BY MTHANDAZO NYONI

In a statement yesterday, NRZ public relations manager Nyasha Maravanyika said the rehabilitation of the line was a result of the collaboration between the parastatal, the government and the European Union which provided the bulk of the funding under the National Sugar Adaptation Trust through Canelands Trust, an organisation that supports outgrower sugarcane farmers in the Lowveld Tongaat Hullet estates.

He said work to rehabilitate the old track, made of rail manufactured between 1930 and 1956, started in 2013 and was done in two phases.

“The refurbishment exercise saw an upgrading of the track from 30kg/metre track to a heavier 40kg/metre track and the replacement of steel sleepers with 34 000 concrete sleepers,” he said.

The old line was designed to carry light loads using light locomotives.

However, Maravanyika said cognisant of the need to move greater tonnages of sugarcane from the fields to mills, the NRZ allowed the use of heavier locomotives which could only travel at restricted speeds and this resulted in increased maintenance costs on the line.

“The refurbishment was also necessitated by the need to cater for an anticipated increase in sugar production in the area,” the statement read.

“The completion of the rehabilitation project means that heavier locomotives capable of moving increased volumes will now haul sugar without speed restrictions, reducing reliance on costly road transport.”

Maravanyika said the EU provided a grant of $7,495 million for materials, while the NRZ provided technical expertise. He said more than 100 jobs were created for community members.

He said the new line, which will be commissioned on Wednesday, will also benefit newly-resettled sugarcane farmers in Mkwasine.

In the 2014/16 sugar season, the farmers produced 1,4 million tonnes of sugarcane, of which 740 000 tonnes were moved by rail.

The NRZ is embarking on a $400 million recapitalisation exercise which will see investment in track rehabilitation, acquisition of locomotives, wagons and information communication technology to enable the parastatal to increase freight volumes.