Ramos reiterates Spoornet’s growth aspirations

SPOORNET INTENDS to grab as much as a quarter of the general freight business in this country, as its efficiency drive gets into gear. Transnet CEO Maria Ramos said the rail utility would more than double its business in the next five years in a complete turnaround of the current downward trend where Spoornet’s general freight business dropped to 83.8-million tons in the 2005/06 financial year, compared to 86.1-mt the previous. Ramos acknowledged that reliability and turnaround times were questionable, but that investment in both the physical infrastructure and personnel could be the answer, and Transnet was planning for growth for the first time in 20 years.