systems operating engineers. Now we have a team of 80 engineers who can tackle the most sophisticated projects in the world.ÔÇØ┬á
He is also keen to point out that South African companies can offer a strong competitive advantage over most competitors, including those from traditionally low-cost areas. ÔÇ£Even before the economic downturn, there was a trend to look to South Africa for railway engineers. In South Africa, consultancy services are highly competitive against the services in Europe, North America and Middle East. Even China and India have seen their costs soar in this field,ÔÇØ he says.
Meanwhile, the company is seeing natural organic growth due to the increased interest in rail transport and rail freight as a more environmentally friendly form of transport. However, while Schlebusch is keen to see the company become the railway consultancy of choice to the mining sector across the African continent, he also wants to see it demonstrate its capabilities further afield.
ÔÇ£The Lagos metro is an excellent showcase for what we are capable of, but we also want to move beyond the African continent. For example, we are already working on a major audit of the Turkish railway system on behalf of that government; and we expect to tackle growing numbers of similar projects. Railways will increasingly be the infrastructure option of the future across every continent and we are the ideal partner to help put them in place,ÔÇØ he concludes.
