Transnet Freight Rail

Railways were first developed in the area surrounding Cape Town and later in Durban around the 1840s. The first line opened in Durban on 27 June 1850. The initial network was created to serve the agricultural production area between Cape Town and Wellington. The news that there were gold deposits in the Transvaal Republic moved the Cape Colony Government (supported by British Government) to link Kimberley as soon as possible by rail to Cape Town as part of the colonial dream.

The Central South African Railways (CSAR) was from 1902 to 1910 the operator of public railways in the Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony in what is now South Africa. During the Anglo-Boer War, as British forces moved into the territory of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic, the Orange Free State Government Railways, the Netherlands-South African Railway Company and the Pretoria-Pietersburg Railway were taken over by the Imperial Military Railways under Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Girouard. After the war had ended, the Imperial Military Railways became the Central South African Railways in July 1902, with Thomas Rees Price as general manager. With the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the CSAR was merged with the Cape Government Railways and the Natal Government Railways to form the South African Railways, which is now Transnet Freight Rail.

As part of a project to reform the rail freight sector, Transnet's rail infrastructure manager responsibilities were separated from Transnet Freight Rail and placed under the control of Transnet Rail Infrastructure Manager (TIMM). TIMM signed operating agreements in May 2026 with 11 private sector companies to access the national rail network. The selected operators are ARC South Africa, Barberry, Grindrod Rail, Interlinks, IRACEMA, Menar Ports & Rail, Minrail, Motheo Logistics, The Railway Corporation, Sharp Logistics and TLD Marine.

Operations

Transnet Freight Rail is a freight logistics and passenger transport railway. It is the largest freight hauler in Africa. The company comprises several businesses:

GFB Commercial (General Freight Business) – Transnet's largest division; handles over 50% of its freight;

Coal Line, serving coal exporters on the Mpumalanga – Richards Bay line; second largest coal railway in the world, delivering 62 million tonnes of coal (also known as "Black Gold") in the year ending on 31 March 2010;

Ore Export Line – dedicated to iron ore transport on the Sishen to Saldanha line;