Swaziland wants express rail service

James Hall
SWAZILAND Ð Rail freight will not become competitive with road freight transported to Swaziland from the Port of Durban until rail transport time is dramatically reduced, industry sources told FTW.
But the goal of swifter rail transport between Durban and the Inland Container Depot at the Matsapha Industrial Estate is closer to reality as Swaziland shipping agents dialogue with Spoornet.
"We want an express train directly from Durban, three times a week," says Claude Govender, who runs Cross Country Containers at Matsapha. "We are talking about 36 to 48 hour transit time instead of the five or up to seven days we now have."
Tony Viegas, general manager for MSC Logistics, also at the Inland Container Depot, says it is impossible to predict when cargo arriving at Durban will make it to Matsapha. "Sometimes more than a week passes before we see a shipment here," he said.
Govender feels Swaziland is put at the back of the queue, because shipments aren't enough for a full train of 50 rail wagons. Portnet says they can't put containers on wagons and have them sit waiting because they may need the wagons."
He says Portnet needs to put containers offloaded from ships directly onto the wagons of regularly scheduled express trains, instead of allowing them to stack up.
Currently, coal from Swazi mines that is shipped to Gauteng is the only commodity to travel on a regular basis by rail, because of the quantity transported.