E Cape rail link saves money for cement factory

SPOORNET'S NARROW-gauge railway running through the Langkloof in the Eastern Cape has scored what manager Chris MŸller believes to be a world first by carrying 12 metre containers on specially-built trucks.
The containers, which are packed with green charcoal for export, are being hauled from Kareedouw at the start of the Langkloof on carriages built in the Spoornet workshops in Port Elizabeth.
MŸller says it's this kind of customer service that is helping rail beat road through the Langkloof. The line, which Spoornet was considering closing not so long ago, now carries over half a million tons of citrus, fruit, timber, wheat and now charcoal - most of it destined for export markets.
We are the start of the export route but also the pantry for Port Elizabeth, says MŸller.
The line also carries vegetables and fruit destined for local tables. The narrow gauge also carries feedstock for the local PPC cement factory.
Opened in 1903, the 350 kilometre line is one of the longest operating narrow-gauge tracks in the world. It is surviving against all the advantages offered by door-to-door road freight because much of its cargo is unloaded directly into warehouses or onto ships in the harbour, and also because of the commitment of the staff, says MŸller.
This commitment - the result of hours of patient work by MŸller to get Afrikaner staff with a colonial mindset on the one side and workers with an African liberation mindset on the other - is paying dividends.
Volumes keep growing and efficiencies keep improving. In the case of PPC the narrow gauge has helped the company save money and improve its own efficiencies by working with the cement manufacturer to fine-tune its logistics.
Being competitive is a case of mind over matter, he says.
We now see ourselves as a freight logistics service. This means we get to know the needs and processes of our clients and come up with solutions, rather than just carrying freight.
By Ed Richardson