New Swaziland Line

[John Ashworth]

NEW SWAZILAND LINE

Railways Africa On November 8, 2011 In Swaziland

Four to five years may elapse before the planned 165km of new railway between Lothair east of Ermelo in Mpumalanga, South Africa, and Phuzumayo in Swaziland is completed.

The objective is to provide an alternative route for general freight headed to Richards Bay, thereby releasing badly needed extra capacity on South Africa’s coal line. Swaziland Railway’s director for operations and marketing Stephenson Ngubane says a feasibility study is nearing completion, though technical aspects such as determining the specific route are still outstanding. Transnet CEO Siyabonga Gama points out that an environmental impact assessment has still to be undertaken, once the feasibility study is complete.

Earlier in 2011, Gama estimated that as much as 15 million tons of general freight currently transported on Transnet’s coal export line could be moved to the new railway.

The coal line has a capacity of 68 million tons a year and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal is able to handle 91 million.