Moving ahead with its plans to reform the country’s rail network, Transnet has established an interim infrastructure manager (IM) ahead of the opening up of the market to third parties, set to take place in April 2024.
Transnet’s acting chief group executive, Michelle Phillips, announced the decision, which is in line with the government’s radical restructure reforms for the rail sector, on Wednesday.
This follows Cabinet’s approval of the White Paper on National Rail Policy, which aims to liberalise the rail sector by regulating rail infrastructure and providing private train-operating companies with access to the freight rail network. Access will be regulated by the soon-to-be-established Transport Economic Regulator.
“The key commercial objectives of the infrastructure manager are to maximise network utilisation; increase network density; generate revenue through access fees that will fund network maintenance, rehabilitation and expansion; and increase rail market share in economic growth sectors by facilitating road to rail migration,” Phillips said.
According to the rail policy, funding for the infrastructure will be provided by government, enabling the IM to provide network availability and reliability to freight rail operations across South Africa. Access fees will be used to manage the operations cost of the IM.
The interim Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager (TRIM) will manage, operate and maintain the Transnet rail network infrastructure in terms of the Economic Regulation of Transport Bill 2022.
Transnet Freight Rail Operating Company (TFROC), the initial dominant operator by a significant margin, will compete with other train-operating companies in the future. TFROC will be responsible for freight rail operations within the country and the region; haulage on network mainline and branch lines; yard operations and train safety; and rolling stock ownership and management.
The interim IM will engage with the Interim Rail Economic Regulator Capacity (IRERC) and manage access until a permanent structure in a new operating division is in place.
Transnet will also undertake consultations with the Department of Public Enterprises, the Department of Transport, the IRERC and other stakeholders regarding the draft network statement, draft access agreement and proposed tariff methodology.
On 1 April 2024, the interim IM will publish the final draft network statement, the conditions of access and the access tariff, and train-operating company applications for slots will commence.
If a requested slot is available (not run by TFROC), that slot can be provided by May 2024 for trains to run, provided that all the necessary conditions and approvals are met.
For enquiries regarding the interim IM, send an email to: InfrastructureManager@transnet.net
