Rail shutdown halts coal delivery
The shutdown is implemented every May to allow both TFR and the terminal to carry out extensive maintenance work
AN annual rail shutdown by Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will temporarily halt coal deliveries from 49 mines in Zululand and Mpumalanga to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).
The 10-day closure, which started on Tuesday, is implemented every May to allow both TFR and the terminal to carry out extensive maintenance work to ensure machinery and equipment run in full throttle once operations resume.
‘Export operations are however continuing,’ said RBCT Corporate Affairs Manager, Gcina Nhleko.
‘Vessels are berthed and loaded as scheduled and there are adequate stockpiles to ensure operational flow.’
TFR said this yearly exercise is crucial to ensure companies ‘catch up’ on maintenance backlogs and replace old, obsolete and problematic infrastructure.
It also aims to accelerate major capital expansion projects to accommodate the expected volume growth in line with Transnet’s Market Demand Strategy.
Specific activities during the shutdown include the replacement of sleepers, formation rehabilitation, overhauling substations, redesigning of overhead track equipment and upgrading Richards Bay Coal Terminal’s G17 set.
‘The shutdown programme is also necessitated by the fact that on the coal line there are sections where infrastructure work cannot be carried out without stopping the entire train service,’ said TFR in a statement.
‘TFR is working closely with its customers in planning for the execution of the shutdown programme for both parties to realise the long-term benefits that goes with it.’
