Latest Media Releases
2006
Spoornet's Response to Charter Trains
Shosholoza Meyl, the long-distance passenger service business unit of Spoornet, has come under fire recently by members of the charter train industry who have falsely accused the company of using the shortage of locomotives, over which they have no jurisdiction, to gain an unfair advantage over rail charter operators. Spoornet responds:
Shosholoza Meyl does not own or distribute any locomotives. Shosholoza Meyl is allocated locomotives by Spoornet Operations. Spoornet, however, is not always able to rail available freight because of the severe shortage of locomotives as well as slots to rail this cargo. Consequently, Spoornet gave notice to Shosholoza Meyl that it would no longer be able to guarantee the availability of locomotives, slots and crew for ad hoc (Charter) operations.
While it is true that Shosholoza Meyl has recently launched its Premier Classe product, it is not true that this product is aimed at overseas tourists, as has been suggested by several charter operators. The mandate of Shosholoza Meyl is within the borders of the Republic and its target market is the South African middle-to-upper income group, which otherwise use airlines to travel to Cape Town.
It must be emphasised that none of the charter operators has any contract with Shosholoza Meyl / Spoornet regarding the provision of slots and locomotives. All contracts are entered into, subject to locomotive and slot availability, on an ad hoc basis. Nonetheless, Spoornet has undertaken to assist both Shosholoza Meyl and the private tour operators with slots and locomotive capacity. Spoornet has never said that it will no longer supply these, but rather that due to the unavailability of reliable locomotives, it cannot guarantee to the charter industry that these would be available on demand.
Spoornet has recently convened meetings with the entire industry to explain the dilemma and has committed itself to providing traction and slots as far as possible within the given constraints.
For further enquiries, contact:
Molatwane Likhethe
Spoornet's Spokesperson
083 300 9586.
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