Transnet Freight Rail
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| Type | Railway Operator, commercialised organisation with the State as its sole shareholder |
|---|---|
| Industry | Train transport |
| Founded | 1910 |
| Headquarters | Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Key people | Siyabonga Gama, CEO Peter Fearnhead, Chief Operations Officer; Nick Thomson, Chief Financial Officer; Percival Mosweu, General Manager - Technical Department |
| Products | Freight transport service |
| Revenue | ca. R14 bn as of 2006[update] |
| Employees | ca. 25,000 |
| Website | http://www.spoornet.co.za/ |
| Transnet Freight Rail | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Southern Africa |
| Dates of operation | 1910–present |
| Track gauge | 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) |
| Headquarters | Johannesburg |
Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of 'South African Railways and Harbours', a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people for decades from the first half of the 20th century and was widely referred to by the initials SAR&H (SAS&H in Afrikaans). More recently, there have been customer complaints about serious problems with Transnet Freight Rail's service.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
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This section requires expansion. |
[edit] First electrification
The first electrification of the South African Railways occurred in Natal with the building of the Colenso Power Station.[2]
[edit] Operations
Transnet Freight Rail is a freight logistics and passenger transport railway. It is the largest freight hauler in Africa. The company comprises several businesses:
- General Freight Bus - Spoornet's largest division; handles over 50% of its freight;
- COAL Export Line, also known as "Black Gold", serving coal customers on the Mpumalanga - Richards Bay line; second largest coal railway in the world, delivering 62 million tonnes in the year ending 31 March 2010;[3]
- Ore Export Line - dedicated to iron ore transport on the Sishen to Saldanha line;
- Luxrail - The operation of the Blue Train, which is designed as a five-star hotel on wheels.
Transnet also formerly owned Shosholoza Meyl, the non-luxury long distance passenger rail service. Shosholoza Meyl was transferred to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa on 23 December 2008. A line in the Eastern Cape is leased to Kei Rail.[4]
[edit] Links to neighbouring countries
The Transnet rail network is linked to all of South Africa's neighbouring countries:
to TransNamib of Namibia at Nakop
to Botswana Railways at Ramatlabama
to National Railways of Zimbabwe and the Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway at Beitbridge
to Mozambique Ports and Railways at Ressano Garcia
to Swazi Rail of Swaziland at Golela and Mananga
to Maseru in Lesotho on the Maseru branch line (owned by Transnet)
[edit] Ongoing projects
- Maputo Corridor: Transnet Freight Rail is developing a plan with the Railroad Development Corporation to transport magnetite from Phalaborwa to Maputo as feedstock for a proposed steel plant in Maputo.
- In May 2010, Transnet revealed a five-year-plan involving rail projects costing R52Bn. Most of this would be spent on new rolling stock, including 304 locomotives and 7231 wagons. R4Bn would be spent on infrastructure connecting Majuba coal-fired power station with the Richards Bay freight railway.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "CONCERNS OVER RAIL FREIGHT SERVICE ". http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2010/10/concerns-over-rail-freight-service/. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
- ^ Brazil, H (1928). "The South African Railways Electrification". Electrical Substations. Edward Arnold & Co. pp. 110. http://www.archive.org/stream/electricalsubsta017168mbp#page/n115/mode/1up. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
- ^ "TFR REPORTS RECORD COAL FIGS ". http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2010/10/tfr-reports-record-coal-figs/. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
- ^ "Kei Rail (South Africa) - Jane's World Railways". http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-World-Railways/Kei-Rail-South-Africa.html. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
- ^ "Transnet five year plan". Railway Gazette. 2010. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/10/transnet-five-year-plan.html. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
