I wish to comment on
the recent article in FTW
headlined “Gauteng
– Durban corridor
conundrum”. (Gauteng
feature September 2012).
With the greatest respect
to Andrew Marsay, the
RailRoad Association of
SA questions some of his
claims.
Mr Marsay states that
“except for high bulk
situations rail is more
expensive than road
transport when you add up
all the costs.” The RailRoad
Association of SA has
examined these issues
for over ten years and we
believe that the opposite is
true. Our association has
tried to explore all the facts,
claims and counter claims
and our findings do not
support Mr Marsay’s claims.
Mr Marsay states: “There
is a naïve tendency to think
that because trains run on
steel instead of rubber on
tar and that the friction is
very little that it must be
cheaper.” It is correct that
this is generally correct, but
it is necessary to compare
distances, and with the
exception of private sidings,
rail often requires road
to provide door-to-door
services. However, modern
intermodal systems can
exploit the best potential
of rail and road in a costeffective
partnership that is
in South Africa’s interests.
We at RRA have been
promoting this concept for
years and will continue to
do so.
Mr Marsay claims that
for container traffic on
the Durban-Gauteng route
rail can only compete with
road transport because it is
cross-subsidised because of
port tariffs. What he doesn’t
say is that road transport is
heavily subsidised by the
non-commercial motorist.
When consideration is
given to the importance
of “external traffic costs”
which include infrastructure
provision, maintenance and
degradation costs, accident,
congestion and policing
costs, energy usage and
sustainability including
global warming matters,
true road freight costs are
much greater than rail. This
has been proven by many
research studies worldwide.
In the case of a
“segregated freight road ”, if
the cost of such a highway
were to be fully covered by
road transport operators it
would be prohibitive and
tolls would have to be raised
which would quickly put
them out of business.
We have an excellent
rail infrastructure in South
Africa, developed and
upgraded over 150 years and
we must use this to our best
advantage. This will be in
our long-term interests, both
financially and in terms of
social sustainability. From
the energy usage point
of view, road transport
operators need diesel fuel
while the railways are
largely electrified, and even
if this energy is derived
from polluting thermal
power stations, we produce
it within South Africa and
do not rely on problematical
international supplies. In
terms of total long-term
costs, we must revitalise out
railways and create a positive
working-face with modern
road transport systems.
Allen Jorgensen,
RailRoadAssociation of SA.
The road versus rail debate continues ...
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