11 out of the 25 private train operating companies (TOCs) that had expressed interest in operating routes on Transnet’s rail network have met the requirements.
by Blue Africa News
South Africa’s rail, port and pipeline company Transnet’s monopoly over the country’s freight rail network is coming to an end, transport minister Barbara Creecy has announced.
In a major policy shift, the minister announced that 11 out of the 25 private train operating companies (TOCs) that had expressed interest in operating routes on Transnet’s rail network have met the requirements.
The companies, she said, will now enter into contract negotiations to enable them to gain access to the network and begin operating the routes.
“Today’s announcement is not just about the allocation of rail slots, it is a step toward a future where our railways drive economic growth, job creation and sustainability,” she said during a press conference on August 22, 2025.
Names of the TOCs alongside details of their routes and the commodities that would be transported will be released to the public, once the negotiations are finalized.
The application process for a total of 41 routes across six corridors opened in December 2024 and closed in February, 2025, followed by a stringent evaluation process.
North, Iron Ore, Cape, Northeast, Central and Container corridors were among the 41 routes, with the operators now expected to gain access, serving vital commodities like coal, chrome, manganese, iron ore, fuel, containers and sugar among others.
Allocations will span 1 to 10 years, whereby the private operators are projected to handle an additional 20 million tonnes of freight annually beginning with the 2026-27 financial year, bringing South Africa closer to its 250 million-tonnes rail freight target by 2029.
Sector players have welcomed the opening up of South Africa’s rail network, terming it the right “injection” in unlocking the nation’s rail and port blockages.
“Historically Transnet has been the sole monopoly player in the rail sector purely because it uses state infrastructure; from ports and also the rail line, power line and so on. What has happened is that in the recent past, there has been a congestion of goods being moved by road as opposed to rail on account of rail inefficiency,” said Refilwe Monageng, CEO, Black Entrepreneurs Alliance in a live televised interview on ENCA News.
“By 2029, we could be exporting 250 million more tonnes of coal. With management and efficiency, we can unlock a load of things,” he added.
Under the National Rail Policy (2022), South Africa is seeking to make rail an affordable, competitive, effective, integrated, reliable, safe, sustainable and valued transport mode that provides the backbone of the country’s freight logistics and passenger mobility systems, and strengthens its economic growth and social development by 2050.
Oliver Ochieng, Blue Africa News