Swazi Rail set to grow transit business

MORE CONTAINERISED business and transit traffic will steer growth at Swaziland Railway in the year ahead. Stephensen Ngubane, director of operations and marketing for the landlocked country’s 44 year-old rail line, told FTW:“Containerised traffic will be a growth business for us. We are making plans to expand our capacity to handle containers, and this is key to our 2008 strategy.” Continuing growth of the manufacturing sector in the country ensures containerised growth as inputs are brought in from Durban, turned into finished goods, and sent back to port for overseas buyers. Swaziland Railway’s Inland Container Depot, or so-called Dry Port, is strategically located in the heart of the Matsapha Industrial Estate, which was constructed about the time the railway began operations in the mid 1960s. The two have grown together, but the railway is also looking cross border for revenue opportunities. “We have been in discussions with Transnet Freight Rail to get more transit business through the country,” said Ngubane. This would largely be minerals sent through Swaziland north to south, from Komatipoort en route to Durban. The Phalaborwa mines would provide the mineral shipments, which will make up a new revenue source for the company. When asked what he was looking forward to in the new year, Swaziland Railway CEO Gideon Mahlalela said: “2008 is a leap year, so there will be an extra day to work to better the rail system.” The response says a lot for the company’s work ethic.