The TrainLine 2 publication

[ozbob]

Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics
and Australasian Railway Association

Trainline 2 Statistical Report

-->  http://tinyurl.com/mgn5pn8  (PDF)

[ozbob]

Rail Express --> Report shows rail up in all areas

Report shows rail up in all areas
by Oliver Probert — last modified Nov 11, 2014 01:46 PM

Rail should be able to exploit its advantages over road, Warren Truss said today.

The report TrainLine 2 has been put together by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE), and takes a look at the state of Australia's railway industry.

Deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure and regional development Warren Truss, who launched the report this morning in Perth, said he wants to give the rail industry the ability to make full use of all of its natural advantages over competing modes of transport.

"The government's drive is to ensure we have the transport infrastructure in place to prosper in the future," Truss said.

"We want to see more freight carried by rail, by ensuring rail is as competitive as it can be," he continued.

"Government needs to work with industry to remove the constraints to industry exploiting its advantages.

"It isn't about giving rail an unfair advantage over road, but to ensure the economy gets the best opportunity possible."

"The role of the government in supporting an innovative rail industry goes beyond finding the dollars," he said. "The government must go further."

Australasian Railway Association chief executive Bryan Nye said the report showed that movement of goods and people by rail in Australia continues to grow with the industry's performance living up to the increased demand from both the freight and passenger markets.

"In 2013 Australian railways carried over 1 billion tonnes of freight and moved more than 850 million passengers," Nye said.

"The national freight task is predicted to almost triple by 2050 and by that same year the Australian population will have doubled, with populations of Sydney and Melbourne approaching eight million people each.

"If Australia is expected to meet this challenge, rail will have an increasingly important role to play in this space," he continued.

Nye highlighted the report's finding of an immense surge in the movement of freight on rail, with an increase of 57% in the past five years.

"It is appropriate that the launch of this report is in WA, as the growth in freight tonnage has been driven substantially by the resources boom and the export task of moving iron ore and coal to ports," Nye said.

"These two commodities account for more than 80% of the rail freight tonne-kilometres, with the biggest task being the movement of iron ore in Western Australia's Pilbara region.

"Australia's intermodal freight task is also growing, with tonnages having increased by 65% since 2009/10, to 27 million tonnes," he said.

"Along Australia's east coast however, more container freight can and must go by rail with the large majority of freight currently moved by road between Melbourne and Brisbane and an estimated 30% by rail."

Nye said that the proposed Brisbane-to-Melbourne Inland Rail link will address "the existing imbalance" by opening up the Melbourne to Brisbane network, taking seven hours off transit between the two cities, removing trucks from major highways, easing a bottleneck at Sydney, and boosting regional development.

Truss said that after he led the early development of the Brisbane to Melbourne inland rail link as transport minister under John Howard, the project "languished" under successive Labor governments.

Now he is back in the head transport role, Truss said he is determined to progress the development of the line.

[Stillwater]

What does this mean?: "The role of the government in supporting an innovative rail industry goes beyond finding the dollars," he said. "The government must go further."

Mr Truss should explain the 'going further' strategy beyond finding the dollars, which still all have to be found.

Maybe he could find his notes about the ARTC investigation into taking out a lease on the QR mainline track in Queensland and provide us with an update.

[#Metro]

"The role of the government in supporting an innovative rail industry goes beyond finding the dollars," he said. "The government must go further.""

Its rhetoric. It means 'everybody get out and push the train!'