Perishable shippers spell out priorities for move to rail

There is no reason why perishable products currently travelling by road cannot make the journey by rail, perhaps bearing the large volumes of citrus transported through KwaZulu/Natal to the Port of Durban. But sluggish operations at Durban impede the rail option, stakeholders said at a recent logistics workshop there. Mounted by the Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA), the workshop seemed more a mini-summit, where growers, clearing and forwarding agents, cold storage operators, pack houses, government and port authorities and others agreed that four key areas needed to be addressed. Leading the list is the turnaround time of trains, which needs to be speeded up, especially for perishable cargo. The exporters themselves need to get their acts together and fully commit to rail use. “Once committed you cannot cancel a train,” noted one participant. Not just congestion at port, but delays en route are hindering cargo movement, and these must be identified and addressed. Finally, more “discipline” is needed at the cargo’s point of origin, the pack house, which must have perishable products ready on time because a train cannot be held up. Unlike a truck, a train is not an independent vehicle but is tied by schedule to all other rail movement en route or even regionally. Said Justin Chadwick, CEO of CGA: “There are already examples of successful movement of fruit from road to rail which need to be built on.” A train dedicated to perishables has worked for years from Tzaneen, headquarters of the Sub-Tropical Growers’ Association, to Cape Town, bearing loads of avocados. Efforts are under way to route a similar train from Tzaneen to Durban. “There is a willingness and eagerness on the part of Transnet Freight Rail to get citrus trains going,” said Chadwick.