Longer trains equal reduced transit time

Sending more containers on fewer trains has meant higher profits for Swaziland Railway this year. “We are doing everything for everyone on one train a week. All our customers’ cargo is put on these big trains – 80 containers on 40 wagons,” Stephenson Ngubane, CEO of Swaziland Railway, told FTW. By using larger trains of 40 or more wagons, transit time from Durban to Swaziland’s Inland Container Depot, or so-called “dry port” at the Matsapha Industrial Estate in central Swaziland, is reduced because larger trains are given preferential treatment by customs authorities at the SA/ Swaziland border. “There is a lot that goes on at the port that we have no control over, but once the trains move they move quickly,” said Ngubane, who noted that running fewer, if longer trains on the Durban to Swaziland route reduced costs and boosted the company’s bottom line. “All imports into Swaziland are moved in containers. All industrial inputs are containerised,” he said. While the company’s financial results for the year ended on March 31 were not available at time of writing, a 25% increase in profits is anticipated. The rise is credited to the reduction in transit time by one-third from Durban thanks to longer trains bearing more containers and an overall increase in freight volumes. “Most of our business is transit traffic from South Africa. Economic growth in South Africa is bigger than Swaziland, and it’s a much larger economy there. But locally there is an increased demand for rail transport services. There is market demand overseas for Swaziland and transit products,” said Ngubane. Swaziland Railway’s Inland Container Depot dates from the early 1990s. If the facility, placed between two main industrial site boulevards and surrounded by factories and warehouses, shows no sign of aging it is due to constant upgrades. New movable container lifts and other new equipment and track expedite the offloading of containers and ensure an efficient operation that has anticipated and met the challenge of expanding rail freight movement. The biggest test will come in 2017 when the long-gesticulating rail link from Gauteng to Matsapha is completed, greatly increasing cargo volumes destined for Swaziland and transit traffic to Maputo via Swaziland. INSERT & CAPTION All our customers’ cargo is put on these big trains – 80 containers on 40 wagons. – Stephenson Ngubane