Swazi Rail/TFR deal will benefit agricultural exports

MBABANE – A feasibility study partnering Swaziland Railway with Transnet Freight Rail is well under way, bringing closer not only Gauteng and Maputo via rail but also the two companies’ timetable for completing the long-sought line. “The issue is very old – we have long had an agreement with South Africa on all issues to develop this line – but the work we are doing is new, and we’ve decided some key points,” Stephenson Ngubane, director of operations and marketing for Swaziland Railway, told FTW. Settled, for instance, is the connecting point at Lothair near Ermelo where Swaziland Railway trains will meet TFR’s trains. “South Africa will build this line from the border to a point south of Oshoek (border post in Western Swaziland), although the specific place is to be determined. We will build from Ngwenya (where SR’s western line currently terminates),” said Ngubane. “Only when we finish the feasibility study can we appreciate really what is involved, do the technicals and create a time line,” he said. The line will provide uninterrupted rail access to Maputo or to Richards Bay, with access through Swaziland, to and from Gauteng. However, Ngubane emphasised that much rail traffic would originate in Mpumalanga province, and in terms of distance shortened and travel time saved the province’s agricultural and other exports would benefit significantly from the new line. The line will also draw business from a reopened Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine near Oshoek.