Coal Train Heading For Disaster

While the debate around coal production remains sensitive, revamping the Overvaal tunnel on the coal line in Mpumalanga can no longer be ignored. It’s in bad shape and a rebuild is not just an issue of ensuring a reliable transport route – it’s about preventing a potential collapse in infrastructure.

- David McKay

Safety concerns about a passage of the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) line operating near Ermelo in Mpumalanga province look like it may trump the morality of producing more coal in the country.

Speaking at a recent conference in Johannesburg, Exxaro Resources’ general manager for coal, Nombasa Tsengwa, said there was an urgent need to expand the Overvaal tunnel – if only because the project would avoid a potential collapse of the infrastructure.

Until recently, the primary reason for expanding the Overvaal tunnel to two rail lines from the current one was in order to maximize coal railings to Richards Bay, some 850km away in KwaZulu-Natal.