South Africa claims freight train record after 7.6-kilometer test
Transnet says 696 empty wagons completed an 860-kilometer journey, with electric and diesel locomotives distributed along the train.
South Africa’s state-owned transport company Transnet says it may have established a world record after testing a freight train measuring 7.6 kilometres, or 4.7 miles. The train completed its trial on October 18 with 696 wagons, all of them empty.
The journey covered 860 kilometres, starting at Saldanha Bay on South Africa’s west coast and ending at an inland iron ore mine. Both diesel and electric locomotives provided power, with engines placed at several points rather than only at the front.
Transnet claims the test surpassed a record established in Australia in 2001. That train measured 4.5 miles and ran between a Western Australian iron ore mine and a port.
Freight trains typically measure between half a mile and one-and-a-half miles, substantially shorter than the train used in the South African test.
