Rail's MISSING LINE = market share

The debate over whether South Africa should continue to move the majority of its freight by road is, when all is said and done, over. There is a clear understanding by most industry role-players and stakeholders that more freight should be on rail. The big question now lies in how this is going to be achieved. “Rail is going to have to work very hard to really start grabbing market share,” said Mike Walwyn, vice chairman of the South Africa Association of Freight Forwarders (Saaff) and chairman of the Cape Port Liaison Forum (PLF). “It is going to have to prove that it is a reliable and efficient service and we have yet to see that come through.” He said while investment in infrastructure was starting to happen, with new locomotives being bought and upgrades in rail lines taking place, there was still a very real concern over the efficiency of the service on offer and its capacity to truly meet market demands. “In addition the price of rail is going to have to be right if it is to grab market share. Rail is going to have to offer a price benefit over road if we are going to see freight volumes move off road to rail. This has not been seen to date. There are many examples where it is more expensive to move general cargo by rail. Why would anyone choose rail if road is faster, cheaper and more reliable.” He said it was however imperative for the country to get its rail network up and running. “If we take the projected freight volumes into consideration then we are going to be seeing around 17 000 containers a day being handled at the port of Durban in the next ten years. It is impossible to move that volume of containers by road alone.” He said while there was talk that rail had been increasing its market share this was questioned by industry. “The increased volumes they are talking about are not necessarily increased market share but rather increased volumes on their coal and ore lines.” CAPTION Around 17 000 containers are projected to be handled at the Port of Durban over the next ten years.