GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY

Metro rail for Sydney

Premier Morris Iemma has unveiled a $12 billion European-style metro rail line for Sydney to service growth areas from the CBD to the city’s north-west. Mr Iemma said the project would provide fast, high capacity rail services – independent of the CityRail network – and was part of his vision for Sydney’s public transport future. The Premier said the North West Metro was the first major transport initiative to be unveiled under the NSW Government’s new Sydney Link program. “The North West Metro will run underground from the city, beneath Victoria Road towards Top Ryde, and then via Epping to Castle Hill, Norwest and Rouse Hill,” Mr Iemma said. “There will be 17 stations on the metro line, and interchanges with key CityRail and bus routes.” Construction of the new line will begin from both ends in 2010 with the first trains operating between Epping and the Hills Centre in 2015.

Tourist and heritage information session

The Independent Transport Safety and Reliability Regulator (ITSRR) released a discussion paper in November 2007 regarding the safety regulation of heritage railway operators. An information session to update industry on the outcomes of consultation will be held in Sydney at the Powerhouse Museum on Friday 28 March 2008. It will be followed by a rail heritage forum for operators who have a relationship with the Office of Rail Heritage. To attend the information session please contact Cathy Dowe: cathy.dowe@transportregulator.nsw.gov.au

Crossing upgrades complete

Minister for Public Transport Lynne Kosky has announced the completion of two major level crossing upgrades in Victoria. Ms Kosky said the upgrades demonstrated the Victorian Government’s commitment to improve safety at level crossings. The work included a $275,000 upgrade to the level crossing at Old Ballarat Road, Talbot and a $390,000 upgrade to the railway level crossing at Sloane Street, Stawell.

Cranbourne station stabling project

Major works are underway at Cranbourne railway station as part of the Victorian Government’s plan to improve services on the Dandenong rail corridor, Minister for Public Transport, Lynne Kosky announced. Ms Kosky said the addition of stabling yards, better disabled access and increased security would offer improved public transport services for Cranbourne commuters. ‘’The new train storage facility can accommodate six trains and will eliminate empty train movements from other stabling locations across the metropolitan rail network,” Ms Kosky said. “This will ultimately allow us to increase the number of services from Cranbourne.”

INDUSTRY

Technology boosts Ulan rail capacity

A $13.5 million Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) project to bring the Ulan-Muswellbrook rail line into a 21st century operation is fast approaching completion. ARTC Chief Executive Officer David Marchant said the Ulan Centralised Train Control (CTC) project is three quarters complete, with the final stage due within eight weeks. “The Ulan line upgrade is just part of the overall ARTC major improvement of the Hunter Valley coal network,” Mr Marchant said. “This project means that as new mines on the Ulan coal fields open and existing mines expand, ARTC will have a rail track operating that will more than meet export demands.”

Goonyella to Abbot Point expansion project

A $1 billion expansion of the export coal rail network – the biggest rail project in Queensland in three decades – is a step closer with the signing of an alliance agreement for a key part of the project. It is a major step in QR’s $3 billion plus investment in lifting the capacity and performance of the central Queensland coal network including new and upgraded track, and new locomotives and wagons. By 2010/11, QR plan to have increased tonnage capacity by almost 60% in Queensland, with the ability to haul 261 million tonnes of coal across all networks. "We’re really pleased to be pushing forward with these expansion plans – it’s great news for coal companies and the industry generally," QR’s Chief Executive Officer Lance Hockridge said as he announced the formation of an alliance to deliver a major part of the $1 billion Goonyella to Abbot Point Expansion Project.

INDUSTRY CONTINUED

Big results from small track change

Track and signal upgrades by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) on the four kilometre stretch of line between Maitland and Telarah will have positive impacts for both local passengers and Sydney-Brisbane freight services. ARTC Chief Executive Officer David Marchant said the $2.5 million Maitland-Telarah upgrade may not have been as visual or as expensive as other projects but it was just as important. “ARTC is spending hundreds of millions of dollars upgrading and improving efficiency on the Hunter Valley and the North Coast rail lines, which not only improves the rail infrastructure but also reduces transit times for interstate freight traffic and export coal,” Mr Marchant said.

New locomotive emission standards

The United States’ railroads "will be up to the challenge" of meeting tough new locomotive emission standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency according to the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), Edward Hamberger. "Our locomotive builders will be required to design diesel particulate filters and selective catalytic reduction systems that can fit within the narrow confines of a locomotive and withstand the harsh railroad operating environment," Mr Hamberger said. Mr Hamberger noted that in meeting the emissions limits established by the previous standards, the railroad industry has achieved emissions and energy efficiencies beyond those contemplated at the time the previous standards were issued.

ACCIDENTS

Rail back to normal following derailment

The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has advised that services on the Hunter Valley coal rail network and the Main North Line are back to normal operations after crews worked through the weekend repairing the rail line after a coal train derailment at Branxton on 14 March 2008. After a full safety check, the track reopened at 4pm on 16 March. One loaded wagon on a Pacific National train from Camberwell to Port Waratah came off the line at Branxton station, damaging a short stretch of the track. “Reduced or delayed passenger, freight and coal traffic were maintained on the network over the weekend as trains were diverted to the adjacent line,” ARTC Chief Executive Officer David Marchant said.

Man freed following collision

Two men leapt from a four-wheel-drive seconds before it hit a freight train head-on near Murray Bridge early on 19 March 2008. A third man was trapped for two hours after the accident, which happened as the vehicle was driven on the tracks. The vehicle had been driving along a service track for the railway line at Rocky Gully about 6 kilometres from Murray Bridge until the track ran out. It is understood the vehicle was then driven on to the railway line to get through a rocky cutting in the hills at about 4am. As it did, the 700 metre Melbourne-bound freight train came around a slight bend and slammed into it. The driver and a passenger leapt from the vehicle as it was dragged about 20 metres along the line and then wedged it the cutting. Emergency service spokesman Brenton Keen said the trapped man had been "conscious throughout his ordeal".

Lack of signal protection led to collision

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the probable cause of the collision between a Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority train and a maintenance truck in Woburn, Massachusetts, was the failure of the train dispatcher to maintain blocking that provided signal protection for the track segment occupied by the maintenance-of-way work crew. The failure of the work crew to apply a shunting device that would have provided redundant signal protection for their track segment also played a part. "This tragic accident occurred because several employees of the railroad failed to do a very important part of their job," NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker said.