The Container Corridor links the Port of Durban with the Gauteng
economic hub through an extensive rail network of 688km. This connectivity enables direct railing of strategic
commodities from the Port of Durban to the inland terminals of City Deep,
Kascon, Pretcon, Kaalfontein, and several private sidings in the Gauteng area
and beyond. The Container Corridor boundaries are described as below:
- Port of Durban to Port Shepstone
on the Kwazulu Natal South Coast up to Stanger on the North Coast;
- Pietermaritzburg to Newcastle;
- Northern Free State made up of
Kroonstad and Bethlehem;
- Johannesburg in the Gauteng
province.
The Container Corridor connects and interfaces with the North
Corridor, Cape Corridor, and Central Corridor.
This corridor is a key logistics enabler of South Africa’s import
and export freight transportation and is vital in facilitating economic growth
for the country.
Commodities
railed on the Container corridor include
containers, automotive, grain, fuel, chemicals, coal, manganese, chrome, and
FMCG general freight cargo. Passenger services traverse the same rail
infrastructure however not operated by Transnet.
We have the greatest opportunity for General Freight
Business growth on rail especially with the increase in Logistics Hubs and Back
of Port facilities being developed by the private sector across the Corridor.
The
corridor services approximately 70 customers across various sectors. The
dominant industries serviced are the Container, Automotive, Agriculture, and
Fuel sectors.
The
Gauteng cluster of the corridor handles container cargo and operates the major
inland container terminals of City Deep and Kascon.
The
terminals are operated on the same IT platform as the Transnet Port Terminals
container terminals, Navis Terminal Operating System. This facilitates ease of
integrated planning and execution monitoring from a Transnet and customer
perspective.
Containers
flow between the Port of Durban, Cape Corridor, Botswana, and Pretoria.
The
Northern Free state forms part of the Gauteng cluster. The dominant commodity
handled in this area is Grain followed by Fuel. The Gold Ore operation is part
of this area. Bethlehem and Kroonstad define the corridor boundaries in the
Free State.
The
Kwazulu Natal cluster operational activity is dominated by the Container, Auto,
Fuel, and Grain commodities. Several private sidings and port terminals are
serviced in the Durban area particularly. Automotive is one of the country's strategic sectors. The Durban Car Terminal is serviced through direct rail
connectivity and handles automotive units railed from Pretoria, Isando, and
Isipingo Car Terminal in Durban is one of the country's strategic commodities.
Durban
cluster runs up to Stanger connecting with the North Corridor and down the
South Coast to Port Shepstone
Newcastle
connects to North Corridor and handles coal railed to Richards Bay. All the
trains that run to and from Durban pass through the Newcastle area.
The
Pietermaritzburg area is largely branch lines where most of the activity is
from the Timber sector.