New Belcon terminal creates inland hub

Transnet Freight Rail has
launched a new terminal in
the Western Cape – Belcon
Terminal – designed to act
as an inland nucleus hub,
serving as an extension of
the Port of Cape Town for
consolidation of containers
on rail.
“Belcon allows exporters
to have their containers
closer to the port of
loading ensuring that there
is minimal possibility of
short shipments. Imports
are simply an inverse
of this process as TFR
provides bi-directional
rail traffic flow of block
loads between the Port of
Cape Town and Belcon,”
TFR spokesman Sandile
Simelane told FTW.
The 70 000m2
facility caters for the
predominantly agriculturebased
Cape market,
offering port stack dates
that are advertised for
Belcon, storage, cleaning
and light repairs to
damaged containers,
monitoring of reefer
temperatures and pre-trip
inspection.
Through road and
rail collaboration, road
transporters can deliver
and collect containers
directly from Belcon.
“This allows for truckers
to increase the number of
loads per truck per day,
as they no longer have
to be delayed in traffic
congestion and stand in
long queues at the port and
other service points in the
logistics chain.
“Containers are shuttled
from Belcon to the port
(30km) at set times that
coincide with the port’s
off-peak hours. This allows
for trains to be offloaded
and reloaded during the
dead shift, spreading the
landside workload evenly
over a 24-hour period,”
Simelane said.