GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY

Upgrade paves the way for more services

The $256 million Salisbury to Kuraby rail upgrade has been officially opened by the Transport Minister, John Mickel, paving the way for an increase in train services from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. Mr Mickel attended the Family Fun Day at Runcorn to celebrate the completion of the project with the local community. Under the project, a third 9.5 kilometre track was built from Salisbury to Kuraby as seven stations along the rail corridor, including Coopers Plains, Sunnybank and Runcorn, were upgraded. Mr Mickel said the Salisbury to Kuraby third track project was one of the biggest infrastructure projects to be completed in south-east Queensland in the past decade.

Rail freight receives support

Victorian Premier John Brumby has announced a $20 million package for Victoria’s rail freight industry to keep container and export grain freight on rail. Mr Brumby said the two-year Rail Freight Support Package would provide a temporary rebate for container freight carried on rail services from Warrnambool, Horsham, Mildura and Shepparton/Tocumwal. The package will also extend a new rail access fee rebate for domestic grain to include export grain to further support the industry.“These measures will provide vital short-term support to ensure rail freight is a viable alternative to road freight as the industry restructures and major government rail projects to improve the network are implemented,” Mr Brumby said.

Managing gap safety

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a guidance document to help minimise accidents due to gaps between the edge of a passenger station platform and the threshold of a passenger train door. FRA Approach to Managing Gap Safety addresses the use of engineering evaluation and analysis to establish gap standards and the application of strategies to prevent and reduce gap accidents. While most gap incidents involving rail passengers result in relatively minor injuries, FRA believes the most effective way to address the potential risks is for railroads to develop and adopt a comprehensive program to manage gap hazards and establish and maintain uniform gap and boarding conditions. 

Regulator takes action against Network Rail

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has ordered Network Rail to remedy systemic weaknesses in its planning and management of engineering projects and in its communication with train operators about progress with such projects. This follows ORR’s conclusion that the problems experienced over the New Year were part of a continuing breach by the company of its licence. ORR also announced that it proposed to fine Network Rail £14 million to reflect the serious nature of this breach, the impact it had already had on passengers and rail freight users and the need for the company to take urgent action to improve its approach. In addition, ORR ordered Network Rail to provide a clear plan of how it intends to complete the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, currently due to be completed by December 2008.

Accidents decline for third consecutive year

The number of train accidents across the United States declined for the third consecutive year according to preliminary 2007 data released by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. “Our strong focus on improving rail safety is achieving significant results for three years running now,” Ms Peters said, noting there has been 833 fewer train accidents or a 24.6% reduction when comparing it to the period from 2004 to 2007. Ms Peters stressed that some of the safety gains are attributable to aggressive implementation of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) National Rail Safety Action Plan first launched in May 2005.

ORR proposes Crossrail passenger services

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has announced it proposes to take on an application for a track access option for Crossrail passenger services. The access rights reserve capacity for services to operate on routes between Maidenhead/Heathrow Airport and Abbey Wood/Shenfield. The rights are to use Network Rail’s network and do not include the proposed new tunnel through central London.

INDUSTRY

National recruitment to boost local skills

The skilled worker base in rural and regional NSW is to get a boost from a new recruitment campaign launched by Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), the operators of Australia’s main rail lines. The campaign is aimed at recruiting over 150 new skilled employees for rail and signal maintenance positions, rail resleepering projects as well as data and administrative support. The rural and regional focus is in line with ARTC's policy of placing employees across the State, ensuring they are close to work locations.

QRNational welcomes trainee loco drivers

QR has welcomed the next generation of locomotive drivers in Central Queensland. The nine trainee drivers are part of a QRNational recruitment drive scheduled to deliver 105 additional loco drivers to the Goonyella and Newlands rail systems in 2009. QRNational Coal North General Manager Warren Phillips said the Pring-based trainees were selected through a national recruitment effort and came from as far afield as Victoria, Brisbane and Mount Isa, as well as Bowen and Townsville.

Suicide prevention award

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and its members have been honoured at a ceremony on Capitol Hill for their work on suicide prevention, receiving an “Allies for Action” award from the Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN). “The single largest cause of fatalities on the railroads is trespassing on railroad property, and many of those trespassers are, tragically, attempting suicide,” the president and Chief Executive Officer of AAR Edward Hamberger said. “By partnering with organisations such as SPAN - a leader in the area of suicide prevention - we hope to be able to significantly reduce the number of fatalities on railroad tracks.”

ACCIDENTS

Communication issue led to collision

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its final report into the investigation of a collision at the Olympic Highway level crossing at Illabo in New South Wales on 2 November 2006. The ATSB found that the collision between a GrainCorp freight train and overturned truck occurred because train control could not contact the approaching train in the 10 minutes or so before the collision. At the time of the collision it was dark and raining. The semi-trailer overturned while negotiating the curve prior to the level crossing. The truck driver called '000' and the message was relayed through to the Junee train control centre. Unfortunately, the emergency message from train control was routed through to the wrong locomotive on the train.

Derailment caused by storm

A freight train derailment near Tarcoola in South Australia on 1 November 2006 resulted from strong winds during a thunderstorm, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation has found. The FreightLink train, travelling from Darwin to Adelaide, derailed during a thunderstorm about five kilometres east of Tarcoola. Freight wagons in the middle of the train appeared to have 'tipped over' while the train was travelling about 67 kilometres per hour in a severe thunderstorm. There was no evidence of any track or train defect that could have caused the derailment.

Deadly fire sweeps Bulgarian train

A fire swept through an overnight train in Bulgaria on 28 February 2008 leaving at least three people dead and another nine injured, the BBC reported. More than 60 people were in the two coaches hit by the blaze on board the nine-car service from the capital Sofia to the north-eastern town of Kardam. Rail officials said some passengers had been trapped in the burning carriages. It is not known what sparked the fire, which erupted near Cherven Bryag.