South Africa’s coal exports are already facing a blow in the early days of 2024, with one of the country’s most crucial and busiest railway lines facing major disruptions.

The coal export line to Richards Bay has been closed and export activity largely suspended after two trains collided at the weekend. 

Transnet Freight Rail, the largest division of the state-owned transport group Transnet, confirmed the collision of two trains in the early hours of Sunday, 14 January on the coal export line to Richards Bay. The incident happened at the Elubana Rail corridor outside Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, with no serious reported injuries, Transnet said.

The collision has resulted in an interruption of export activity on the train line, hobbling efforts by the government and organised business to reform Transnet’s rail operations, which are dysfunctional and undermine the domestic economy. 

The affected coal export line, which runs from Mpumalanga, descending from the Highveld through rural KwaZulu-Natal and terminating at Richards Bay, is vital for the mining industry. 

Through this line, mining companies rail coal and related products that they produce to market, using locomotives (the heavy-haul ones that are supposed to pull the coal and iron ore wagons). However, the line has been beset by mismanagement by Transnet officials, years of underinvestment in maintenance, and incidents of theft and vandalism, which have made it unreliable for industry.

Declining coal volumes through the years

For instance, Transnet moved 56 million tonnes (mt) of coal in 1996 on the coal rail line to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal. Coal volumes peaked in 2017 at 76mt but fell to 72mt in 2020. In 2021, volumes were down again to 58mt and remained flat at 58.3mt in 2022. Volumes declined further by the end of March 2023 to reach 48.7mt, with the entire year set for an even steeper decline.

In recent months, there have been several disruptions to the coal export line to Richards Bay, mainly caused by the derailment of trains. For example, in November 2022, a train derailed at Transnet’s main line in Ulundi en route to Richards Bay, resulting in the company pencilling lost earnings estimated at R1-billion a day.

Transnet blamed the derailment on acts of sabotage, allegedly committed by a “business forum” in the area after it failed to secure business opportunities at Transnet. However, there have been unconfirmed reports that the main cause of the derailment in November 2022 was negligence, with trains moving at high speeds before the catastrophic incident.

As for the Sunday incident at the main coal line, Transnet provided few details, saying that an investigation “is under way to determine the cause of the accident.

“TFR [Transnet Freight Rail] teams were dispatched to the scene immediately and recovery efforts began in earnest… Environmental teams are also at the scene to ensure compliance in the recovery and clean-up operations,” said Transnet. It added that further updates would be provided in due course.

According to News24 Business, human error and a failure in Transnet’s systems may have been the cause of Sunday’s collision — pointing to a much more dire situation at the state-owned company. 

Most of Transnet Freight Rail’s train management and handling systems are still manual and not digitised, relying on signalling and phone communication to manage their movement. News24 Business writes that signalling equipment at Transnet Freight Rail is frequently stolen, which makes communication among train control operators and drivers difficult and collisions more likely.

It is suspected that Transnet’s systems, during a shift change, failed to alert one of the incoming trains on the coal line that another train had stopped due to a power outage, causing the collision.

Inherent risks

Gavin Kelly, the CEO of the Road Freight Association, said the collision underscored the vulnerability of the coal line due to “the inherent risks of outdated manual systems and poor operational control”.

Kelly warned that the derailment would take some time to clear, even up to a few days, which might further push the mining sector to transport coal via road instead of Transnet’s unreliable rail network. 

“There will need to be an investigation into what damage was caused to the line and direct systems [for example, signalling and power supply], but more importantly, how such a recurrence can be prevented. 

“An example of [this prevention] — where load shedding may indeed cause such incidents — [means] sustainable electricity supply to all sections of the line must be secured as and when required,” Kelly said.

Derailed reform progress

The government, working with organised business, had started to show progress in reforming Transnet’s rail operation. One of the big developments around Transnet is the Cabinet’s approval of a logistics plan that entails the state-owned company embracing the private sector as a partner for delivery. The plan sets out timelines for everything, including allowing private ­sector companies access to railway lines to run trains independently, and investing in locomotives to address shortages. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: Cabinet approves plan to break Transnet’s monopoly and promote competition in SA’s logistics network

The plan was drafted by the Presidency and organised business, with help from logistics experts. A source close to the Presidency told Daily Maverick that until investments are urgently made in Transnet’s rail operations to upgrade infrastructure and technology, there will be more adverse rail incidents and disruptions. 

“Years of neglect and underinvestment are now showing through rail disasters,” the source said. DM