A new rail line to be operated by Transnet SOC Ltd. and Swaziland Railway will start running by mid-2017 as the South African rail and ports company boosts capacity to haul more freight to ports.

 

　　The project will cost about R17 billion, Swaziland Railway Chief Executive Officer Stephenson Ngubane said in an interview in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “It’s going to be general freight. It can be minerals, agricultural produce and forestry products.”

 

　　Transnet, based in Johannesburg and owned by the South African government, is rolling out a R300-billion infrastructure investment program over seven years, with two- thirds of the amount to be spent on rail, it’s biggest source of revenue. The new railway through landlocked Swaziland will help Transnet boost haulage of coal to Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the world’s biggest, Ngubane said.

 

　　The 146-kilometer single-track line from Lothair, South Africa, to Sidvokodvo, in Swaziland, will accommodate 150-wagon trains, each carrying about 12,000 metric tons of cargo, he said. The technical feasibility study will be completed by November, according to Cleopatra Shiceka, general manager in the office of the CEO at Transnet Freight Rail.

 

　　“Financing modalities are yet to be determined,” Ngubane said. “Each country will see how they will finance their own portions.”