A South African operator set a new record for the world’s longest freight train on Monday. The 696-car, 7.6-kilometre-long train, operated by the national rail operator Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), chugged from Saldanha to the Northern Cape on an 861-kilometre-long track, the company said on Tuesday. “The exercise was undertaken as a dynamic train evaluation programme with the dual objective of pursuing a world record and advancing technical knowledge in train design, train handling and operational performance,” according to the firm’s news release. Using electric and diesel-electric locomotives interspersed along the length of the train, the company said it was able to “operate as a synchronized unit, enabling the controlled distribution of traction and braking forces across the train’s entire length.” Australian mining company BHP previously held the world record with a train nearly seven kilometres long, according to Guinness World Records. That train consisted of 682 ore cars pushed by eight diesel-electric locomotives, set in June 2001. TFR chief executive Russell Baatjies said although the South African train ran empty, the operation “is a significant achievement.” “The real value lies in the technical knowledge and operational insights gained through this exercise,” he said. “These learnings will contribute to the continued advancement of rail operations, support innovation and strengthen our freight rail capability into the future.” The Iron Ore Export Line that TFR ran its record-setting exercise on links Sishen in the Northern Cape to Saldanha in the Western Cape. The country’s mining activity is largely concentrated north of Johannesburg and Pretoria, clustered between South Africa’s borders with Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. South Africa exported more than two million kilograms of iron products in 2024, according to the World Integrated Trade Solution. About a quarter of that went to Canada, 582,198 kilograms of product valued at approximately US$4.36 million. TFR had held the longest-train-record since 1989, before losing it to Australia.
