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Asked by official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Manie van Dyk whether his department was taking steps to decrease the number of trucks on South Africa's roads, Erwin said the department was together with Transnet, the umbrella transport parastatal, and the Transport department "exploring a campaign" to increase rail freight.
At present, Spoornet transported about 34% of total mining production.
Coal and iron ore mining exports constituted the bulk of total mining production conveyed by the rail parastatal.
In addition Spoornet moved about 10.5% of agricultural products - large grain products but it also included forestry products.
Asked whether it took one week to transport freight by rail between Limpopo and Cape Town, he said: "A rail trip plan indicates that it would take 3.5 to 4.5 days to convey a single wagon consignment between Table Bay and Musina."
Number of factors
"Trip plans vary from consignment to consignment, dependent on which trains are switched on, space available on trains, size of consignment.
"Criteria for single wagons are based on the hub-to-hub principle with consolidation of loads or trains en-route at major hubs, e.g. Bellville, Kimberley, Sentrarand and Polokwane."
He said there were a number of factors that contributed to the performance of rail versus road over time.
These included South Africa's economic transformation from one based primarily on agriculture and mining "to one driven by industry and manufacturing".
There were also "evolving industry requirements for door-to-door logistics and just-in-time deliveries".
Owing to under-investment and huge increases in traffic volumes since the early 1980s, neither road nor rail had kept pace with developments, he argued.
