The workings of the port/rail interface at the Port of Durban

Abstract

Paper presented at the 26th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 9 - 12 July 2007 "The challenges of implementing policy?", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa. ABSTRACT:Globalisation has had a major impact on the South African economy. For countries to be competitive it necessitates adopting high quality standards and lowering logistics costs. The latter is even more relevant to South Africa because of the great distances to Europe and South East Asia. The transport system in South Africa must be highly reliable and services must be provided at a low system costs. The focus of this topic is on the Port/Rail Interface in the Port of Durban which assesses the transfer of goods particularly from rail transport to and from vessels. Some of the major constraints identified in the Port/Rail Interface study relate to poor infrastructure, operations and levels of services; lack of maintenance, availability of rolling stock, locomotives and cargo stacking space. Transnet’s role is pivotal in providing efficient port and rail operations and services. Transnet is spending R40 billion over the next five years to upgrade infrastructure, operations and capacity of its core business of rail and ports. The development of the Port of Durban is guided by the Port Master Plan and an integrated planning initiative that includes rail and road authorities and the Durban Metro as stakeholders.