TFR and CFM jointly develop Maputo corridor

Both the South African and Mozambican governments are intent on developing the Maputo corridor, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) executive manager, strategy, Alex Masianoga told delegates at last week’s Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative open day in Johannesburg. “TFR and CFM are committed to the development, aiming to increase traffic on the shorter distance to Maputo from the Gauteng hub.” According to Masianoga, cargo being transported by road is slowly being lured back to rail with conservative figures for coal transportation alone on the Maputo corridor route being three million tons by 2010. “We are already in discussion with clients who are saying to us make it six million tons. Coal and magnetite currently represent approximately 78% of the volumes consigned to Maputo. “We are also seeing significant growth in other commodities such as sulphur and fuel consigned from Maputo. Also containerised traffic to Maputo is increasing while we are moving copper and manganese from the DRC to Maputo.” Masianoga said resources still remained a problem and needed to be spent wisely. “We don’t have as much money as we want, to make the necessary investments, but we have improved capacity and productivity despite this. More public private partnerships are being pursued in an effort to get the adequate capital investments needed for rolling stock to meet demand. We are getting the infrastructure up to speed and are sure we can handle the demand we are expecting.”