It doesn't have the money to make the business work, Transnet says, even though it believes trains can compete with trucks.
Transnet wants to outsource the running of its container corridor between Johannesburg and Durban for 20 years.
At the one end is Bayhead, the"back of port" terminal for the Durban harbour, which is constantly looking to expand its freight-handling capability. At the other are the City Deep and nearby Kascon terminals, which can supposedly deal with 650,000 shipping containers per year. Last week, Transnet started the search for someone to take over the whole thing and run it for 20 years.A successful partner will probably need at least R5.5 billion in working and investment capital, Transnet reckons – and it will be expected to take on the 3,573 staff currently dedicated to running the corridor, along with assets such as 419 locomotives.
But achieving that would mean reversing a long-running trend, which Transnet itself has failed to do. It lacks the money necessary to invest in the operation, Transnet has told potential partners, but its numbers also point to many different types of trouble on the line.The corridor can, in theory, carry 47 trains in each direction every day – when the system is not damaged due to flood or theft, both of which have recently hit it.
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