Transnet Freight Rail
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR ) is the division for rail freight within the state transport company Transnet of South Africa. To a minor extent it provides services for foreign and own personal transport capacity. This division grew out of the party responsible for the freight division of Spoornet.
Description
The structure and tasks of Transnet Freight Rail
The main tasks of the main Transnet business unit are in the transportation of goods in the South African rail network. Comparatively marginal mute the responsibilities of passenger transport. The following areas are the main areas of Freight Rail:
- GFB Commercial,
- Coaline, coal transportation to Richards Bay harbor on the east coast of South Africa,
- Ore Line, ore transports from Sishen to Saldanha and some secondary roads and
- The passenger transport areas Shosholoza Meyl and Blue Train.
The City Deep Container Terminal in Johannesburg is operated by Transnet Freight Rail.
Within its passenger transportation department provides Transnet Freight Rail mostly only technical services available, such as the provision of railway tracks, railway stations in foreign networks and support services for train control systems. Benefit Metrorail, Shosholoza Meyl and Luxrail, which are summarized in the corporate sector Commuter Rail Services of Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa ( PRASA ). A transfer of the Blue Train by Transnet to PRASA is negotiated between the two parties.
Connections to foreign
The South African rail network connects to several foreign railway networks in neighboring states. In this regard, there are transitions:
- At Ressano Garcia to the network of Mozambique Railways CFM,
- At eGolela and south of Komatipoort to the network of Swaziland Railway in Swaziland,
- In Musina / Beitbridge to the network of National Railways of Zimbabwe,
- At Ottoshoop to the railway to Gaborone and Francistown in Botswana and Plumtree in Zimbabwe
- And west of Upington in the power of the Namibian Railway (Trans Namib ).
Besides there is a operated by Transnet Freight Rail route to Maseru in Lesotho.
The route network of Transnet Freight Rail is connected by the railways of neighboring countries with:
- The Zambia Railways in Zambia,
- The TAZARA, the southern network of Société Nationale des Chemins de fer du Congo,
- The rail network in Malawi,
- The Benguela railway in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo,
- As well as with Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique central and northern Mozambique.
History
The beginnings of the railway in South Africa dates back to 1853 when the Cape Town Railway and Dock Company was founded. The plan was a railway line from the ports at the Cape of Good Hope to Natal. But the real trigger for the construction of railways was the discovery of diamonds in Kimberley in 1867. It was in South Africa unabhänginge several railway companies that were incorporated after the founding of the Union of South Africa in 1910, all in the equally newly established national railway company SAR / SAS (South African Railways / Suid - Afrikaanse Spoorweë ) and thus lost their autonomy. In the 1980s, was from SAR / SAS SATS (South African Transport Services), between 1990 and 2007 Spoornet and then Transnet Freight Rail.
Current Projects
- Maputo Corridor: Transnet Freight Rail developed with the Railroad Development Corporation at the time a plan for the transport of magnetite from the mining area around Phalaborwa for a building at the project stage steel mill in Maputo.
- In May 2010 Transnet published a five-year plan for all railway projects in the amount of 52 billion rand. Most of the money is to be invested in new rolling stock, including locomotives and 304 wagons of various kinds 7231 alone 4 billion to improve infrastructure such as the connection of the Majuba coal power plant with the Richards Bay freight rail.