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Work under way to localise bimodal road-rail cargo technology

The RailRunner units carry standard shipping containers

Containers can be transferred from road to rail without cranes

The bimodal units will be made in South Africa

27th September 2016

By: Terence Creamer

Creamer Media Editor

  

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A domestic homologation process has been initiated for an innovative American bimodal transport solution, which integrates long-distance rail with ‘first- and last-mile’ road legs to provide a door-to-door cargo service.

The process began following the recent announcement that South African freight logistics utility Transnet intended collaborating with a company known as RailRunner South Africa (RRSA) to establish the hybrid service in Africa.

It is envisaged that the service will be piloted on the 1 400-km Gauteng-to-Western Cape general freight corridor, with a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Transnet and RRSA, competing on an equal footing with a private service provider for market share. This private entity, known as RNS, is currently wholly owned by RRSA, but the shareholding is expected to change in due course.

RRSA is itself a JV between RailRunner North America and a local shareholder group, led by founder Mike Daniel and a black economic-empowerment investor group, led by Thabiso Buku, which owns 30% of the entity.

RailRunner North America, which is headquartered in Boston, in the US, values the 20-year contract at $400-million in service revenues and equipment sales by licensed third parties.

Daniel tells Engineering News Online that homologation involves adapting the technology from Standard Gauge to the narrower Cape Gauge used in South Africa and much of Africa. “All this will be performed in South Africa, by South African engineers, under the auspices and guidance of American engineers.”

Once the process is completed, 20 pilot bimodal units will be manufactured so that trials can begin in either late 2017, or early 2018. “We hope to have two trains with 40 wagons each for the initial rollout. These will be manufactured in South Africa.”

Transnet Engineering is expected to manufacture the initial units, before a competitive two-stage tender process is launched to select longer-term manufacturing suppliers.

Daniel says bimodal technology has been in operation in the US for 30 years and reports that the RailRunner solution has been used mainly on the Norfolk Southern Class 1 railroad in cooperation with Triple Crown services, a long-term provider of bimodal services in the US.

The RailRunner units are able to carry standard shipping containers, which can be transferred from road to rail without the need for cranes. In fact, trains can even be assembled in the absence of a terminal, as the patented bimodal units are lifted onto a level-grade track using a forklift. The truck horse then reverses to deposit its trailer atop the unit, before making way for a second RailRunner unit. The process is repeated until a train of about 40 trailers is assembled.

RailRunner and Transnet have preliminarily identified loading points at Bellville, in the Western Cape, and Isando, in Gauteng, owing to the fact that both locations provide a “highway-friendly” catchment radius of 100 km, where many large logistics companies operate.

Daniel says the initial market reaction has been “encouraging”, mostly as the solution will help mitigate the risk associated with managing hundreds of drivers, who are currently travelling long distances. “Drivers can operate locally and live more normal lives, being home with their families every night.”

The solution is also aligned with Transnet’s road-to-rail strategy and is expected to lower long-haul logistics costs, ease traffic congestion and reduce infrastructure damage.

Daniel says the aspiration is to roll out the solution to more corridors, as well as into the rest of the Southern African Development Community. He even sees potential in using the technology on the so-called North-South Corridor being championed by the African Union as a way to bolster intra-African trade.

“We also hope to include mining products soon to eliminate as many coal, chrome, or ore trucks on the long-haul as possible.”

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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