Last week
RailRunner NA,
Inc of the USA
announced
that its local
subsidiary,
RailRunner
SA, had
signed a
20-year
bimodal
transport
agreement
with
Transnet.
This is
part of its
philosophy
to evaluate
the technology
in multiple
markets, including
Africa, Europe,
and India, where
less-established
transportation
networks make intermodal
transport – interchanging
container-carrying trailers
between road, rail, and ro-ro
ships – more important.
The SA contract is valued
at the equivalent of almost
R5.6 billion, including
service revenue and
equipment sales by licensed
third parties.
The parent company
designs and produces
specialised chassis and
trailers, and the applicable
design is for semi-trailers
capable of carrying standard
marine containers riding
on shared bogies – and
therefore capable of
operating on both road
and rail and achieving
bimodal transport. They
also avoid the need for
specialised intermodal hubs
incorporating expensive
cranes and other equipment.
These trailers and bogies
will be run in the form of
a bimodal block train, and
this can be hauled by a
standard locomotive on the
terminal-to-terminal leg.
And, according to Mike
Asefovitz, spokesman for
Transnet Freight Rail
(TFR), these bimodal
RailRunner units will be
locally manufactured for the
contract. A number of local
manufacturing companies,
including Transnet
Engineering, have been prequalified
to manufacture
them, and requests for
quotations will be issued
later this month.
The pilot route is the Cape
to Gauteng corridor, and
the hope is that the service
will be up and running in
2018. Also, a RailRunner
SA subsidiary, trading as
RNS, has been authorised to
explore, develop and execute
an integrated road-to-rail,
door-to-door solution for the
African market.
The boast is that this
bimodal system will
decrease fuel usage and
carbon emissions, as rail
traffic consumes less energy
per distance travelled than
road traffic.
TFR to pilot bimodal technology on Capecor
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