Saldanha-Sishen line, Transnet Freight Rail’s

(Based on a Transnet article)
The Saldanha-Sishen line, Transnet Freight Rail’s (TFR) export iron ore corridor, forms the backbone of the company’s growth strategy.
The potential of Saldanha Bay as a deep sea port lay dormant until 1969, when feasibility studies recognised it as the perfect setting for launching South African iron ore onto the world market.
Construction of the 861km line started on 1 June 1973 and was completed with the arrival of the first ore train in Saldanha Bay on 14 May 1976. It came to be known as “The Orex Line,” Orex being a strategic business unit of TFR, then known as Spoornet.
The operation continued to break new ground in positioning TFR as a business leader and icon in the heavy-haul and rail transportation industries, locally and abroad.

THE MILESTONES
• 1 June 1973 – Construction begins
• 14 May 1976 – First iron ore from Sishen arrives at Saldanha
• 27 September 1976 – First export consignment leaves Saldanha on the “Fern Sea”
• April 1978 – Sishen-Saldanha line taken over by South African Railways and Harbours
• 15 November 1978 – First train with Beeshoek (near Postmasburg) ore arrives in Saldanha
• 1979/80 – More than 18 million tons of ore exported in a single year
• January 1980 – First metal concentrate from Aggeneys arrives in Saldanha
• 30 October 1984 – The 100 millionth ton of iron ore is exported
• July1988 – The largest single consignment of ore (293,280t) is loaded
• 26 August 1989 – A once-off, record-breaking “monster train” over 7km in length is entered in the Guinness Book of Records
• 1992 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 200 million ton level
• 1994/95 – More than 20 million tons of iron ore exported in a single financial year
• 1995/96 – 22,259 million tons of iron ore exported in a single financial year
• November 1996 – the Sishen-Saldanha line becomes Orex, a strategic business unit of Spoornet
• 20 February 1998 – Amalgamated ISO listing is awarded
• 1998 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 300 million ton level
• September 1999 – Gold Award from the National Productivity Institute (NPI) to business partners Orex, Portnet Saldanha and Iscor for outstanding achievement in productivity improvement
• 2001 – The iron ore export channel celebrates its 25th anniversary
• 2001 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 400 million ton level
• October 2002 – Winner of the Annual Logistics Achiever Awards for the M-ORE (capacity expansion) project
• 22 February 2004 – The highest tonnage throughput for one week is recorded at 585,012 tons
• August 2004 – Radio Distributed Power (RDP) in proof-of-concept tests and radio receptivity tests by means of voice-controlled distributed power (DP) train
• 2005 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 500 million ton level
• August 2005 – Voice-controlled DP test train in both directions, introducing different train compilation to 2004 test
• August 2006 – Locotrol RDP equipment tested on train consists of 5×9E and 3xDE and a single train driver
• August 2007 – RDP test train to verify parameters, witnessed by Railway Safety Regulator
• 17 December 2007 – First ever 342 wagon RDP production train departs from Sishen
• May 2008 – New iron ore mine at Khumani starts railing ore
• 2008 – Total ore exported since start-up reaches the 600 million ton level
• 5 July 2009 – New weekly throughput record of 899,592 tons in a single week achieved
• 6 July 2009 – 1,000th loaded RDP train arrives in Saldanha
• 12 July 2009 – Highest ever weekly throughput of 919,000 tons in a single week
• 19 July 2009 – Highest ever weekly throughput of 932,000 tons in a single week
• 26 July 2009 – Highest ever weekly throughput of 955,800 tons in a single week. First time ever that actual production matches planned production 100%. (Normally the line operates at 95% efficacy).
• 10 August 2009 – One billionth gross ton traverses the iron ore line

Story from http://www.railwaysafrica.com

News sponsored by West Coast Office National