Swazilink
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Swazilink is a planned railway in South Africa and Eswatini.[1][2]
Route
Thick red line: Railway line in service
Thin red line: Existing railway line out of service
The main railway would run 146 km from Lothair in Mpumalanga in South Africa to Sidvokodvo Junction in Eswatini.[3] This would reduce the pressure on the Richards Bay line, removing general freight traffic, hence allowing more coal export trains and reducing the volume of coal transported by road.[4] There are also plans for 600 km of connecting railways, and this route fits with several other Transnet infrastructure projects which concentrate on coal transport.[5] This would also allow further development of the railway which takes coal from the Waterberg Coalfield via Ermelo to Richards Bay; the Waterberg coalfields have South Africa's biggest undeveloped coal reserves.[6]
Project
The project officially began in January 2012 and was initially expected to cost between R15bn and R17bn, with the South African government paying up to R12bn.[3] The Swazi government suggested that PPP would be used, or another source of external funding. The Lothair - Sidvokodvo line itself was forecast to cost R7.3 billion, and another R8.6 billion would be spent on connecting railways. The first trains were expected to start running in 2015[3] or 2016.[4]
In July 2014, Swazi Railways estimated that the link would cost R17 billion and could enter service in 2017.[7]
Transnet is acquiring General Electric locomotives for the line.[citation needed]
References
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