‘Rail proponents need to consider the power issue’

I refer to the letter by Allen Jorgensen of the RailRoad Association (FTW October 26, 2012). Firstly, I support greater intermodal usage between road and rail and do not believe an adversarial attitude contributes anything towards moving this agenda forward. Proven reliability and consistency – especially on pricing year on year – from rail, would also go a long way towards achieving this goal. My biggest concern in this debate is one that the writer chose to actually hold up as a positive – that being electricity. He mentions that most of rail is electrified and produced in South Africa whilst road relies on problematic international supplies. Does the writer live in the same country that I do? You know, the one that places on TV every night appeals to “switch off”, the same country that pays certain major users such as smelters, kilns, foundries to switch off to save power (thus losing SA production), that is in the process (rightly) of electrifying more homes for its citizens? I believe I am being conservative when I say I do not believe this situation will change drastically within the next ten years. Yet the writer is advocating an increased usage of rail NOW ie, more electricity – a commodity we are in short supply of now and will be for the foreseeable future. We need electricity to live in our homes, to run our computers at work, charge our cell phones ie, maintain and improve our lifestyle. If the true cost of sacrificing that is weighed against the increased use of rail against road, it is a no brainer – we cannot as a country support anything that places that at risk due to a growing demand to run rail when a perfectly reasonable – under the circumstances – alternative is available. Let’s secure our supply of electricity before debating the above. Or have we forgotten 2008 so quickly? Or would he like to mention diesel/electric locomotives thus negating his point on home-grown electricity – so much greener – but still, with problematic international supplies? It’s called being an honest broker and debating meaningfully! Kevin Martin CEO – Freightliner Transport Durban.