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Private rail operator Traxtion gives thumbs up to Godongwana’s logistics plans

Private rail operator Traxtion Africa yesterday gave the thumbs up to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s plans to address South Africa’s increasingly unreliable logistics system, saying that the private investment into the rail network would stimulate development.

In his Budget speech on Wednesday, Godongwana highlighted the Freight Logistics Roadmap, which outlines immediate steps needed to improve port equipment, locomotive availability and network security.

Godongwana said the roadmap would facilitate the introduction of competition and leveraging the financial and technical support of the private sector.

In this regard, Godongwana said third-party access to the freight rail network would be introduced by May 2024 to mitigate the logistics challenges emanating from Transnet’s operational failures.

Traxtion CEO James Holley yesterday said they were expecting that the industry would announce the first investment into private freight train capacity later in 2024 as a result of this development.

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