Rail industry needs all hands on deck if it is to be saved – industry association
The resignation of Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) CEO Siza Mzimela just days after Transnet group CEO Portia Derby announced that she will be stepping down has highlighted the urgent need for key stakeholders across the industry to come together to craft the solutions necessary to save the country’s rail sector, African Rail Industry Association (Aria) CEO Mesela Kope-Nhlapo has said.
“As a country we need huge investment into the national track infrastructure and quickly, otherwise we’re not going to see efficiencies in our network or efficiencies in our train operations that are going to result in sustainable rail operations in South Africa into the future,” she said in a statement published on October 6.
Kope-Nhlapo said the answer lay in multiple private sector investment through concessions on the infrastructure. She further highlighted that private third-party access to, and participation in, the freight rail network’s performance was crucial to South Africa’s economy and the continued growth of the rail industry.
“We support government’s proposed structural reforms to the rail sector, and implore the new leadership of Transnet to take a wider view on the true challenges that face the freight rail sector and more meaningfully engage with the private sector,” she said.
Kope-Nhlapo said that the private sector was willing to invest and help rebuild a vibrant rail sector, on which many industries rely, but that it could only be achieved if it was done according to the National Rail Policy.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation