GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY

Green light for Liverpool Turnback

Minister for Transport David Campbell has announced planning approval for the $145 million Liverpool Turnback Project, which will improve capacity and reliability on the CityRail network. Mr Campbell said the approval provides a green-light for further design development and construction for this critical infrastructure project at one of Sydney’s busiest stations. “The project will remove the need for different services to compete for paths through the station by separating terminating and commencing services, from through services,” Mr Campbell said. “This will reduce congestion and delays, particularly during peak hours.” The project is a priority and fully funded as part of the Government’s $56 billion infrastructure investment program.

Flinders Street Station upgrade

Upgrade works are underway on Flinders Street Station to improve safety and access for thousands of passengers. Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the rail network was carrying record numbers of people and there are more passengers accessing the station. “The Brumby (Victorian) Government is taking action to give Victorians the best transport network in Australia and station improvements means passengers can have easier access to train services,” Ms Kosky said.

$42 million for level crossings

Work will start immediately on installing new boom gates and other safety measures at 66 high-risk rail level crossings across Queensland. Funding for these safety projects will come from the Federal Government's $150 million Boom Gates for Rail Crossings Program - a key element of the $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan. All up $42.7 million has been allocated to Queensland's 66 projects. Tragically, about 100 accidents occur at rail crossings every year. Last year alone there were 18 collisions, five fatalities and four serious injuries at level crossings in Queensland.

Belair rail revitalisation to begin in April

The latest element of the South Australian Government’s $2 billion public transport revolution has been given the go-ahead with State Cabinet approving a joint venture to rebuild the Belair rail line. John Holland and Coleman Rail have won the contract with reconstruction work to begin on Monday, 27 April. Transport Minister Patrick Conlon said a major upgrade of the Belair line is an important step in the Government’s unprecedented plans to revitalise the public transport system.

Epping to Chatswood is no risk

NSW Minister for Transport David Campbell said independent engineers had advised that work being carried out on the Epping to Chatswood Rail Link poses no safety risk and will not disrupt services. Mr Campbell said inspections on the new link detected that some movement had caused small cracks in the prefabricated concrete arches lining a short section of the tunnel. “The Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (TIDC) has advised that to enhance the long term durability of the arches some rectification works are being carried out,” Mr Campbell said.

Funding for Amtrak

Vice President Joe Biden has announced that Amtrak will receive $1.3 billion in grant funding from the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand passenger rail capacity. Mr Biden was joined by Jo Strang, Acting Federal Railroad Administrator, along with several members of Congress. "Over 28 million passengers ride Amtrak each year. That’s about 500,000 passengers a week or 80,000 a day,” Mr Biden said. “For too long, we haven’t made the investments we needed to make Amtrak as safe, as reliable, as secure as it can be. That ends now. The funds in the Recovery Act for Amtrak will help create jobs and at the same time, repair and update critical needs of our nation’s infrastructure."

INDUSTRY

Rail awareness creates safer communities

People with disabilities and new immigrants will learn how to be safe around trains and stations as part of an ongoing series of rail safety education events. More than 50 people took part in the first rail safety orientation day for 2009 at Roma Street station and QR Passenger Executive General Manager Paul Scurrah said the events were a practical way to teach people about safety around the tracks. “Safety is QR’s highest priority and we are committed to raising the bar in our efforts to make our services even more safe and enjoyable for passengers,” Mr Scurrah said.

ARA Fortnightly Update

The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) has released its latest fortnightly update. This issue includes:

• New ARA Chairman
• Disability Discrimination Act
• Submission to the Rail Safety Regulators’ Panel
• Level crossings
• RISSB update

Project to bring local and national benefits

Works on the North East Rail Revitalisation Project (NERRP) are currently being undertaken in Euroa, Violet Town and Avenel through the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) and ARTC’s alliance partners South Improvement Alliance. Works include replacing the old timber sleepers with concrete sleepers, converting the rail line to standard gauge and upgrading local level crossings. New platforms will be constructed at Euroa, Violet Town and Avenel stations later this year. The NERRP will significantly upgrade Victoria’s North East rail line between Melbourne and Albury/Wodonga.

QR businesses pass safety milestone

National transport and logistics company QR is making good progress in its quest to eliminate injuries from its workplaces with two freight subsidiaries operating for 12 months without a lost time injury (LTI). The milestone was passed on 1 March 2009 by CRT Group, a logistics company with more than 300 employees at 12 sites in five states, and on 28 February by Interail Pty Ltd, an intermodal, coal, maintenance and shared services provider with 235 staff at 17 sites in five states. Executive General Manager QR Freight Ken Lewsey said the achievements underlined the commitment to safety across QR and were a fine example to other parts of the group.

GSM-R technology

The Siemens Mobility Division has been awarded a contract by the British railway company Network Rail to supply 6,100 GSM-R radio devices worth 26.5 million euros. The devices are intended to cover the needs of a large part of the British train fleet. The Mobility Division will also provide GSM-R technology to the Nokia Siemens Networks in Australia, where a communication system for a 380 kilometre line in the state of Victoria is to be installed by Siemens on behalf of the Department of Transport.

ACCIDENTS

Motorist risks serious injury at crossing

QR has pleaded with local motorists to obey the road rules and be RailSmart around level crossings after a train narrowly missed hitting a car on a Runcorn level crossing. On 12 March 2009 a train missed a car on the Nathan Road level crossing by about three metres after the car stopped on the tracks inside the boom gates. Mike Carter, Executive General Manager QR Network said he was frustrated to hear about the latest near miss which happened despite repeated warnings about the need to be careful at railway crossings around the state.