Spoornet and CFM spell out bold investment plans for Maputo corridor

SPOORNET AND CFM reaffirmed their commitment to the rehabilitation of the Maputo Rail Corridor last week at a workshop in Nelspruit themed ‘Maputo Corridor Revival’. According to CFM president and chairman Rui Fonseca, US$20m (R140m) has been set aside for infrastructure investment, due to be completed in July of this year. US$50m (R350m) will be invested in rolling stock – $32m (R224m) will go to the rehabilitation of 48 locomotives and $18m (R126m) to the upgrade of 600 wagons. Spoornet will invest R180m in infrastructure upgrades on the route, increase the wagon fleet from 600 to 690, while service design for 21 trains a week for its coal service to TCM is currently being addressed, CEO Siyabonga Gama told guests at the event, co-ordinated by the Maputo Logistics Corridor Initiative. Gama however drew attention to the current constraints, and as always statistics tell the story. In 1980 the Maputo corridor carried 14mt per annum on rail. Discontinuation of cyclical maintenance in Mozambique and South Africa hastened the downward spiral and by 1991, 9.2 million tons were carried by road compared to 3.9mt by rail. In 2003, 11.2mt moved by road while just 4.2mt were carried by rail. Reversing the trend is no mean task, but both operators are committed to achieving their objective. CFM and Spoornet signed a memorandum of intent in October last year and both have appointed task teams to move the process forward. And they are clearly upbeat about the future. CFM expects to carry
3-4mt on the route by the end of the current financial year with a target of
6 -7 mt for 2008 and
8 - 9mt for 2009. Maputo’s proximity to Gauteng remains its competitive advantage, as the table above clearly illustrates, and Gama believes that the market potential for rail on the route is in excess of 12mt a year.