CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s state-owned transport and logistics company has completed a test run involving what it says is the world’s longest freight train.
Transnet said the train stretched 7.6 kilometers (4.7 miles) and included 696 freight wagons.
To move the massive convoy, electric and diesel locomotives were stationed at different points along its length.
The train traveled 860 kilometers (534 miles) over two days, leaving Saldanha Bay on South Africa’s west coast and heading to an iron ore mine inland on Oct. 18, Transnet said. The wagons made the journey without cargo.
Russell Baatjies, chief executive of Transnet Freight Rail, described the operation as a learning exercise designed to strengthen the country’s ability to move minerals and other freight across long distances.
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Most freight trains measure between half a mile and 1.5 miles, depending on the country. South Africa and Australia, however, are known for running some of the longest trains in the world across vast rail networks.
Transnet said the South African test surpassed the previous record, set by a 7.24-kilometer (4.5-mile) train that carried iron ore from a mine to a port in Western Australia in 2001.
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