Grindrod acquired the majority shareholding in RACEC Group Limited, the AltX-listed engineering services group, in December 2013. The black empowerment group, Solethu Civils Holdings, holds a 25.1% share in the business. RACEC has been delisted and renamed Grindrod Rail Construction.

Grindrod has since 2005 been engaged in the rail sector in Africa and has significantly expanded its rail service offerings and significantly increased the scale of its existing operations.

RACEC, or as it will be known in the future, Grindrod Rail Construction, is an industry leader with over 50 years experience in rail track and OHTE engineering and construction and complements Grindrod’s current service offering which includes locomotive & wagon manufacture and refurbishment; locomotive leasing & maintenance and rail operations and presents synergies in respect of track maintenance and signaling contracts.

 The historic under-investment in rail, together with the proliferation of large mining projects, supported by general economic growth, has provided a favourable environment for growth in the rail sector in Africa.

Grindrod Rail Construction (previously known as RACEC) is a  recognised leader in its field of operations, which include:
 

• Construction, maintenance and upgrading of railway track systems
• Provision of mechanised on-track plant and machinery
• Flash butt and thermit welding of rails
• Ultrasonic testing of rail welds
• Gantry, stacker reclaimer and ship loader trackwork
• On-track survey and alignment using customised trolley tracks
• Crane tracks, for the building and manufacturing sectors
• Railway siding design and construction
• Railway material refurbishment and sales
• Overhead traction equipment (OHTE) electrification
• Trackwork encased in concrete
• Track-related civil and ancillary works
• Management of industrial rail networks
• Manufacture of rail-related precast concrete items
• Grindrod Rail Construction also has the capability of providing clients with turnkey project solutions.

Some finalised projects include:

• The construction of a new 32km Postmasburg rail line in the Northern Cape for Transnet.
• Constructed the Nasrec slip link which is part of the PRASA rail network.
• The installation of rail for two stackers and two drum reclaimers for material handling at the Medupi Power station, Lephalale, Limpopo for Eskom.
• The supply and installation of 4.5km rail track and 21 turnouts including the associated earthworks for EVRAZ Highveld Steel in Mpumalanga.
• The construction and rehabilitation of the line from the materials loading port of Pepel in Sierra Leone, to the ‘end of the line‘ in Lunsar, a distance of approximately 85Km. The client was African Minerals.
• Upgrading of the rail infrastructure for the Matola coal terminal in Mozambique
• Upgraded the existing rail infrastructure at Anglo Coal’s Greenside Colliery near Witbank. 
• Upgrading and alterations to overhead traction equipment (OHTE) at various locations nationally
   

Contracts

Annuity-type contracts with blue-chip clients include:

• Highveld Steel – Rail infrastructure maintenance, Witbank
• Arcelor Mittal – Rail infrastructure maintenance
• Sasol Synfuels – Rail infrastructure maintenance
• Cape Town City Council – Western Cape Rail infrastructure maintenance
• Samancor – Rail infrastructure maintenance
• Transnet – Universal sleeper contract