GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY

Laverton rail project

Increased reliability and more services are the major benefits of a $92.6 million upgrade to the Werribee line at Laverton which will unclog a major bottleneck and improve punctuality for V/Line and Connex services. Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the Laverton rail upgrade would mean an extra track and better access to the station. “This critical project will address a bottleneck at the rail junction at Laverton and at the sections of single track in the Altona Loop,” Ms Kosky said. “This will help both Werribee line trains and Geelong V/Line trains run more reliably.”

Infrastructure funding for rail network

The Australian Government will invest $3.2 billion in nation-building road and rail projects across the country including over half a billion dollars to make an early start on election commitments. The Government's plan includes $192 million for the national rail network to improve connections to Port Botany and the Port of Melbourne and for the inland rail study between Melbourne and Brisbane. In addition the fully Government owned Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) will invest $780 million in major rail projects.

£14 million penalty for Network Rail

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has announced it is confirming the penalty of £14 million on Network Rail. The penalty has been imposed because ORR found systemic weaknesses in Network Rail’s planning and execution of engineering work, which represents a serious continuing breach of its licence. These problems had been exposed in ORR’s investigation into the overruns over the New Year.

Noble Park to become a premium station

Noble Park is to become a premium train station with a $2.8 million boost announced in the 2008-09 State Budget. Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the move to premium status would significantly improve customer service and safety for local train passengers. “This upgrade will provide more staff, deliver better passenger information and make waiting areas more comfortable,” Ms Kosky said.

Companies fined after workers injured

Three railway companies have been fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £42,000 in costs at Coventry Crown Court. The prosecution by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) followed a serious accident at Marston Green near Birmingham in July 2003. During overnight work to upgrade the West Coast Main Line, a worker received an electric shock from an overhead line. The work was carried out by a joint venture between GT Railway Maintenance Ltd and Balfour Beatty Rail Projects Ltd, with Elec-Track Installations Ltd (now known as Hythe Realisations Ltd) working as a sub-contractor. The overhead line remained live as the three companies had not ensured a safe system of work. They had received warnings about their isolation procedures from their own safety staff beforehand, but had not made improvements.

GOVERNMENT CONTINUED

Action plan leads to decrease in accidents

The number of train accidents has decreased by 23.3% in the past three years - in part because the Department has completed an ambitious plan designed to improve safety on the Nation’s railroads - announced U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters. "We’ve seen how much can be done when you combine good data analysis, sound strategies, and focused decisions to tackle persistent safety problems," Ms Peters said. Ms Peters stressed the achievements resulted from the Department’s National Rail Safety Action Plan, the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) comprehensive freight and passenger rail safety programs, and the work of railroads, rail employees, and others.

Diamond Creek crossing upgraded

Safety for pedestrians, cyclists and people in wheelchairs has been significantly improved following an upgrade of a pedestrian crossing at Diamond Creek. Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said the upgrade was part of the Victorian Government’s plan to improve level crossing safety. “The Brumby (Victorian) Government is taking action to improve level crossing safety across Victoria and we have upgraded 153 level crossings in the last two financial years and are on track to improve another 46 by the end of June,” Ms Kosky said. Level crossing upgrades at Gnarput Road, Lismore and Duverney Road, Duverney, are also complete.

INDUSTRY

Research shows rail is cheaper than road

New Research commissioned by Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) shows that rail is now generally cheaper than trucking when it comes to moving freight on interstate corridors. For many years rail has been competitive on price with road on a terminal-to-terminal basis but new figures released by ARTC demonstrate that rail is now cheaper than road on a door-to-door basis on the major corridors. The figures show that on all but one of the major interstate rail corridors, rail beats road on the average price for door-to-door consignments.

ACCIDENTS

Inadequate inspection caused derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has determined that the probable cause of the derailment of a Norfolk Southern Railroad Company train was the railroad's inadequate rail inspection and maintenance program that resulted in a rail fracture from an undetected internal defect. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Railroad Administration's inadequate oversight of the internal rail inspection process and its insufficient requirements for internal rail inspection. The accident occurred on 20 October 2006 while crossing the Beaver River railroad bridge in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. There were no injuries or fatalities.