TFR embarks on turnaround strategy – admits it ‘failed badly’

Transnet Freight Rail is embarking on a turnaround strategy to improve productivity of the Natal Corridor (Natcor) between Durban and Gauteng which has been bedevilled by troubles

from cable theft to poor infrastructure. Transnet chief executive for growth, diversification and business development, Herbert Msagala, told delegates at the Transport Forum in Durban last week that the line, hampered by a lack of investment, poor

maintenance planning, strikes and prolific cable theft had been “brought to its knees” in recent years. According to Msagala, the line, which currently has capacity to run 11 trains from Kings Rest to City Deep but now usually runs on average between

eight and nine, has dropped from a capacity of 14 trains in 2012. “The reality is that we did not want to be upfront and honest – the Natcor system went on its knees. In 2012 transit time was on average 18 hours, cars could do five trains up and

down, and coal eight trains up and down. We dropped the ball on infrastructure investment where Natcor is concerned. We invested in locomotives, but the infrastructure is in shambles,” he said. He added that the Thornwood line had been operating on almost one line at a speed restriction of 15km per hour for the past two and a half years but the bottleneck would be resolved by October 2019. “The SOE was not smart for discontinuing its procurement of maintenance parts for the Class 18E locomotives following the order of Class 22Es from China,” he said. “The reliability of the 18Es went down so you have a network that is not reliable and a locomotive that is not predictable – those were our realities,” he said. “We failed badly; there was another instance where BMW had to stop the plant

in Gauteng because the box could not get to Gauteng in time – that is a disaster in the making.” Msagala added that cable theft, which he attributed to both common crime and sabotage, had also contributed to transit delays. Transporters at the forum complained that containers offloaded at the port were sitting for up to six days before being loaded onto a train, which then took two days to transit to City Deep and an additional day to offload because the Gauteng facility could only accommodate four trains. “In Transnet today, every hour, every minute there is someone cutting our overhead cables, disrupting

the movement of the train. If they cut the overhead the loco will come to a standstill because we don’t have a system that automatically alerts the driver,” he said. Transnet has deployed drones to monitor the lines and hired local community members as security guards. Msagala said he had presented a turnaround strategy for TFR to the Transnet board, and the rail and port divisions would be working closely together through its new joint operation centres in Johannesburg and Durban. “We have to work with the port system. We can’t tolerate the amount of strikes we have had at King’s Rest. Every time we have a strike there is down time. Our productivity levels were low but I am glad that with the incentives put in place for our employees we are beginning to make a u-turn in terms of our productivity,” he said.