Cato Ridge earmarked as intermodal hub

In a bid to cut down on
transport costs and alleviate
congestion on the arterial
roads leading into the
port of Durban, the City of
eThekwini is investigating the
establishment of a long-term
inland intermodal logistics
hub in the Cato Ridge area.
Located on the N3 highway
near Pietermaritzburg, the
area has already unofficially
become known as Durban’s
‘dry port’ as large distribution
and logistics companies are
using this area to store their
goods before sending them on
to other parts of the country,
including the port of Durban
and Johannesburg, said Paul
Sessions, transport economist
at eThekwini Transport
Authority,
Speaking at the Special
Interest Group (SIG)
Transport Forum held in
Durban earlier this month,
he pointed out that Transnet
Freight Rail (TFR) was
planning its own Bayhead
(where the port of Durban is
located) to Cato Ridge rail
bypass by 2030. He said it
made sense for the City of
eThekwini and TFR to align
their strategies.
Sessions added that the
development of the estimated
R1.2-billion project was
based on the successful
creation of two global
intermodal hub concepts –
the Alameda Corridor in the
United States (US) City of
Los Angeles which features a
32-km freight rail expressway
connecting the Port of Los
Angeles and the Port of Long
Beach to downtown Los
Angeles, as well as Australia’s
Melbourne Metropolitan
intermodal system which is
expected to remove around
2 400 trucks per day from the
road network.
Logistics services
and facilities at the hub
would include transport
infrastructure (road and
rail), industrial developments
and manufacturing facilities
as well as warehousing and
distribution.
According to Sessions, it is
envisaged that the primary
driver of the intermodal
solution will be the City of
eThekwini, Transnet National
Ports Authority (TNPA),
TFR, as well as private sector
logistics operators. He added
that the entity driving the
intermodal strategy and
obtaining buy-in from all
stakeholders would still need
to be determined.
“Cato Ridge was
selected because it meets
certain criteria such as an
abundance of undeveloped
land that is not prime
property (and thus cheaper
to purchase) and good
transport linkages and
logistics infrastructure
because of its location just
off the N3 highway,” he
commented.
Sessions admitted that
there were challenges around
this, including the fact that
the N3 interchanges were
currently insufficient and
incorrectly placed and that
there were environmental
factors to consider.
“The operational/business
model still needs to be
developed and tested,” he said.
INSERT & CAPTION
Cato Ridge was
selected because
it meets certain
criteria and already
has good transport
linkages and logistics
infrastructure.
– Paul Session
​