South Africa's Transnet approves 11 private operators for freight rail access

South Africa's state-owned freight rail and logistics company, Transnet, announced on May 13 that it had approved 11 private operators to gain access to the country's freight railway network, marking a key step in the government's efforts to revive rail freight volumes and boost commodity exports such as coal and manganese.

According to the company's announcement, the approved operators will be allowed to run services across five strategic rail corridors handling key export commodities including coal, manganese, containers, fuel and general freight. Among the corridors involved in the reform, the Coal Export Line remains the most strategically important. The 580-km railway