Swazi Railway records profitable year

Risk management is key
to railway profitability,
and accident avoidance
has been one reason Swaziland
Railway has enjoyed a
profitable year in 2011
compared to some other
regional railways.
“Cost containment is one
reason for our profitability, and
we do a lot of risk management.
Rail accidents can be very
expensive. We do risk control
to avoid all possible crises,”
Gideon Mahlalela, CEO of
Swaziland Railway, told FTW.
Matsapha industrial
estate outside the central
commercial town of Manzini
is both the core of Swaziland’s
manufacturing and the site of
the railway’s Inland Container
Terminal, informally known
as the kingdom’s dry port.
Ever-rising road and pedestrian
traffic in proximity to rail lines
that have existed for 40 years is
raising the risk of accidents.
“We are working with the
town board to take safety
measures, like putting up
railway crossing gates,” said
Mahlalela.
Transit traffic from SA,
such as rock phosphate and
magnetite from Phalaborwa
en route to Richard’s Bay via
Swaziland, continues to boost
the railway’s bottom line.
Due to the continuing global
recession, it has been an “up
and down” year for the delivery
of inputs to the country’s textile
industry and the exporting of
finished product, Mahlalela
said, but profits are coming
this year from sugar exports
taking the short haul to Maputo
(“It’s cheaper by rail because
it’s bulk”) and Swazi coal
to Witbank. The latter is a
“coal to Newcastle” situation,
because there is no shortage of
coal in Witbank.
“But Swazi coal is better
quality, and it’s good for
boilers,” Mahlalela explained.