Lothair Line makes headway

MBABANE – Construction

on the new Lothair Line –

which Swaziland Railway

has partnered with Transnet

Freight Rail (TFR) on – has

begun and is expected to be

completed by 2022.

Swaziland Railway was able

to overcome a major obstacle

to the project by negotiating

the resettlement of farmers

and residents in Swazi Nation

Land. The railway operator

successfully negotiated

with traditional leaders

representing those who will be

displaced by the development

of the line, which will connect

Gauteng with Maputo via

Swaziland.

The announcement was

made last week by Swaziland

Railway when it presented

its first-quarter results,

announcing a 27% firstquarter

profit above budget as

well as the commissioning of

90 new wagons to expand the

operator’s rolling stock.

“Swaziland Railway had

to rely on her neighbouring

railways for locomotives and

specialised wagons in the past,”

said Swaziland’s Minister of

Public Works and Transport,

Lindiwe Dlamini.

The new wagons will

be used for oil transport.

Landlocked Swaziland receives

all its petrol and petroleum

products from South Africa.

Much of the transport has been

done by rail, but Swaziland

Railway expects to command

a larger share of the transport

market by offering reliable and

cost-efficient delivery with its

fuel wagons.

“The company’s commercial

and marketing divisions will

market this additional capacity

and work to ensure that trains

are run on time to achieve

reliability and predictability,”

Dlamini said.

She also announced that

the railway operator had

appointed a new board of

directors, with Mduduzi Gina

appointed chairman of the

board, which strategises with

the company’s administration,

led by CEO, Stephenson

Ngubane.