Article: Opportunities for rail ‘green up’

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Opportunities for rail 'green up'

Opportunities for rail 'green up'
by Rail Express — last modified Oct 27, 2010 07:46 AM

With the Australian Greens holding the balance of power in the Senate from July 2011, the national rail market is poised for a tremendous injection of Federal Government policy and funding – especially for the renewal of public transport systems, writes Dave Howe*.

A spokesperson for Greens leader Bob Brown confirmed that not only is the Greens high speed rail (HSR) study for the Melbourne-Sydney route firmly on the table, but detailed policy and plans have also been developed for greater investment in a national network of light rail transit (LRT) implementation in major urban systems across Australia, starting with Perth.

These systems simply require greater public transport volumes and efficiency.

Four months ahead of the recent 2010 Federal election, the Melbourne House of Representatives candidate for the Greens, Adam Bandt, and Greens leader Bob Brown, launched the partys official campaign by backing a $10m pre-feasibility study on an east coast HSR service between Melbourne and Sydney.

If this HSR policy is successful in creating such a service, it will be Australias first and will bring the country up-to-date with a trend which is sweeping the world one driven by rails low emissions and the true competitiveness of HSR versus short-haul flight routes, as is being demonstrated throughout Asia and Europe.

In May, the Greens put forward a Senate motion seeking funding for a detailed study into an east coast HSR network. The Greens called for government and industry to consider that a three- to four-hour HSR trip was a viable competitor to aviation. With approximately 121 daily flights at present taking place between Melbourne and Sydney, on one of the worlds busiest air corridors, it would appear to have a good chance of success.

At the time, despite opinion polling showing high support from the public, the Greens motion was comprehensively defeated.

Fast-track to the election result and suddenly the political landscape and how it affects the rail industry looks dramatically different.

In fact, one of the key points of agreements struck formally between the Australian Labour Party and the Greens in order to form minority government was the agreement that an implementation study for High Speed Rail should be completed by July 2011 (as described in the formal agreement and applying to the proposed east coast route).

The Greens spokesperson said there is strong support for sustainable, public transport networks in general within party policy.

To quote directly from the Greens 2010 transport policy, its primary transport goal is a comprehensive, integrated public transport system, with critical components publicly owned and controlled",

It also advocates train services that are competitive with road transport reliable, safe, fast and inexpensive".

Add to this the partys focus on climate change management and the creation of a carbon compensation policy, and the advantage for growth in rail and light rail networks shifts even further. For example,the Greens'  transport and environment policy outlines that environmental costs are incorporated into the cost of air travel".

Now is truly an exciting time for Australias rail industry as the Greens long-term advocacy for the benefits of a re-investment in rail gains traction in the houses of power.

*Dave Howe is general manager of ODonnell Griffin Rail.