Derailment causes ‘minimal’ disruption to export coal

ALAN PEAT
ALTHOUGH BOTH lines of the express coal rail service from Mpumalanga to Richards Bay were closed last Friday (January 5) after the derailment of a Spoornet train near Vryheid in KwaZulu Natal, the flow of export coal was not seriously hindered, according to Stampie van den Berg, rail co-ordinator at Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT). One line was re-opened on Saturday, he told
FTW, and the second was due to be up-and-running by Tuesday morning – and the full service back to normal. The 600-kilometre rail route – which moves Mpumalanga’s coal exports to RBCT for export, mostly to European power stations – saw RBCT loading
66.5-million tons last
year, according to Bloomberg figures carried by Business Report. This was down 4% from 69.2-mt in 2005. Plans are that the annual throughput at the terminal will grow to
91-mt by 2009.