South Africa Claims World’s Longest Freight Train at 7.6 Km

South Africa’s state-owned freight operator, Transnet Freight Rail, says it has run the longest freight train ever, a 7.6-kilometer (4.7-mile) convoy of 696 wagons. The train completed a test run from Saldanha Bay on the west coast to an iron ore mining area in the Northern Cape, and Transnet says it finished the journey on October 18. The record claim has not yet been independently certified.

The trip covered about 860 kilometers over two days, and all 696 wagons were empty. Electric and diesel locomotives were placed at different points along the train, a layout that spreads pulling power and eases strain on the couplings between wagons. Most freight trains run between half a mile and one and a half miles long. Transnet says the run beats the previous record, a 7.35-kilometer train of 682 wagons operated by BHP Iron Ore in Western Australia in June 2001, according to Guinness World Records.

The longest freight train claim is partly a rail-engineering exercise. Transnet worked with its engineering unit, its rail infrastructure manager and the Railway Safety Regulator, and its chief executive, Russell Baatjies, described the run as a learning exercise aimed at improving how South Africa moves minerals over long distances. The test is also a return to familiar ground: Transnet ran a 7.3-kilometer, 660-wagon train on the same kind of heavy-haul line in 1989. A single test with empty wagons does not show that trains this long can run commercially, since loaded trains put far greater demands on braking and track.

The record still needs independent certification, which Transnet has not announced. The company has not said whether it plans a loaded run or whether trains of this length will enter regular service.