TFR introduces ‘anaconda’ on Natal corridor

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) can now lay claim to its very own “anaconda” following the introduction of the first ever 75-wagon train to move containers between Johannesburg and Durban. This is in keeping with international standards where container trains are longer or double-stacked for efficient mass evacuation. According to Bheka Xaba, executive manager of TFR, the introduction of what the organisation has jokingly dubbed the “anaconda” is in response to container vessels getting bigger and having more and more capacity. TFR usually runs 40-wagon trains on the Natal Corridor. “The Port of Durban recently saw a container vessel with a capacity of 8000 TEUs dock. This is a massive increase on the average 3000 TEUs. As a freight transporter we have to respond to this increased vessel capacity and we believe that running longer trains is an effective way of mass evacuation to meet customers’ expectations,” says Xaba. With increased efficiency the order of the day, the newly operational longer trains have yet to be formally launched, and if all goes well TFR is set to announce that other than the “anaconda” it will also increase capacity by adding ten more wagons to the usually 40-wagon trains on the corridor. This means that trains of 50 wagons and 75 wagons will now be moving between Gauteng and KZN. Other plans to increase capacity include running more trains per day. Currently some 20 trains per day move between Johannesburg and Gauteng, but this will steadily be increased to 30 trains per day. TFR has also spent R20 million in a back-ofport rail stack facility at Kingsrest station at the Durban port. “This will allow us to stack a higher volume of containers prior to vessel loading.” Xaba says it is about improving efficiency while also reducing cost. “We want to see investments made in port and rail in an effort to create balanced capacity ahead of demand. We know that the vessels are getting bigger and we must be able to address that.” Another example of this has been the introduction of a crew book-off system, which has dramatically decreased the rail transit time of a train to Durban from Johannesburg from 23 hours to only 18 hours. “We are still looking to improve this further,” says Xaba.