Discussions underway for R1,5bn railway line

By Sizwe samaYende

Nelspruit - Discussions are underway to build a R1,5 billion railway line and ease pressure on the N11 road in Mpumalanga.

Some 100km of the road has taken strain as heavy trucks ferry tonnes of coal from mines in Ermelo to Majuba power station in Amersfoort.

The National Roads Agency (NRA) spends about R12 million a year repairing the damage.

Spokesperson for rail parastatal Spoornet, Molatwane Likhethe, confirmed that Spoornet and electricity utility parastatal Eskom were in discussions about the railway line.

"Discussions are underway," he said but did not give further details.

The project was first announced by managing director of Eskom's generation division, Ehud Matya, during the Mpumalanga Provincial Growth and Development Summit in February.

At that time Mr Matya said the whole project would cost R1,5 billion and would be completed in 2008.

Meanwhile, Spoornet chief executive officer Siyabonga Gama announced last week that the company would upgrade the capacity of its coal line between Mpumalanga and the Richards Bay Coal terminal in KwaZulu-Natal.

It will then be able to handle 92 million tonnes of coal a year, and accommodate black economic empowerment (BEE) companies.

Mr Gama said the black-owned companies would be given opportunities to export 20 million tonnes a year through the Richard's Bay terminal.