In this opinion piece, Pulane Tshabalala contents that third-party operator access to State-owned logistics group Transnet’s rail network would, among other benefits, result in improved efficiencies, the introduction of superior technologies and the revitalisation of the country’s underutilised freight rail network In 2020, Covid-19 permeated borders and the global economy reeled, recording an estimated contraction of 3.7% year-on-year. The South African economy was also hard hit. Estimates place gross domestic product (GDP) contraction for 2020 at more than 7% year-on-year, coupled with about three-million job losses. Since the beginning of this year, news headlines have oscillated between the fear of contracting the virus’s highly contagious new strain and the hope of receiving a life-saving vaccine, one-million doses of which landed on our shores at the beginning of this month.