GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY

Echuca line going strong

Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky has hailed the return of daily train services to Echuca by the Victorian Government a resounding success, with almost 40,000 passengers using the service in the past year. Speaking on the first anniversary of the return of daily services, Ms Kosky said she was delighted to see passengers from Echuca, Rochester and Elmore embracing train travel. “Between February and December last year around 17,000 passengers boarded the services out of Echuca, while some 19,000 train passengers travelled on the return services to Echuca,” Ms Kosky said.

Demographic report on trespasser fatalities

Trespassers account for the largest number of fatalities in the railroad industry – approximately 500 a year. In order to better understand who is trespassing, their locations and the reasons they are on railroad property, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has issued a report using three years of reported trespasser fatalities. The report, Rail-Trespasser Fatalities: Developing Demographic Profiles, includes a state-by-state breakdown and shows California and Texas as recording the highest number of such events - with drugs and alcohol often a contributing factor. The report strongly recommends additional demographic analysis to reinforce and expand on these results in order to develop targeted educational and outreach programs as well as law enforcement initiatives to reduce the number of rail trespassing incidents.

INDUSTRY

P&O and QR create intermodal hub

P&O Trans Australia – the Kaplan/DP World joint venture – and QR have announced a logistics partnership resulting in the creation of a combined domestic and international rail hub at Yennora in western Sydney. The agreement will see the partners establish a joint operation of rail and terminal services at the existing Yennora Rail Site to enhance their current operations. This includes an intermodal terminal operated by P&O on behalf of both partners, which will cater for QR’s national intermodal business and also a new Port Shuttle Service carrying international cargo to and from Port Botany. P&O proposes to commence this new port shuttle service during the second quarter of 2008, with capability for 10 train services per day to and from Port Botany and domestic capital cities.

Maintaining safety while increasing space

Connex has confirmed it is investigating the viability of increasing the standing area in train carriages after suggestions from its customers. Senior Connex executives met with hundreds of customers at City Loop stations last year in the ‘Meet the Managers’ public consultation program. “Many customers suggested we should look at creating more standing area especially around the door ways,” Connex Communications Manager John Rees said. “We have listened to our customers and are now exploring the possibility of removing seats to determine if that can achieve the desired goals of creating more space, improving comfort and maintaining safety.”

INDUSTRY CONTINUED

UIC Highspeed 2008

UIC Highspeed 2008, the sixth world congress on high speed rail, jointly organised by the International Union of Railways (UIC), NS/HiSpeed (Dutch Railways) and ProRail (Dutch Rail Infrastructure Manager), was held from 17-19 March 2008 in Amsterdam. Jacques Barrot, Vice President of the European Commission in charge of Transport, was one of the 1,300 participants who attended from around the world. The opening session of UIC Highspeed provided an opportunity for a number of high ranking speakers to present high speed rail development plans in their respective countries. In total 90 exhibitors from all major industries of the high speed rail sector were present. The conference heard that high speed networks are planned in all parts of the world including China, Russia, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Morocco. It concluded that high speed rail is the solution for sustainable mobility needs and contributes to social and economic developments.

ACCIDENTS

Two killed in level crossing crash

A mother and daughter were killed when their four-whee drive slammed into a train at a country level crossing on 24 March. A family of five were inside the Nissan Navara, which was dragged about 30 metres after it hit the V/Line train at the Considines Road level crossing at Modewarre, near Geelong. The woman, 38, and her daughter, 14, died on impact. Two boys, aged 8 and 10, and their 38-year-old father, of the Geelong suburb of Newcomb, were airlifted to hospitals in Melbourne. The tragedy came a month after the crossing on Considines Road received a safety upgrade with the installation of rumble strips, which alert drivers by making a car vibrate.

Madurai-Kollam passenger train derails

Seventeen people were injured when seven coaches of the Madurai-Kollam passenger train derailed between Valliyoor and Aralvaimozhi in India on 20 March 2008. The injured, seven of which were seriously, were admitted to hospital officials said. Thiruvananthapuram divisional railway manager Titus Koshy was at the scene to oversee the rescue and restoration work. The incident affected traffic on the section – forcing some trains to be cancelled or rescheduled.