Letter of complaint galvanises Spoornet into action

A RECENT letter of complaint from a disgruntled potential rail user, sent to FTW, galvanised Spoornet into immediate action.
The letter and reply are published below:
Ish Desai wrote to FTW :
I have to complain about the way Spoornet is treating potential new clients.
I am exporting to the DRC and have repeatedly tried to contact Spoornet, but to no avail.
We are using road transport and would prefer to use Spoornet, but we are not getting any joy.
By the way Spoornet advertises on the TV and in magazines, we would have thought they were keen on business.
Or is this yet another white elephant created for Africa?
The reply came swiftly from commercial executive manager Chris Sono:
First and foremost I wish to extend my profuse apologies for any lukewarm reception by Spoornet personnel to your enquiries. This in no way represents Spoornet’s way of treating potential customers.
Having said that I need to inform you of the following:
l Spoornet is currently experiencing chronic capacity constraints brought about by servicing rail-unfriendly traffic i.e the one to five wagon consignments that, apart from chewing capacity, result in numerous shunts that interfere with ideal wagon turnaround times. The situation will become worse if one to five wagon consignments are on offer. Will your traffic move in blockloads? (i.e 35 wagonload consignments).
l Spoornet will only quote for traffic depending on the availability of capacity. Moreover the traffic must be rail-friendly.
l The turnaround of DRC traffic is far in excess of 28 days, implying that servicing the latter traffic will generate a cost which could be way above your expectations. The quote will have to cover an empty return leg as there might not be bi-directional traffic.
l Reasons for delays in wagon turnaround might be outside Spoornet’s ambit of control as foreign railways might be having problems beyond their control like shortage of diesel fuel in Zimbabwe which has led to Spoornet placing an embargo on overborder traffic until the situation stabilises.
l I would like to place on record that Spoornet is keen on business but only business that reflects limited shunting, is in blockloads or unit trains, that moves from siding to siding and repeatable, and does not lend itself to seasonal variability, and where the take or pay principle can apply.
l We are prepared to look at your traffic only upon the availability of empty return wagons from our harbours to the DRC. To that end I implore you to contact me at the following e-mail address:ChrisS3@Transnet.co.za