Durban car terminal expands

THE Durban car terminal
is busy expanding into
what was formerly the
port’s multi-purpose
terminal, with plans to be
able to meet an expected
movement of 703 956
vehicle units a year by
2020 – 481 395 units
imported and 222 561
exported.
This compares with the
388 894 units handled in
the 2007/08 financial year
– 258 881 imported,
122 590 exported and
7 423 transhipped.
“We are well on
track with our capacity
utilisation programme,”
said Graham Braby,
Transnet chief of
operations for the
automotive and bulk
sectors.
The car terminal
currently has 13 200
parking bays (8 700 open
and 4 500 undercover), and
Braby told FTW, expects to
have 14 000 by year-end.
This, according to
Bev Masson, automotive
channel manager, is a
vast improvement on the
original terminal, which,
when it opened in 1996,
had two pre-fab offices
and 1 000 parking bays.
“When we moved to
the new terminal in 1998,”
she told FTW, “we had 3
500 open bays.
“In 2003/04 we opened
the multi-storey parking
garage, and added 3 000
undercover bays.”
Transnet Port Terminals
(TPT) has committed
about R460-million to
the latest expansion plans
for the rail and terminal
facility, and it is due for
completion in the first half
of next year.