TFR dashes hopes of rail rate equalisation

Transnet Freight Rail CEO
Siyabonga Gama last week
ruled out the possibility
of equalising rail rates
on the Port Elizabeth and
City Deep corridor with
Durban-City Deep as a
stop-gap measure during
upgrades at the Port of
Durban.
“The issue for me is
that PE is 1300 km from
Johannesburg and the
cost of running anything
from PE to Johannesburg
is higher than running
from Durban which is
680km.
“It’s almost double the
distance and therefore
doesn’t make sense to me.
We would be in the red
because for every container
moved from PE we would
lose a lot of money.
“If the port was
prepared to subsidise the
initiative, TFR would be
prepared to reconsider,” he
told FTW.