Railway Stations Aliwal North (Dreunberg – Sannasport line) Situated on the Druenberg – Sannaspos inter-provincial secondary route, linking the Eastern Cape with the Free State. Aliwal North is 53 km from Dreunberg and the starting point for the currently disused Barkly East branch. There is a large mill that brought in over 40 000 tons of grain during the 2005 – 2006 review period, the only traffic on the line. Assegaibos On the Avontuur narrow-gauge branch, 164 km from Humewood Road (Port Elizabeth). A loading point for forestry product traffic, ranging from pulpwood to creosote poles. During 2005 – 2006, 1 747 of traffic was generated, very much down from previous years. Burgersdorp Situated 359 km from East London. There is a company which received about 222 tons of salt from the northern Cape during 2005 - 2006 Butterworth Located 125 from Amabele on the Mthatha branch. A number of textile companies and a liquid fuel distribution company received rail traffic in the past but this was all transferred to road when the line was closed. It is the desire of the new Kei Rail company to develop rail business in the industrial area in the future. Cookhouse Situated 198 km from Port Elizabeth on the Noupoort main line. Junction of the now closed branch to Somerset East, there is one rail user who received a small volume of animal feed during the 2005 – 2006 review period. Cradock A former locomotive depot during steam operations, there is an important branch to a ballast quarry. In addition, wool is loaded at the station freight facility. During 2005 – 2006, 341 tons was loaded and railed to a user in Port Elizabeth. Photo: Main line train passing rake of ballast wagons at Cradock station.
Grahamstown Located 56 km from Alicedale on the 126 km Port Alfred branch. The section to Port Alfred has been closed to traffic, although a tourist train operates from Port Shepstone to Bathurst, a distance of 15 km. A weekly passenger train is operated by the municipality, connecting with a mainline train but there is no freight traffic. In the past, kaolin was loaded from a nearby quarry and it is possible that this traffic could return to rail in the future. Grassridge The loading point for limestone traffic to the cement factory at New Brighton in Port Elizabeth. Situated 26 km along the main line from New Brighton, a shuttle service is operated three times a day, each train having a load of 10 wagons. During 2005 – 2006 over 350 000 tons of limestone was transported to the factory. In the past, this limestone was sourced in the Patentie area, from a quarry near Loerie. It was railed on the Avontuur narrow gauge line to a junction of the cement company’s own narrow gauge line from where it continued to the factory. This operation ceased in 2004. Hermitige Situated 5 km from Addo on the 34 km Kirkwood branch, it is a loading point for domestic and export citrus fruit traffic. During 2005 – 2006,over 26 000 tons of fruit traffic was generated from Hermatage and nearby stations including Sunland. Of this, about 1 000 tons was for domestic processing in Deal Party, Port Elizabeth. King Williams Town King Williams Town is situated 20 km west of Blaney junction on the main line and 68 km from East London. One rail user received over 4 000 tons of caustic soda from Sasolburg during 2005 – 2006 and there are other industries that a future potential rail users. Kirkwood Terminus of the 34 km branch from Addo and 85 km from Port Elizabeth. There is an important citrus fruit packing warehouse at the station area which loaded over 32 000 tons of product during the 2005 – 2006 season. Of this, some 4 000 tons was for domestic processing at a Deal Party (Port Elizabeth) facility. Mount Stewart Situated 171 km from Swartkops on the 187 km section to Klipplaat. 21 724 tons of gypsum was loaded to rail during 2005 – 2006, all destined to the cement factory at New Brighton. Mthatha Terminus of the 282 km branch from Amabele and 358 km from East London. A number of private sidings were in use here in the past, including a liquid-fuel depot. Plans have been made to develop a forest product loading facility in the future, after the Kei Rail operation introduces a freight service. New Brighton A metro station, 8 km from Port Elizabeth and site of the main freight yard in Port Elizabeth. An industrial access line runs 9 km to Struandale and it serves the local cement production plant which is served by a second line running from the yard itself. The cement factory received over 350 000 tons of limestone from Grassridge, 26 km along the main line in 2005 – 2006. In addition, 21 724 tons of gypsum was received from Mount Stuart on the Klipplaat line. Nearly 50 000 tons of coal was received from Mpumalanga and Limpopo, while 97 592 tons of cement to supplement local production was received from Slurry, near Mafikeng. 4 017 tons of domomite was received from Langvlei in the Western Cape and 7 605 tons or iron ore (haematite) from Posmasburg. In terms of finished product, 880 tons of cement was railed to East London during the 2005 – 2006 review period but this varies depending on short-term supply and demand. Photo: Railway wagons at cement company plant
Patensie A citrus loading point and terminus of the branch from Gamtoos. During 2005 – 2006, nearly 9 000 tons of fruit was loaded for export but this has now ceased. It is uncertain as to whether this traffic will resume in the future. Patterson (Sandflats) Situated 64 km from Port Elizabeth, there is a grain silo near the station. During the 2005 – 2006 review period, over 4 000 tons of grain were received at the complex. Stutterheim A station, 93 km from East London and site of a former state forest product processing and production plant previously producing creosote poles. The facility is not currently operational but it is intact and could be resuscitated in the future. Swartkops Junction of the secondary arterial route to Klipplaat and 11 km from Port Elizabeth. A municipal power station is situated here and during 2005 – 2006, over 37 000 tons of coal was received from Mpumalanga Uitenhage Situated 23 km from Swartkops, junction with the Noupoort main line and 34 km from Port Elizabeth. The former goods shed area is now being used to load motor vehicles from the nearby production plant. During 2005 2006 over 25 000 motor vehicles (51 751 tons) were railed to Gauteng while a further 2 000 vehicles (3 242 tons) were sent to Bellville in the western Cape, while over 7 500 vehicles (13 915 tons) were received from Gauteng. An animal feed company has developed a grain receiving facility at the former locomotive shed near Uitenhage station. During 2005 – 2006 the company received over 7 500 tons of beans from various provinces and over 45 000 tons of grain. Photo: Loading motor vehicles
Photo: Grain off-loading facility at old Uitenhage loco shed
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