Import regulations may hinder South African open access

[John Ashworth]

African Railway Systems Notes Import Regulations May Stop Small Loco Operators In Their Tracks

South Africa’s smaller locomotive and rolling stock operators are unlikely to benefit from Transnet opening its network to private operators unless rules around importing used equipment are changed... existing rules laid down by the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC), which forbid imported second-hand rolling stock from running on SA tracks meant that any successful bidders would have to provide new locomotives and rolling stock to run trains. “We cannot bring in pre-owned locomotives, second-hand track machines, rolling stock, nothing.” Removing the ITAC barrier, however, would make the situation fairer for many would-be operators, he added. “The bottom line is how can you open up the network if you have a limited supply of locomotives?” he said, adding that none of the larger established locomotive operators currently had spare capacity. “If operators could bring in rolling stock — not necessarily through us — open access could work and get traffic back on rail,” he said...