The railway companies of Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland and the Maputo Port Development Company have agreed to set out measures to improve coordination of rolling stock on their respective railways, Mozambican daily newspaper Notícias reported.

The newspaper said that according to the memorandum of understanding signed a few days ago by Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique, South Africa’s Transnet Freight Rail, Swaziland Railway and the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) a Joint Operation Centre will be set up to integrate and manage cargo flows and optimisation of the of the performance of the rail and port system along the Maputo corridor.

Projections included in the MPDC’s strategic plan show that by 2016 the port of Maputo is expected to process 40 million tons of miscellaneous cargo, as compared to an estimated 12 million tons by the end of this year.

In a statement the MPDC, which manages the port, said that cargo growth projections for the next few years were in line with growth trends for the next few years for business between the countries as well as other factors.

In its statement the MPDC noted the need to move cargo off the country’ roads onto its railways as a way of achieving the necessary productivity of the railway lines and reduce congestion in accessing the port of Maputo, where 600 trucks arrive every day. (macauhub)