Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) has received several applications for slots on both its rail corridors after the parastatal issued an open invitation to businesses to apply to buy slots to operate across the country’s rail network.
“TFR is happy to note that it has received applications for its slot sales on both its key corridors, namely the Container Corridor (Gauteng to Durban), and the South Corridor (Gauteng to East London),” it announced in a statement on Thursday.
TFR’s open market invitation to interested and qualifying parties for slots, which opened on 1 April 1, closed on August 31.
TFR said it would be evaluating the applications over the next few months and would announce the winning parties once the evaluation process had been concluded.
The slot sales initiative is a significant step towards the advancement of the South African rail industry, which will lead to the increased use of rail for the transportation of freight envisaged in the Draft White Paper on the National Rail Policy (2017).
“Transnet anticipates that the learnings that will be drawn from the sale of these slots will provide key insights to the development of robust reforms set out in the National Rail Policy,” the rail utility said.