Barberry Holdings
Aerial view of a rail siding, with a train on the line beside the loading area and stockpiles
Who we are

SMART Rail in Motion

Barberry Holdings was incorporated in 2003. We design, develop, operate and manage rail sidings and intermodal terminals across South Africa, handling bulk commodities such as coal, chrome and manganese from mine to port.

Every transport mode has a role in a supply chain. Rail delivers the most value when the siding, the schedule and the rolling stock work as one system, so we invest in the terminals, the handling equipment and the transportation management technology that make that possible.

Where it is commercially sustainable, we migrate cargo from road to rail. That means fewer trucks on the national routes, lower emissions per tonne railed, and a lower total cost of logistics for our customers.

23+

Years of experience

14

Rail sidings under management

11+

Million tonnes railed in 2025

300+

Employees

What we do

Integrated rail logistics services

Rail siding material handling

On-site management of rail sidings for owners and third-party users, covering shunting, stockpiles, wagon spotting and train loading, with a terminal supervisor on site 24/7.

Materials handling

Transhipment of cargo between road and rail at sidings and terminals, including loading equipment, trained personnel and ongoing maintenance of terminal infrastructure.

Rail and logistics interface management

Managing cargo flows from origin to destination through dedicated on-site terminal teams, a central flow management desk, and continuous service design and optimisation.

Collateral management

Independent third-party stock monitoring and verification for financiers and traders, covering grade, quantity, container seals and cargo movement between siding and port.

Rail solution consulting

Rail siding design, feasibility studies, rail operation optimisation and simulation-backed solution design.

Track and trace technology

Cloud-based weighbridge systems and transportation management tools that give customers visibility of cargo as it moves through the network.

How we work

Systems, collaboration and processing time

Barberry has developed rail management systems from years of operating in the commodity space. The system is run on a 25/8 basis by our Central Technical Team and delivers planning and optimisation of the logistics value chain, visibility of that chain against key metrics so every party works from one version of the truth, and reporting that supports decisions on logistics strategy.

Through the Channel Logistics Team and Channel Optimisation Team structures on the Richards Bay export coal system, around 25 measures of channel efficiency are reported and interrogated monthly together with Transnet Freight Rail, mines and terminal operators. The aim is early detection of metrics going out of standard and immediate corrective action.

Our sidings are designed around a total train processing time of under four hours, achieved through 24/7 loading, calibrated load cells on front end loaders, direct main line access, and loading with locomotives remaining attached where the layout allows.

Operations control room with a wall of monitoring screens above a curved row of workstations
Safety, compliance and community

Permitted, certified and locally committed

Barberry holds a Railway Safety Regulator operating permit and operates a quality management system across its sites. We are assessed as a Level 1 Contributor under the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice, and we are a member of the Africa Railway Industry Association.

In the communities where we operate we conduct a needs analysis before implementing any development project, align our programmes with local development plans, and track progress through monitoring and evaluation. Local employment and enterprise development at our sidings are a standing commitment.

Site safety officer in a hard hat, high-visibility jacket and ear defenders, holding a clipboard

Talk to us about your siding

Whether you own a siding, need rail capacity or want to move cargo from road to rail, our team will help you plan it.

Enquire now