After 20 years of service, Cambridge’s CX container terminal has been shut down as dwindling volumes have rendered it unprofitable.
All container trains have been rerouted to East London port, where the containers are off-loaded by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), in a move that Transnet officials say will increase efficiency. But the change has already angered some clients, who claim all door-to-door container deliveries will be discontinued by month-end.
Transnet Freight Rail’s spokesperson, Mike Asefovitz, said their container service for East London was transferred to Port Terminals in October last year. “There has been a decline in volumes, and the cost of running the terminal was exceeding the income generated. There is also no growth of rail volumes projected,” he said.
To continue rendering a rail service to its 18 existing customers, Transnet would handle the rail volumes in East London port, Asefovitz said. “Containers are offloaded from rail by Port Terminals in East London port. Existing customers are not affected by the closing down of Cambridge terminal, as the rail service has not been discontinued.”
The Cambridge train depot will continue operating as the city’s main train shunting yard.
An East London warehouse manager and Transnet client, Frik Harmse, said he was told that containers would no longer be delivered on their doorstep from April 1. “We will have to transport the containers from the port ourselves, which is very costly. It will be easier to send our goods from Johannesburg by road,” he said.
But Asefovitz said that the door-to-door service would continue from the port.
TPT East London’s business unit manager, Robert van Rooyen, said CX containers represented less than 0.1% of the annual container volumes handled by the terminal.
“Indications we have received from Transnet Freight Rail is that they don’t expect the CX container volumes to increase. We would therefore not be increasing terminal capacity for CX container volumes, seeing as the volumes handled are small in relation to our key container exports and imports,” he said.
All container trains have been rerouted to East London port, where the containers are off-loaded by Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), in a move that Transnet officials say will increase efficiency. But the change has already angered some clients, who claim all door-to-door container deliveries will be discontinued by month-end.
Transnet Freight Rail’s spokesperson, Mike Asefovitz, said their container service for East London was transferred to Port Terminals in October last year. “There has been a decline in volumes, and the cost of running the terminal was exceeding the income generated. There is also no growth of rail volumes projected,” he said.
To continue rendering a rail service to its 18 existing customers, Transnet would handle the rail volumes in East London port, Asefovitz said. “Containers are offloaded from rail by Port Terminals in East London port. Existing customers are not affected by the closing down of Cambridge terminal, as the rail service has not been discontinued.”
The Cambridge train depot will continue operating as the city’s main train shunting yard.
An East London warehouse manager and Transnet client, Frik Harmse, said he was told that containers would no longer be delivered on their doorstep from April 1. “We will have to transport the containers from the port ourselves, which is very costly. It will be easier to send our goods from Johannesburg by road,” he said.
But Asefovitz said that the door-to-door service would continue from the port.
TPT East London’s business unit manager, Robert van Rooyen, said CX containers represented less than 0.1% of the annual container volumes handled by the terminal.
“Indications we have received from Transnet Freight Rail is that they don’t expect the CX container volumes to increase. We would therefore not be increasing terminal capacity for CX container volumes, seeing as the volumes handled are small in relation to our key container exports and imports,” he said.