BACKGROUND AND BENEFITS OF CORRIDOR CONCEPT
The presentation was made by Mr. Stephenson Ngubane, Swaziland Railway Director of Operations and Marketing and also SARA Executive Committee (EXCO) member as follows;
5.1 Background
• SADC Railways have a common gauge (1067mm), therefore rolling stock is interchanged easily without the need to transship cargo.
• Most Railways have border stations on each side of the border and would place the trains either on their border station or across, it all depends on the arrangement between the neighbouring railways.
• Each railway would inspect the train they receive (technical inspection and cargo). In some cases this would be joint inspections.
• The result was accumulation of train loads at the Interchange Points (border stations) and delays to cargo movement.
• Train loads were broken up to suit the other railways motive power resulting in single consignments i.e. copper trains arriving at different times at destination causing problems for the customer
5.2 The New Approach-Corridor Concept
o The Protocol on Transport and Meteorology which came into effect in August 1996 signed by SADC Heads of States put an obligation on the railways to integrate railway services and establish Corridor Management Groups with the objective to provide seamless, predictable, efficient and cost effective rail transport to support the SADC economy.
o The Railways through SARA took up this challenge and established CMGs which focused on the following areas;
• Single Interchange Points (SIPs)
• Single Inspections
• Cross-border working of locomotives
• Cross-border working of crews
• International Trains Timetable
• Train Loads not to be broken up
• Matching of motive power to load offered
• Communication among corridor railways on the movement of the international trains
• Giving priority to international trains in the allocation of resources such as locomotives and wagons
• Through billing –revenue collection at one point
• Providing assistance in the case of emergency-railways to assist each other to clear derailments and reopen line as soon as possible
• Joint Train Planning
• Joint Marketing
• Development and use of same C & W Maintenance Manual
5.3 Promotion and Support of the Corridor Concept
The business case for the Corridor concept arises from the following;
• Leads from fragmentation to integration
• Eliminates duplication of resources ( stations on both side of the border ) to Single Interchange Points
• Promotes the shift from Joint inspections to Single Inspections using the same Inspection Manual-same standard
• Maintaining of unit loads until destination unless a wagon/s develops technical problems and has to be uncoupled
• Reduction in delays at interchange point due to set standard dwell times at each interchange point.
• Adherence to set benchmarks for keeping trains in motion improves transit times and utilization of resources (e.g. trains to cover 500km per day, at least)
• Allows for the formation of multidisciplinary CMGs who will deal with problems on the ground
• Resource sharing i.e. working locomotives across borders
• Coordination of activities along corridors is made easier as well as feedback to the clients on the whereabouts of their cargo.
• It is possible to Market the corridor and increase the market share of rail along the same – bearing in mind that road runs parallel to rail in most routes
• It is possible to carry out surveys to ascertain the market potential along corridors and to identify rail friendly cargo
• Elimination/reduction of bottlenecks can be coordinated along the corridor.
• Reduction transit times by so doing reduce the wagon
turnaround time ( improve wagon productivity).
• It is possible to produce and work to International Train Schedules agreed to by all key role players along the corridor
• It is possible to record the performance of the trains against the schedule and deal with deviations immediately
• Provides a framework for reporting on the business along corridors and devising retention strategies for existing as well as attracting new business.
• Allows for data collection and submission to SARA according to the SARA format to facilitate reporting to the SADC Ministers of Transport on the implementation of the Transport Protocol
• Allows for coordinated communication (feedback) to the customers concerning the whereabouts of their cargo.
• Provides a framework for the reduction in operating cost along corridors thereby enabling railways to compete against road price wise and service quality.
5.4 Benefits of the Corridor Concept
o Retention of existing business
o Attracting new business, hence increasing market share
o Reduced operating costs hence the making of profit
o Increased wagon utilization/productivity arising from reduced turnaround time
o Increased locomotive utilization through the sharing of motive power ( cross border working)
o Satisfied customers who are kept informed about the status of their cargo, thus willing to give more business to the railways
o Proving to Governments and Private Investors that supporting the railways through infrastructure and equipment investment is worthwhile because of the economic return to Governments and return on investment to private investors
o Contributing towards making exporters and importers in the region competitive in the global market by lowering the cost of logistics and transport
o To be recognized as the transport mode of choice in the region than being marginalized as a last resort mode of transport.
