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Transnet halts freight rail services on its North East Corridor

Transnet halts freight rail services on its North East Corridor

Transnet, South Africa’s logistics utility has halted freight rail services on its North East Corridor. The firm announced that the suspension is due

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Transnet, South Africa’s logistics utility has halted freight rail services on its North East Corridor. The firm announced that the suspension is due to heavy rains.

The North-East corridor (NEC) consists of two (2) clusters namely the Beitbridge, Polokwane, Phalaborwa cluster which supports Limpopo, and the Witbank to Komatipoort cluster which supports Mpumalanga. The corridor stretches from Limpopo River at Beitbridge in the Limpopo province through Komatipoort down to Richards Bay on the East coast and; from Pyramid/Witbank (Rayton) to Komatipoort.

North East Corridor

This corridor strategically links the South African freight business with that of other SADC countries mainly through Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Maputo, Zambia, and the DRC. Commodities are transported via various border posts or gates of entry such as Komatipoort, Golela, Beitbridge, Livingstone, and Sakania.

The corridor will be re-opened after a full safety assessment and the line certified as safe for normal running of train traffic. Cross-border operations to the Maputo port and TCM Matola terminal in Mozambique also came to at a standstill due to flooding of the network, affecting the movement of magnetite, rock phosphate, chrome and ferrochrome.

“Disruptive weather conditions in Mpumalanga and Limpopo have adversely affected Transnet Freight Rail operations in the North-East Corridor. Heavy, abnormal rains damaged the rail infrastructure across the corridor’s major commodity pathways resulting in severe disruption to the train service,” Transnet said.