Question NW3457 to the Minister of Transport
31 October 2022 - NW3457
Sithole, Mr KP to ask the Minister of Transport
What has he found to be the details of the biggest stumbling blocks and/or challenges faced by the rail systems that have prevented the concept of cooperation between trucks and rail to come into fruition as the Road Freight Association (RFA) has had many discussions with his department over the past three decades and that major logistics members of the RFA had come forward with innovative concepts?
Reply:
Transnet Freight Rail, which falls under the shareholding of Department of Public Enterprises, largely owns and operates the country's freight rail infrastructure, locomotives and wagons.
The obsolete state of much of the rail infrastructure and rolling stock do not make it attractive for the private sector to shift cargo from road to rail. Safety and security, mainly due to rampant theft and vandalism of railway infrastructure is also a concern. The unavailability of rolling stock and locomotives is key for third party access and currently hinders new operators from operating on the rail network.
As the freight rail operator, Transnet Freight Rail is best positioned to engage with the innovative concepts proposed by stakeholders such as the Road Freight Association and to articulate what interventions can be implemented at an operational level to develop intermodal collaboration and to achieve road-to-rail shift of cargo. It should be noted that innovative concepts may also need to comply with relevant procurement legislation to ensure transparency, fairness and competitiveness.
The Department of Transport in terms of its mandate of developing policy and regulatory frameworks, has developed the National Rail Policy which was recently adopted by Cabinet. Inputs provided by the Road Freight Association have been considered in the development of the National Rail Policy. The National Rail Policy intends to place rail on a sound footing to play a meaningful role as a backbone of a seamlessly integrated transport value chain. The National Rail Policy introduces secondary interventions that will give effect to institutional repositioning and allows for on-rail competition. This will open up the rail market to other operators to compete and improve operational efficiency that is needed to improve service quality and encourage a shift from road to rail.