Swazi Rail gives assurances on rail security

Following press reports in January that a trainload of iron ore was sabotaged in an apparently failed heist attempt in southern Mozambique, rail users have expressed concerns about security along the line. Such concerns may impact the utilisation of a new rail line under development by Transnet Freight Rail and Swaziland Railway that by 2017 will offer a swifter, direct rail link from Gauteng to Maputo. However, new investigations have pointed to an entirely different scenario concerning the derailment of the iron ore train, which resulted in the loss of R10 million in cargo. A combination of factors is believed to have caused an accidental derailment. No “rail bandits” were involved. “The line is secure. Our counterparts in Mozambique say the derailment was an accident,” Stephenson Ngubane, Acting CEO of Swaziland Railways, told FTW in an interview. The train that derailed in January belonged to Salgaocar Swaziland, a mineral company that transports iron tailings from a mine in Western Swaziland to Maputo’s port via a train operated by the private railway firm Sheltam. The train is given access to the Swazi and Mozambican rail systems under the same arrangement offered other private trains.