Transnet says it is on track to tap into projects that will unlock the potential of its manganese rail line after the completion of the Mamathwane crossing loop in the Northern Cape, a month ahead of schedule.
The province has 80% of the world's known manganese reserves.
The loop means more trains can travel on the Hotazel to Sishen line, thus increasing capacity on that section by 1.5MT a year. This has allowed for downstream projects to be realised, including a new service to East London, which will unlock an additional 500,000t per annum.
The manganese rail export line from Hotazel had been congested as it is a single line carrying only one-way traffic. Transnet Freight Rail's (TFR) chief commercial officer, Bonginkosi Mabaso, said this week the construction of the crossing loop means trains can now travel in both directions at the same time, boosting capacity. It also means fewer trucks will be needed on the roads to transport manganese.
“We have never had a service to East London because that line was congested, and it could not allow us to run more trains,” he said, adding that TFR is targeting 500,000t for the East London service.
Without providing details he said an increase in trains for the Saldanha and Port Elizabeth ports was factored into the pipeline of projects.
The East London service follows TFR bringing locomotives from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) online amid negotiations between the department of public enterprises and the Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC).
We are not sitting and waiting for CRRC to get the impasse resolved
— TFR chief commercial officer Bonginkosi Mabaso
“We are not sitting and waiting for CRRC to get the impasse resolved. We have gone and engaged the OEMs that supply locomotives such as Alstom and Wabtec to start bringing back those long-standing locomotives.
“We have started getting some of the long-standing locomotives back and those are the locomotives that are starting to run the East London solution. We have negotiated with the OEMs, we have a clear delivery schedule from them, and they are owning up to the delivery schedule and have started delivering.”
He said TFR was in the market for a third party to re-engineer parts for the CRRC locomotives in the event that talks with CRRC breakdown.
Due to tender irregularities, Transnet set aside the award of contracts for 1,064 locomotives from the Chinese parastatal in 2019, resulting in the company struggling to access spare parts.
Of the manganese line's 16MT annual capacity, TFR has been achieving 15MT, as the line is least impacted by the CRRC fleet.
Coal exports from the Richards Bay Coal Terminal fell to a 30 year low after only 50MT were exported.
“The more of the CRRCs we do not have access to, the less volumes we are able to run. That is why you have seen such a drastic loss of volumes in the coal sector. "
Cable theft and vandalism are problematic on the coal corridor. “We sit with incidents of cable theft every other day, but those are the challenges — we have had to work with industry to say how do we resolve them”.
He said some industry players have offered solutions focused on technology and expertise in enforcing security on the line, resulting in some improvements.
New security service providers coming online in August will be paid based on the success they achieve rather than on the resources they deploy.
“They come with new technologies, new techniques, expertise and new strategies in combating the incidents on the line. All of that will result in improvement on the coal line while we deal with the CRRC. Without a permanent solution there it remains an issue, but we are not sitting back and allowing volumes to fall further.” He said TFR is focusing on reducing the failure rates on the CRRC locomotives, “nursing” those still in the system.
“We do not have the luxury of switching them off and getting a new one to come in. We are focused on ensuring that whatever is left of the CRRC locomotives they continue to run optimally”.
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