Transnet of South Africa to build $1.5 billion rail link through Swaziland

Transnet of South Africa to build $1.5 billion rail link through Swaziland

By Sikonathi Mantshantsha
Bloomberg 

Transnet SOC Ltd., the South African state-owned port and rail-freight operator, and Swaziland Rail agreed to build a line through the kingdom that will free up capacity to carry coal to Richards Bay.

“The first train will run in three years’ time,” Transnet Chief Executive Officer Brian Molefe said in Johannesburg today. The link will create additional capacity of 15 million metric tons annually to Richards Bay Coal Terminal, Africa’s largest export facility for the fuel, he said.

The 140-kilometer (87-mile) railway will run between the coal-producing province of Mpumalanga and the port to the east, cutting through landlocked Swaziland. The coal terminal’s owners include London-based Anglo American Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-12/transnet-of-south-africa-to-build-1-5-billion-rail-link-through-swaziland.html