Why is business not embracing rail?

Barney Curtis, Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta) “Market forces prevail when it comes to road vs rail. The consignors, be they manufacturers, exporters or freight forwarders, always look at the different options. While rail may be cheaper, the reliability and transit time of rail goes against it. Also, the double handling favours road, as rail cannot offer door-to-door in most cases.” Gorman Zimba, Rail Road Association (RRA) “The regional rail network is ready for the implementation of a roadto- rail migration but the incorrect model for driving the rail industry’s growth is being applied. There are sufficient volumes of freight for the rail network but we are not doing it right.” Dominic Ntwaagae, Botswana Railways “Railways have the competitive advantage, all things being equal. But at the moment all is not equal as rail has been badly neglected in the region and our infrastructure and operational inefficiencies currently count against us.” Anonymous logistics operator “Rail does have a good future, but the ineffective noises made by the powers that be simply ref lect the (ongoing) pathetic management of rails in South Africa. Until they can cut costs and provide a better delivery service, we won’t support them.”