ARTC: National freight rail

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Rail Express --> Adelaide-Melbourne upgrade complete for 1800m trains

A newly-completed, multi-million-dollar upgrade of the Adelaide to Melbourne rail corridor will allow for longer freight trains, increasing capacity by up to 20%, federal transport minister Darren Chester said.

Six new crossing loops were delivered under the $15 million upgrade of the line, which Chester and the Australian Rail Track Corporation announced complete on September 22.

The upgrade should allow the accommodation of 1,800-metre trains, improving productivity on the line and supporting associated jobs.

"The upgrade will create a 20% increase in productivity for rail operators and remove the need to send additional train services back to Melbourne with empty wagons," Chester said.

"By investing $15 million in the project, we have created a situation where the maximum length of trains operating from Adelaide to Melbourne can be increased by up to 300 metres The longer, more efficient trains means less congestion for motorists and improved road safety, as well as cutting transport costs.

"The initial scope of the project was to deliver five extensions to crossing loops, which provide opportunities for trains heading in opposite directions to pass each other on single line sections of track, but thanks to clever project management, an extra passing loop at Dimboola in regional Western Victoria was also upgraded within the original project budget."

Chester said Victorian crossing loops at Pyrenees, Murtoa, Pimpinio, Diapur and Dimboola, and South Australia's Mile End loop, had all been extended to 1,800 metres.

"A 1,800-metre train carries the equivalent of more than 85 B-Doubles worth of freight that would typically travel by road through South Australia," he said.

"Moving more freight by rail is crucial to meet the expected doubling of freight demand over the 20 years to 2030 while reducing urban congestion."

Additional track upgrades are currently underway in Adelaide as part of the jointly funded Australian and South Australian Government Torrens Junction Rail Project, which will provide a clear path for 1,800-metre trains all the way from Perth to Melbourne by late 2017.

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Mirage News --> Draft decision on interstate rail network access undertaking

The ACCC will not accept the proposed 2018 interstate rail network access undertaking lodged by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), in a draft decision announced today.

"The ACCC considers that the proposed access undertaking is not acceptable on a number of fronts," ACCC Commissioner Cristina Cifuentes said.

"In making our draft decision we have had regard to a number of fundamental issues being proposed by ARTC and the lack of information available to the ACCC and the above-rail operators to assess the impact of these."

ARTC is seeking more flexibility by shifting from indicative tariffs approved by the ACCC, to a proposed range within which ARTC and above-rail operators can negotiate access charges.

However, the ACCC has significant concerns with ARTC's proposed value of the regulated asset base, the rate of return and the ceiling limit which determine the bounds of the access charges ARTC can levy.

The other key issue in this assessment is the potential for gaps in access regulation, between the proposed expiry of the 2018 interstate access undertaking in 2023, and the intended commencement date of Inland Rail and any replacement undertaking in 2025.

"In our draft decision, we have provided detailed feedback that ARTC can use to revise the 2018 interstate access undertaking. We have also requested substantial ble at Interstate Rail access undertaking 2018

Background

ARTC operates rail tracks in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.

On 6 March 2018, ARTC submitted the 2018 interstate access undertaking to the ACCC for assessment pursuant to Part IIIA of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Part IIIA allows infrastructure providers to submit a voluntary access undertaking to the ACCC for approval.

An access undertaking allows access providers to obtain a degree of certainty about the terms and conditions on which access will be made available to their infrastructure and allows rail operators that are considering establishing new infrastructure to settle access matters before they invest.

This access undertaking is for the provision of access to the interstate rail network operated by ARTC.

The interstate rail network consists of the standard gauge track between Kalgoorlie in Western Australia to Acacia Ridge in Queensland, and transports bulk freight, non-bulk freight and passengers.

The ACCC previously accepted an access undertaking in relation to the interstate rail network on 30 July 2008. ARTC has sought to extend the 2008 interstate access undertaking twice, which the ACCC has consented to. The 2008 interstate access undertaking is due to expire on 28 February 2019.

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https://twitter.com/AustralianArmy/status/1100514713425723393

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https://pacificnational.com.au/australias-major-highway-now-a-conveyor-belt-for-big-trucks/

28 Jul 2019

Australia's major highway now a conveyor belt for big trucks

700,000 B-double truck trips on Hume Highway each year. Rail freight on its deathbed between Melbourne & Sydney

In a disturbing development, Australia's largest rail freight operator, Pacific National has declared rail freight is on its deathbed between Melbourne and Sydney.

Pacific National CEO Dean Dalla Valle said less than 1 per cent of 20-million tonnes of palletised and containerised freight transported between Melbourne and Sydney is now hauled by trains.

"Australia's busiest freight corridor by volume has become a conveyor belt of 700,000 B-double equivalent return truck trips each year along the Hume Highway," said Mr Dalla Valle.

Mr Dalla Valle said excessive government charges applied to rail freight services and a build-up of red tape is suffocating the haulage of goods by rail between Australia's two biggest cities.

"Bizarrely, at a time when Australians want safer roads, less traffic congestion during their daily commute, reduced vehicle emissions, and properly maintained roads, government policies are geared to rolling out bigger and heavier trucks on more roads," said Mr Dalla Valle.

A 2016 report by Australian Automobile Association ranked sections of the Hume Highway as some of the nation's most dangerous roads, while a 2017 Deloitte Access Economics report found, for every tonne of freight hauled a kilometre, trucks produce 14 times greater accident costs than trains.

Mr Dalla Valle said trucks may not be the root cause of most accidents, but the sheer size, weight and momentum of a truck crashing with a car often results in casualties or fatalities.

"Now the Hume Highway is fully duplicated, I suspect governments in the future will allow access for even bigger trucks on the freeway, including A-doubles and B-triples," said Mr Dalla Valle.

Mr Dalla Valle said Pacific National calculated access costs of hauling a 20-foot container between Melbourne and Sydney by a freight train or B-double to be $94 and $55, respectively.

"In terms of accessing the freight corridor between Melbourne and Sydney, that's a massive 70 per cent cost penalty for rail – this rips the guts out of our industry," said Mr Dalla Valle.

The Australian Government taxes operators like Pacific National an 'access charge' to run freight trains on railways. Current access charges do not account for extensive taxpayer funding of roads (and hence support for trucks) compared to significant commercial demands on rail freight.

Mr Dalla Valle said to resuscitate rail freight between Melbourne and Sydney, government must aim for an equal volume share of rail and road freight by 2021 – Australians like a fair go.

"To achieve a minimum 50:50 freight volume share between rail and road, government access charges must be abolished on the rail corridor between the two cities," said Mr Dalla Valle.

Pacific National estimates increasing the rail freight share between Melbourne and Sydney to 50 per cent would help save four lives and $300-million in road accident costs on the Hume Highway each year. Annual vehicle emissions along the highway would be reduced by 430,000 tonnes.

Mr Dalla Valle said supporting more freight on rail means a healthy long-term revenue stream for government and huge benefits and savings derived from a wide range of social, economic and environmental gains. Australians want real trains, not road trains hauling large volumes of freight.

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https://twitter.com/AussieWirraway/status/1456427916120649732

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https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1486710573412728834

>> https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/flooding-in-south-australia-damages-nations-umbilical-cord-after-once-in-200yearevent/news-story/5261d66805b35b46dc062406565e5b28