'Non-performing' Spoornet casts shadow over East London auto exports

SPOORNET'S SHORTAGE of locomotives and rolling stock has created conflict between the rail provider and freight forwarders, representing exporters and importers. With an increasing export drive being mounted by the country's manufacturing and agricultural sector, more and more producers are moving from rail to road, with escalating costs and increasing discontentÉ 'Non-performing' Spoornet casts shadow over East London auto exports Leonard Neill THERE ARE deep concerns regarding the inland transport of built up motor vehicles and huge component consignments to ports of export. The automobile industry has become one of South Africa's major export development arenas, but its inland production regions are in a dilemma. Rail routes which they prefer to road transportation cannot meet their rapidly increasing requirements right now. East London has enjoyed a boom in commercial and industrial activity since the DaimlerChrysler plant was opened on the banks of the harbour, facilitating an easy export operation. The four-storey carport developed on the West Bank is an indication of this growth, but the potential to develop the facility into the automobile export hub of the sub-continent is being restricted by lack of railway rolling stock. ÒIt's a problem we are facing,Ó says Peter Miles, chief executive of the East London Industrial Development Zone. ÒWe could make this whole business bigger and bigger if we could link the hinterland with better rail services. Right now I have BMW most interested in shipping through East London. They've held meetings with us here and at their Pretoria headquarters about the possibility. But they prefer rail to road and Spoornet just isn't getting the line from Pretoria to East London in full order quickly enough. Nor does it have the rolling stock to meet the industry's needs. I'm afraid BMW will switch to Maputo when that 80km of line between the South African border and the harbour is ready. We will be the losers.Ó Maputo, however, may be some way off yet both in infrastructural developments and combating crime before it becomes a secure link with Pretoria. Spoornet has begun assessing the line as it prepares to take over the important route. Initial surveys have shown that in its present state the stretch between Ressano Garcia and Maputo is far from suitable to handle constant heavy traffic from the South African side. Mozambique Transport Minister Tomas Salomao, who is fully behind the project, is however seriously concerned about the security along the route. He says he has received numerous reports of acts of sabotage on the line since details of the major accident at Moamba last month which was Mozambique's most serious rail accident. Those acts, according to a statement from the Mozambique Port and Railway Company (CFM), have so far resulted in at least two derailments involving cargo trains during the past month. The Ressano Garcia line has become vulnerable in recent years, says Salomao. In East London joint marketing efforts by the Port Authority and the Port Operations sectors have seen an increase in timber, cattle and grain from inland sources utilising the port for export purposes. These also require a steady and dependable rail service. Investigations into upgrading the service and the line itself were undertaken recently by Spoornet but the outcome has still to be made public.