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.