Logistics parks must focus on intermodalism

BY THE year 2050 Spoornet
expects to see 150 trains a
day departing to Durban,
the Eastern Cape, Western
Cape and cross-border, GM
Ravi Nair told delegates
at last week’s Intermodal
Africa 2007.
“We’re seeing
investment in road and
rail, but not in intermodal
facilities – and that’s where
the focus needs to fall,” he
said.
Coal and containers
generate the highest
revenue for Spoornet and
container business is a prime
target market over the next
5, 10 and 15 years, he said.
“Our rail container
market share at the
moment on the Natal
corridor constitutes 20%, on
the Port Elizabeth-Eastern
Cape corridor around 0%
and in other domestic areas
less than 20%. Our aim is to
double our volumes over the
next 3-5 years,” he said.
This will be achieved
through efficiencies and
investment. The majority of
Spoornet's R34.5bn capital
investment will focus on
rolling stock, he said.
“We have already signed
a number of contracts with
companies in the Far East to
provide us with locomotives
for the coal and ore line,
and in the next couple of
months further contracts
will be signed.”
But the strategy going
forward clearly demands
intermodal focus. “We
are looking at setting up
logistics parks around the
country and working with
road hauliers and others in
the supply chain to achieve
our collective objective of
creating a more efficient
transport system.”