Great journalism, like we get particularly in this newspaper, is the art of explanation.
As readers, we need to be told what’s happening, what it means and why we should care.
Last Friday, the digital data media startup, The Outlier (disclaimer: the founders are former colleagues), published a fascinating chart showing the differential between freight that is transported by rail and cargo shipped by road.
It’s 6:1, the wrong way round: for every ton of freight that goes by rail, six tons go by truck. It’s a horrific statistic.
Running huge behemoths up and down our main arterial routes degrades the road networks faster than they can be repaired.
But potholes and crumbling verges are the least of our worries.
The congestion – and the dangerous driving that follows as normal motorists get frustrated and start driving recklessly to pass them – are even worse.
In 2023, according to the report, there were two collisions involving trucks every single day.
But, just as alarming, has been the precipitous decline in freight by rail and its replacement on the road.
ALSO READ: Port of Gauteng aims to revitalise rail, remove 30% of trucks from the N3
The trucks have become an embedded part of our transport make up, just as minibus taxis have supplanted and even throttled public bus services.
Rea Vaya in Johannesburg and Metrobus have tried valiantly to stem the tide and provide alternative – and cheaper – options, but it is an uphill battle.
Freight should be an easier option to address, it’s all aggregated under Transnet; road, rail and harbours – even air.
There are some green shoots in this area, but more needs to be done.
There can be no reason why it makes any kind of sense to truck mineral ore by road and not by rail – indeed there’s a compelling reason for the safety of road users to get those manganese and coal trucks off our roads.
It’s not just freight than can move by rail, but people as well, getting to and from work and leaving the cities on high days and holidays to see family and friends.
By every metric, whether decarbonising the environment or decongesting and unlocking our economy, there can be no argument against rail.
It’s proven to be efficient and effective – and it was, too, in SA once, when the network expanded from Cape Town and Johannesburg across the entire country and right up into Africa.
It’s time to make rail great again.
NOW READ: Time for Eskom and Transnet to get their act together to grow economy
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