The Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), concessionaire of the Port of Maputo, and the company Portos e Caminhos-de-Ferro de Moçambique (CFM) launched Rail2Port this Thursday, 9 May, in Maputo – a system that integrates the two companies in the handling of rail mining cargo from South Africa to the Port of Maputo.
According to the news portal Carta de Moçambique, the system has already been implemented by the two companies since last March. The solution allows complete visibility of rail cargo transported by CFM trains to the Port of Maputo, guaranteeing reliable data, more efficient joint planning and better allocation of resources.
During the 8th Maputo Port Conference, the Chairman of the Board of CFM, Agostinho Langa Júnior, said that the rail-port integration is proof of the joint commitment between the two companies to offer a variety of logistics solutions to customers.
The website explains that the solution will soon be expanded to the entire railway system in the southern part of the country, with plans to integrate with Transnet – the South African railway company with which CFM is already in negotiations. The project came about as a response to a challenge that both companies were facing in the management of railway operations, namely in predicting the arrival of trains, response times and the real monitoring of operations.
Before the interconnection system went live, the process was based on voice information, which caused several problems, including delays in the process and a lack of record of what had happened. MPDC contributed to the development of the participation solution from the embryonic phase of the project, the technical specification phase and the joint development phase of the solution.
MPDC
Carta de Moçambique details that the system allows MPDC and the CFM company to exchange data in real time, namely supply orders, train manoeuvring times and monitoring the progress of unloading at the Port of Maputo. The solution also allows trains to be tracked along the corridor and the time of arrival and departure from one station to another.
For MPDC’s executive director, Osório Lucas, the launch of this solution goes far beyond a digital platform, as it reflects a commitment to a joint vision between the two institutions, totally focused on the continuous improvement of customer service.
Osório Lucas – executive director of MPDC
‘Digital integration is not an option. It’s a reality and must be accelerated. We have to reinforce a symbiotic vision of the logistics system (there is a relationship of dependence). The success of the corridor depends on an integrated vision and the two governments are working towards border integration.’
Osório Lucas
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, said he hoped the system would improve the ratio of road to rail freight, significantly increasing the efficiency of the corridor and reducing environmental impacts.
Mateus Magala – ministro dos Transportes e Comunicações
In this sense, he stressed that it was encouraging to see the ongoing efforts to improve this integration, with the CFM company and MPDC working in symbiosis in favour of the corridor’s sustainable growth.
‘It is our ambition that the volume of cargo transported on our railway system will grow to over 60 per cent of the total mineral cargo that is transported through the Port of Maputo. That’s why we’re challenging all those involved in the logistics chain, especially Portos e Caminhos-de-Ferro de Moçambique and MPDC, to achieve this goal over the next three years.’
Mateus Magala
Speaking in front of more than a hundred people, most of them logistics operators, the minister said he hoped that the recent consultancy study assessing trade and transport facilitation in the Maputo Corridor, funded by the African Development Bank, would provide a comprehensive view of existing bottlenecks and opportunities for improving efficiency at all points along the corridor.
