Spoornet commits R1.12bn to expansion of iron ore line

OCTOBER 23 saw the official announcement of a R1.12bn deal for the supply of 32 new class 15E electric locomotives for the iron ore line between Sishen and Saldanha, to be delivered between March and November 2009. It follows the signing of an agreement between Spoornet parent company Transnet and Venus Railway Solutions. The 861-kilometre iron ore line was built to carry 18 million tonnes per annum, but industry needs have fast outstripped this capacity. “Over the past few years demand increased from 18 to 29 million tonnes per annum,” Spoornet CEO Siyabonga Gama told FTW. “This capacity is to be systematically increased to 41 million tonnes by October 2007; 47 million tonnes by April 2009; approximately 65 million tonnes by October 2011 and eventually around 88 million tonnes by October 2013. “Our Board has approved the expansion to 47 million tonnes per annum bringing our investment in this channel over the next three years to R5.8 billion for rail expansion and port terminal upgrades. The staged capacity increase to 65 million tonnes is currently in feasibility phase and that of 88 million tonnes in pre-feasibility.” Spoornet is currently ramping-up capacity to 41 million tonnes, with 35 million tonnes allocated to Kumba and 6 million to Assmang. “We are investigating increasing the train length from the current 216 wagons to 342 wagons per train to increase capacity. This would make it the longest train in the world – another first for South Africa,” he said. The capacity of all wagons will be increased to 100 tonnes. The agreement announced on Monday marks the second major investment in Spoornet’s projected R31 billion capital investment programme over the next five years, said Gama. “The first was the purchase of 110 locomotives, which was signed in February of this year, for the Coal Line. The new locomotives for the iron ore line will augment the current 31 class 9 Es and enable us to phase out the 80 diesel locomotives on the line which are not sufficiently reliable or fuel-efficient.”