Road still king on N3 corridor

Private operators of the Durban-Johannesburg rail corridor will have their work cut out to reverse the dominance of road. The trend is for freight on the N3 corridor to move from rail to road, which now has an estimated 87% share of the volumes. In addition to delays caused by theft, lack of maintenance and ageing rolling stock and locomotives, the line has structural challenges. The rail route is 690km, or 140km (25%) longer than the 550km road link. While investment in rail has stagnated, the road has been steadily upgraded. However, with 8 500 to 13 500 vehicles a day on the route, around half of which are heavy trucks, there are frequent delays due to congestion and accidents. Further strain will be put on the corridor as global e-commerce platforms such as Shein, Amazon and Temu move distribution from air to ocean freight. According to operators, it takes an average of one to three days to move a container between the port and Gauteng, while for rail it is three to five days. The advantage of rail is that it is “significantly cheaper for large volumes”, according to V&S Freight. This excludes the additional costs and time to move the freight from the rail terminal at City Deep to the final destination. Gavin Kelly, chief executive officer of the Road Freight Association, does not see the trend being reversed any time soon. “The first important concept to understand is that the customer (cargo owner) decides what mode of transport (air, rail, road or sea) will be used,” he told Freight News. “The decision is based on service (transport) reliability, efficiency, consistency, applicability, security and cost. “Until rail can effectively offer an alternative to road that consistently ‘ticks’ the above requirements in a freight logistics system, rail will be shunned and cargo owners (customers) will decide what suits their needs best. “Road freight transporters (operators) do not decide which mode of transport is used – but through their calibre of services offered, they ensure customers choose road freight again and again.” ER