The 68km railway, operated by Transnet, will connect the province's coal mines to Eskom's Majuba power station, a Sapa correspondent reported on Monday (30 September).
"Civil construction and earthworks for the development will be completed by the end of October this year. The line will be able to carry the first coal-loaded train by May 2016," Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger said.
The project was expected to yield lower life-cycle transportation costs, improve coal-delivery turnaround times, and enable Majuba to access more coal than is currently the case.
Mpumalanga residents have been up in arms over the number of coal trucks destroying town roads, but Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza has assured them that the new railway will alleviate this problem.
During his 2013 state of the province address, Mabuza said numerous social and economic benefits would be associated with the project.
The mining town of Ermelo has been the most heavily affected with three national roads, the N11, N2, and N17 passing through the town. The N11 carries about 1,000 trucks a day.
The Majuba railway has been designed to transport 14m tons of coal yearly from the Goedgevonden, Vlakvarkfontein, Exxaro, Middelkraal, Kuyasa, and Shanduka mines.
The project received a R3bn loan from the World Bank and Eskom financed the balance.
Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge
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