RRA

Intermodal transport has become a major growth industry during the last 40 years and has led to a reduction in transport costs and improved logistics worldwide. Intermodalism is not a new concept, but in it’s refined form, generally utilising international standard containers, it first revolutionised the transport interface between the marine and overland modes.

More recently, intermodal systems have been widely applied between the rail and road modes, to the benefit of both.

• In Southern Africa there has been increased modal competition – not co-operation. The region’s rail and road infrastructures have deteriorated at a time when efficient and cost-effective transport is required to maintain South Africa’s competitive international market position.

“Seventy percent of South Africa’s roads are in need of R 65 billion for repairs according to a recent Automobile Association report”, said the Star in a newspaper article by Anna Cox during February 2001. Another shocking paper presented to Dullah Omar by the AA was on overloading.

Newspaper and television reports have highlighted the fact that South Africa’s road infrastructure has deteriorated alarmingly in recent years.

This has come about because of underfunding of road maintenance, overloading of heavy vehicles, and increased volumes of road freight vehicles. Also to be considered, is that much of South Africa’s rail system is under utilised and considered by many to be outmoded. But the issue of road or rail degradation must not be considered in isolation, since the two are related and this relationship must be better understood.

Photo: Craig Dean

Competition between road and rail transport has become a major issue during the past 50 years, particularly since South Africa’s road system was expanded and improved after World War Two. The development of modern road vehicles, and in particular, large truck-tractor and trailer combinations, has brought the rail mode into disfavour by many transport users who require ever-faster services and often rely on just-in-time delivery principles to keep warehouse stocks low and minimize cash up-front interest charges.

Photo: Craig Dean

Transport has been said to be second only to education in terms of the “multiplier effect” on investment return. But modern transportation systems create hidden costs not always identified or readily understood by political and investment role players, or the public at large. The cost of road accidents, aerial pollution, noise and traffic congestion are but a few of the costs.

Photo: Craig Dean

But transport is far more important than mere turnover statistics. It is almost universally accepted that transport has played a predominant role in the economic development of all modern civilizations. Production and consumption on the scale and tempo of today would be inconceivable without a well-developed and operated transport system forming a vital link in supply chain management logistics.

Photo: Craig Dean

Passenger transport issues can be analysed as two distinct but related sectors. The first relates to long distance passenger transport and the second, to urban transport issues.

For long distance passenger travel, rail was the norm until the mid 20th century, by which time air travel and the improvement of roads led the move away from the rail travel. In the urban sector, railway streetcar and tram services were on the decline in the USA as early as the 1920’s as the motor car came into more general use.

These trends followed in South Africa, albeit some 20 to 30 years later. But the magnitude of the changes have been unexpected and staggering. Planners were caught unprepared but they can learn from the experience of other countries and cities in particular.

Photo: Craig Dean

South Africa has a rail and road infrastructure which is the envy of Africa.

While South Africa’s population is only 5% of the continent’s, and in size it occupies but 3.6% of the total, it has 32% of total railway route kilometres, which handle 61% of the total rail tonnage of the continent. On the road side, South Africa has 15% of sub-Saharan roads. Of this total, about 30% (over 55 000 km) of roads are paved, or about 28% of the sub-Saharan total. Of about 2 200 motorway kilometres in sub-Saharan Africa, over 1 800 km, or 82%, are in South Africa.Severe cutbacks in road maintenance funding in recent years has resulted in many tarred rural roads being returned to gravel surfacing. This is a matter of grave public concern.