TFR to step up Natcor capacity

Transnet Freight Rail is set to expand the frequency of its 75-wagon Anaconda train on the Johannesburg- Durban corridor from three to five times a week, TFR’s operations executive manager of the container and automotive division, Frans Seloane, told FTW last week. It’s all part and parcel of the rail utility’s efforts to maximise capacity with limited resources as demand continues to exceed supply, particularly on the busy Johannesburg-Durban corridor. National container volumes on South Africa’s key corridors have increased from 536 774 TEUs in 2007/08 to a projected 620 000 in 2010, 12% beyond TFR’s capacity. On the Natcor corridor, volumes are up from 272 640 in 2007/08 to a projected figure of 378 000 in 2010, 7% over capacity. Translated into train movements, on the Natcor corridor TFR would have needed to move from three trains a week in 2007/08 to 30 in 2010 – a tall order based on the limited available capacity. Enter the idea of the Anaconda – running fewer, longer trains – and the shortfall has been significantly mitigated. The Anaconda has the capacity to clear 150 TEUs on one train and is therefore able to move 600 TEUS on the four Anaconda slots per day and 1800 on the weekly schedule between Johannesburg and Durban. “There are a few operational challenges,” says Seloane. “The lines at City Deep only accommodate 50 wagons, which means breaking the train, but there is capex required to lengthen the lines. The same applies when the train reaches Durban. But there is constant communication and from an incident management point of view, the Anaconda gets priority. That means that while the average transit time on the Natcor corridor ranges from 18-20 hours, you can generally guarantee 16-18 for the Anaconda because it gets the attention it deserves.” TFR has run three Anaconda trials on the Pretoria corridor. Once a further three have been undertaken, a regular Anaconda will be introduced on this run. For the future, Seloane says there’s nothing stopping TFR from increasing the length to 100 wagons with the attendant capacity advantages that this would offer. And once this is all up and running, the same concept will be introduced on the other corridors. But that’s not all that TFR has done to maximise capacity. City Deep has the capacity to handle 240 000 TEUs. In 2009/10 it was running at 250 430 while the projected volume for 2010/11 is 280 169. “The original idea was that City Deep would handle all maritime imports and exports – but the additional volumes translate into delays,” said Seloane. “What we have decided to do is to handle some of the City Deep cargo at the Kaserne Container Terminal – so creating capacity by utilising spare capacity.” Another intervention that has helped to mitigate the capacity shortfall is running trains before the stack opens. “It’s called a delinking stategy,” says Seloane. “We run the trains to Durban Container Terminal before the stacks open and place them in a buffer stack so that they’re ready as soon as the stack opens. “In addition we have entered into partnerships with private sidings.” TFR has already signed up with Bridge and Nzenga. Negotiations are in progress with SACD Freight. “When we realised that demand was outstripping supply we sat down with our customers to come up with solutions,” Bheka Xaba, sales and marketing executive, told FTW. “We all agreed that we were not competitors but rather strategic partners. “In terms of using private sidings, we established a set of criteria that would determine eligibility – one of these was that the siding would have to be able to accommodate a block train, another that it would have to have stacking capacity and equipment. “In this way we have managed to come up with solutions for the benefit of the industry at large – and all agree that the result has been a win-win for all involved.”