On 5 November (though there were no fireworks), South African President Jacob Zuma unveiled the first of a new fleet of improved-design rail car-carrier wagons – type SCL – at Transnet Engineering’s Uitenhage plant in the Eastern Cape.
Previous car-carrier wagons had open sides, which exposed the vehicles to the elements. Their dimensions proved an increasingly problematical limiting factor, notably with the growing number of SUV-type vehicles and minibuses that could not be accommodated. It is intended that 350 wagons of the new design will have been completed by March 2014, nearly 200 being in service already. The vehicles are being completed at a rate of 14 each week.
The new fleet will contribute meaningfully to the policy of moving freight from road to rail. Zuma was quoted saying that the automotive industry is a key investor in the country’s economy, and that Transnet intends to invest in the Eastern Cape’s infrastructure, in order to support this. Altogether, he announced, the parastatal is to spend R26 billion in freight infrastructure projects in the Eastern Cape over the next three years.