Transnet Freight Rail says encroachment on railway lines, theft and vandalism a constant problem

The encroachments on to the railway lines were attributed to the increase in informal settlements and the invasion of land along the rail reserve.

Yard official Nhlanhla Zungu controls the movement of trains at at King's Rest yesterday. Transnet Freight Rail hosted a media trip along the Durban container corridor. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo African News Agency (ANA)

Published Apr 8, 2022

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DURBAN - Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) says encroachment on to railway lines and the theft of infrastructure is a constant challenge.

The media was invited by TFR on a tour of the Container Corridor in Durban yesterday.

The line services an estimated 70 customers across various sectors, with the dominant industries serviced being the container, automotive, agriculture and fuel sectors.

Rudzani Ligege, the managing executive for the Container Corridor in Durban, said that rail infrastructure was being targeted by community members. He said there was an increase in encroachments on to the rail reserve – the open space on both sides of a railway line.

The encroachments were attributed to the increase in informal settlements and invasion of land along the rail reserve. He said electricity was also stolen by people from nearby informal settlements.

“There are a lot of illegal activities that take place whereby people connect electricity from the lines to their houses. Maintenance is even more difficult,” said Ligege.

He said this not only resulted in infrastructure loss, but also lost time for cargo transport.

“When they steal our equipment, it becomes difficult for the train to move because when they cut wires, the trains come to a stop until we have dispatched the rail network to fix the wires and cables,” said Ligege.

He said that the consequences of encroachments included interruption of train services, which affected reliability and the quality of service that was delivered to customers, an increase in human and livestock train collisions, and interference with signalling systems that had the potential to lead to train collisions.

He emphasised that TFR held frequent engagements with local municipalities in a bid to tackle these problems.

“We are collaborating with the different municipalities within the province to try to devise a solution for the issue of encroachment,” he said.

He added that maintaining the infrastructure was vitally important to the economy.

“The efficient running of this line is important to South Africa as it connects the coastal economy and the inland economy.

“It is important to the country, so the rail network must be well cared for at all times, and we must tackle issues of vandalism, cable theft and building too close to the lines,” he said.

Last November, TFR said that in the period from January to October 2021, it lost more than 1  000km of copper cable nationally, through an average of 600 theft and vandalism incidents monthly.

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