Manganese line to be shut down for maintenance

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) will shut down its Manganese line as part of its annual large scale maintenance.

“The shutdown will commence on 2 August with the anticipation that all work will be completed on 8 August 2018,” Transnet said in a statement on Thursday.

Transnet is set to spend approximately R90 million for the maintenance of the railway line spanning over three provinces.

The line which spans over Port Elizabeth and Hotazel in the Eastern Cape and Northern Cape; Kimberly and Bloemfontein in the Northern Cape and the Free State, will be going under specialised infrastructure maintenance and upgrade projects.

“There will not be any traffic flowing on the line during this period as this is a pre-planned exercise following consultations with customers.

“This maintenance window presents an opportunity to catch up on the maintenance backlog, i.e. replace old and obsolete infrastructure and accelerate the major capital expansions in line with the expected volume growth on the manganese line.

“Planning for this operation is a meticulous process and depends on participation from several cross functional departments within Transnet Freight Rail, as well as involvement of numerous third parties,” Transnet said.

A safety strategy has been formulated to ensure that project objectives are achieved without harm to people or damage to the environment as well as the equipment.

“The strategy will also play a crucial part in ensuring that there are no incidents which could impact negatively on business.

“A healthy infrastructure will support Transnet Freight Rail’s scheduled railway operations and prepares the infrastructure to sustain the current and future volume growth in line with the Transnet 4.0 Strategy,” Transnet said. – SAnews.gov.za