South African power utility Eskom has increased the amount of coal it receives by rail by 8.5% over the past year, surpassing its annual target. As part of the government's policy of switching more freight from road to rail, Eskom set a goal of 11.5 Mtpa of its coal feedstock being delivered to power plants in 2014-15, but actually received 12.59 Mt. The company is confident that it can beat that figure this year because the 2014-15 performance was affected by the collapse of the coal silo at Majuba and a number of tippler and conveyer belt breakdowns. It has set a goal of 13.6 Mt to be carried by rail in 2015-16. The process of switching coal from road to rail should speed up considerably over the next few years as a result of infrastructure investments. In a statement, Eskom revealed: "The construction of the Majuba heavy haul railway line is progressing according to schedule. Once completed in 2017, this dedicated line will transport 14 Mtpa of coal from Ermelo to Majuba." In addition, it has asked Transnet Freight Rail to install a tippler system at Tutuka power plant. These measures should increase the power parastatal's coal receipts by rail to 32 Mtpa by 2018.
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