State-owned Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR’s) Containers and Automotive business unit, in collaboration with Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) and TFR Cape Channel, has introduced a new inter-terminal transfer shuttle service between the Ngqura Container Terminal (NCT) and the Port Elizabeth Container Terminal (PECT).
The new service is as a result of an integrated operational approach between TFR and TPT and is set to enable customers to do business in a more cost-effective manner, galvanise Transnet’s strategy of moving rail-friendly cargo from road to rail and decongest the city roads.
Container shipping company Maersk is the first customer to take up the new Transnet initiative, which sees Maersk containers railed from the PECT to the NCT – a distance of about 20 km. The transportation of containers between the two terminals was previously undertaken by road hauliers.
Transnet is currently executing one 50-wagon train a week and has the capacity to ramp up to a train a day in accordance with the needs of the customers.
With rail now providing this service, roads in and around the terminal precinct are experiencing less congestion and the knock-on effect of this is a reduction in carbon emissions, motor vehicle accidents and damage to road infrastructure.