Hunting Transnet’s ‘ghost trains’
Much has been made of the ‘ghost trains’ running coal to South Africa’s export port. But fixing the freight rail system requires more than exorcising this spectre
20 April 2023 - 05:00
Weighing in at 31t, a single coal wagon is deadweight hardware. Consider that wagon, loaded to its 16t capacity and multiplied by 200 — the total rolling stock in Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR’s) “shongololo” configuration. Then add the locomotives pulling and pushing the whole shebang. That’s a lot of train to lose.
Yet this is precisely what TFR says has happened. Last month, the state-owned company claimed “ghost trains” are making mineral deliveries “off-plan”. Taken to its logical conclusion, grand theft loco of this order would be worth billions of rand a year in lost revenue. ..
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