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Durban-Kelso-Port Shepstone-Simuma Secondary Main LineThe South Coast line was opened to develop the lower South
Coast for agricultural purposes since large-scale
sugarcane cultivation had been established well before
1900.
The first section from Rossburgh to Isipingo was opened in
1880. This was extended to Park Rynie in 1897 and Port
Shepstone in 1908. There were several sugar mills along
the coast, and both sugarcane and refined sugar were
traffic generators.
After World War 2, two pulp mills were opened at Montclair
and Umkomaas respectively. The Umbogintwini industrial
complex grew to become a major chemical production
facility, and rail traffic seemed secure. During the
1970s
the large limestone deposit at Simuma was exploited, and a
15 km branch line was constructed along the Umzimkulu
River to the
quarry area. It was planned to rail some 600,000 tons
per annum
of cement clinker (clinker limestone) to
the Mount Vernon cement factory in Durban.
However, traffic has declined dramatically on this
line in recent years as road deliveries of pulpwood, coal
and lime products have increased. The sugar mill at Sezela
has, for example, a molasses loadIing facility for rail
but all this traffic is currently on road. A fuel depot at
Port Shepstone was closed and removed over 10 years ago,
and all liquid fuel deliveries to the lower South Coast
and the adjoining interior and Pondoland are now on road.
Only the cement clinker traffic from Simuma has kept the
line going beyond Umkomaas. With the exception of one
customer, all bulk and bagged lime from the Simuma factory
is now on road. Pulpwood and other traffic which was
hauled by the privately operated Port Shepstone-Harding
branch is now on road.
There is a small volume of river sand traffic originating
at Park Rynie and destined largely for a company at
Underberg. The large pulpwood mill at Umkomaas only
received about 450,000 tons of pulpwood by rail during
2005/2006, of which over 300,000 tons were railed
from
Kwambonambi in Zululand. The other mill at Merebank
brought in a mere 30,000 tons of pulpwood by rail, less
than 10% of requirements.
Even the Umbogintwini industrial site has seen rail
traffic diminish, with less than 150,000 tons received and
forwarded – down by over 75% in 20 years. One
possible
rail
prospect is at Simuma where a new cement plant is being
constructed. The intention, however, is to transport the
bagged product by road to the Eastern Cape, but there is
still a possibility that some traffic could go to rail.
There is potential to regain bulk and bagged lime traffic
to rail, and to increase pulpwood volumes to the mills,
but it
is unlikely that any trends will appear for a number of
years. The section to Kelso is shared with Metrorail for
suburban passenger traffic. InfrastructureThe line is double track from Durban (Clairwood) but is
single track beyond Umbogintwini. It is electrified at 3
kV DS, and has a permissible wagon axle-load of 20 tons.
CTC signalling is used to Sezela, but beyond there
control is by Radio.
There are no major yards on the route, although exchange
yards are located at Umbogintwini and Umkomaas. Loading of
lime products takes place at Port Shepstone at South Wharf
along the Umzimkulu River, while there is a small yard at
Simuma itself. Since closure of the narrow-gauge line to
Harding and the liquid fuel depot at Port Shepstone, yard
requirements have diminished markedly.
The entire line was rebuilt in the 1940s and
1950s, and
concrete bridges replaced the old cast-iron ‘screw-
pile’
bridges dating from the original opening. Unfortunately,
there has been serious corrosion because of the salt air
and, while remedial work has been done in recent years,
large-scale replacement may be necessary in the future. For Details of
Volumes and Commodities Received
and Forwarded [Table 3]CLICK HERE
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