Traxtion’s significant capital expenditure investment in its operations has allowed one of Africa’s largest private freight rail companies to continue its growth onto the continent, expand its fleet and extend its state-of-the-art Rail Services Hub in Rosslyn outside Pretoria.
Celebrating their 37th year of operations this month, Traxtion CEO James Holley said changes in the rail sector, including rail reform in the SADC region, have enabled the company to take up opportunities not previously available to private operators.
“We continue to invest a significant amount of CapEx into growth and continuing to grow our fleet of trains that we operate in Africa. We are also always looking to enter new jurisdictions and expand our operating footprint. As South Africa opens the rail industry to private operators, we are developing business cases and looking at the mechanisms by which we can invest into significant additional train capacity for South Africa in the future.”
Holley said that the past year has seen Traxtion grow its fleet by 10 locomotives with the acquisition of four GT22 locomotives, and the completion of four U20C locomotives and two GT26 locomotives. Another six locomotives are in active refurbishment and will be operational in 2025.
Traxtion has just completed signing agreements for entry into another two African countries and is continuing to extend its footprint across the continent.
“We have invested significantly into our technologies and the systems we have implemented to improve efficiency in the business. We have digitised our maintenance systems across all the sites in the business, and we have completed a new parts store at the Rail Services Hub where we will have one central store for all the parts we have in Rosslyn and the parts we distribute across all our sites,” he said.
The Rail Services Hub is the heart of the Traxtion operation. The completion of the additional 2,500 sqm facility which will house our parts store also marks the end of the planned expansion capital expenditure.
This year Traxtion has also taken in the biggest number of apprentices into their diesel electrical fitter apprenticeship programme in anticipation of future growth and expanding the skills pool in the rail industry.
“The Rail Services Hub means that we can do the highest quality interventions possible on the locomotives, which means that when we release the locomotives into service, we are releasing assets that have everything in their favour for successful operations out in the field.
“Having the right technicians, the right processes and procedures, the right facilities to maintain the locomotives and having outstanding people are fundamentally important, but the first step is starting with the right quality assets and that’s what Rosslyn achieves for us,” Holley said.
Holley said the changes in the rail sector have allowed Traxtion to respond to the opportunities by pivoting and growing the business offerings.
Those opportunities increase because companies like Traxtion are delivering out in the field. “The more we succeed, the more governments recognise the benefits of opening the rail systems to private trains, paying access fees, generating additional revenue into the rail sector, moving more tonnes and stimulating the upstream economy.
“That success becomes self-fulfilling. The way in which we can operate our trains has changed significantly – as we celebrate 37 years in business there is a much bigger opportunity set today than there was in the past.”