North Coast Line (NCL) duplication - some Federal case facts

[Fares_Fair]

North Coast Line (NCL) duplication - some Federal case facts

A bit about my home town, *Palmwoods is a beautiful railway town in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, 20 mins from Mooloolaba beach ... it's also;
Home of the shortest rail passing loop in the approx. 1669km from Brisbane to Cairns.
This passing loop is just 683m long and can accommodate a freight train no longer than 650m, according to a joint (commonwealth/state) government study.
It's an economic bottleneck.

It directly results in more trucks traversing our national highway from Brisbane to Cairns... which can and do kill people from time to time.
Not deliberately of course, but accidents happen - big trucks collide with cars and cars collide with big trucks - that could be on rails.

The Brisbane-Cairns single track carries more freight tonnes than does the Sydney-Brisbane interstate and inter-regional corridor, in which the federal government has invested significant sums through the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).
The Caboolture-Nambour track is now probably the most congested section of single rail track in Australia. It was recognised as congested as long ago as 1994 in the Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics (BTCE) report of the National Transport Planning Taskforce.

Since the Brisbane-Cairns rail corridor was incorporated into the National Land Transport Network – the network of roads and railways that the federal government is prepared to help fund – there has been no substantial federal investment in rail on this link, with all available funds going to road upgrades.

Growth in rail freight carried is set to exceed 3 per cent a year – the tipping point at which freight that can't be carried by rail will be pushed onto semi-trailers and B-doubles.
There is a high incidence of truck-related crashes on the Bruce Highway.

The most likely future scenario is high population and industry growth along the corridor, resulting in an increased freight transport task – estimated at 3.4% per annum growth.  Current estimates now reported as 4.2% and the second highest in the nation. (2007 Brisbane to Cairns Corridor Strategy).

This results in future challenges for the road corridor of capacity constraints and congestion and increasing crash risks. The expansion of regional ports, such as Gladstone, will also highlight rail capacity constraints and congestion.  The efficiency of export goods carted by rail will be affected, with flow-on effects to national trade performance.

While freight trains 1500m long are commonplace elsewhere on the interstate freight network funded by the federal government, they are restricted to 650m on the Sunshine Coast Line (SCL) and the NCL because of the short passing loops on the line.  Whereas one crew operates a 1500m train elsewhere on the network, the same length of freight train (i.e. two trains on the Queensland network) requires two crews.  More short trains occupy the available train slots.  This increases the conflict between passenger and freight trains for available slots and means that trains have to wait at passing loops while a train clears the single track ahead and they are able to pass.

The poor track alignment south of Maryborough West restricts the efficiency and speed of freight trains and, hence, their turnaround times.  This adds to rail transport costs compared with rail.  Even the most efficient train running (the Tilt Train) finds the going tough.  Currently, the tilt train averages only 55 km/h between Landsborough and Nambour, and 66 km/h between Gympie and Maryborough West. This compares unfavourably with average speeds of about 94 km/h between Maryborough West and Bundaberg and 107 km/h between Bundaberg and Rockhampton. Freight train operations are adversely affected south of Maryborough West.  With the exception of a deficient rail bridge at Bundaberg, the focus of any rail upgrade on the Brisbane-Cairns corridor should be between Brisbane and Maryborough West, but especially between Caboolture and Nambour.

With expansion of the mining industry in central and north Queensland, the movement of volatile materials is going to increase.  This creates a higher safety risk when these materials are transported by road.  Laird (2003a) estimates rail to be 29 times safer than road per net tonne kilometre (ntk), while the Australasian Railway Association report (PJPL 2005) states that rail freight is between 13 and 23 times safer than road freight (in terms of $ per '000 ntk).
Rail is certainly more efficient than road in terms of energy or fuel use for both mass passenger transport and long distance freight transport.  The ACIL (2001) study indicated that articulated trucks used between three and seven times the energy compared to rail freight and rail used 30% less energy for non-urban passenger transport.

"It is perhaps best summed up by this quote from the Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP, when he said: 'One 1500 metre freight train can carry the load of 100 semi-trailers, leaving our roads safer and our air cleaner.'   Economic Stimulus Plan; A progress report (2011, p1)."

Unfortunately there are no plans or funding to improve Queensland's freight life-line from Brisbane to Cairns, or even Beerburrum to Nambour for starters.
2006 Queensland Rail Submission to the Productivity Commission, titled A Review of the Economic Costs of Freight Infrastructure and Efficient Approaches to Transport Pricing stated that for an outlay of $300m (2006$) there would be $430m (2006$) in savings, these savings over 20 years.

The table on p94 of the 172 page report, then itemises each and every saving thus;

QR has recently undertaken a cost-benefit study of investment in the North-Coast Line (Brisbane  to  Cairns).  This  study  sought  to  identify  the  economic  benefits  from investment in the North-Coast Line. A similar approach is also being carried to future investment in the Central-Queensland Coal Network.

This analysis includes an estimate of the future transport task (based on underlying market growth rate estimates) in the corridor and  identification of the economic benefits for government and society associated with investment in rail.

This analysis also provides an indication of other considerations required in terms of the question of a viable and sustainable general freight rail network such as transport pricing and funding arrangements.

An investment of circa. $300 million in a number of "Below rail" projects on the NCL could result in:

•   Extraction of just over 850,000 tonnes of general freight / containerised traffic from road to rail on NCL markets
•   Road accident cost savings of Present Value (PV)  $43 million over 20 years
•   Environmental gains valued at PV $23 million over 20 years
•   Road pavement / maintenance savings of PV $94 million over 20 years from reduced heavy truck movements
•   Benefits associated with better transit times, improved service reliability and improved service availability valued at PV $127 million over 20 years
•   Benefits to rail operators and customers valued at PV $143 million over 20 years
•   Potential reductions in rail freight costs in the range of 2% to 6% across NCL  markets if gains to "above  rail" operators are passed on to the customers
•   An  increase  in  GTKs  on  the  NCL  associated  with  additional  containerised  traffic  of  34%  'over  and  above' underlying growth.

References:

http://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/public_submissions/published/files/82_smasuniversityofwollongong_SUB.pdf

Queensland's NCL between Brisbane and Townsville also part of the National (road and rail) Transport Network.
http://www.nationbuildingprogram.gov.au/whatis/network/images/National_Land_Transport_Network_Rail_Corridors_QLD.pdf

2007 Brisbane to Cairns Corridor Strategy
http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/transport/publications/files/Bris_Cairns_Corridor_Strategy.pdf

2006 Queensland Rail Submission to the Productivity Commission
www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/48577/sub053.pdf

Savings anyone?
Reducing the cost of living by a 2 - 6% by reduction in freight costs for food and consumables?
A saving in lives lost and the resultant trauma of injuries as a result of heavy trucks being on the highway, when some of them should and could be on rail.
It's food for thought.

[somebody]

2nd sentence doesn't read right - seems like the passing loop is 1669km at first.

Besides, the shortest passing loop isn't the determinant of train length on the corridor.  Many passing loops on Sydney-Brisbane are 900m , but 1500m trains are run by ignoring those loops.

[Stillwater]

Syd-Bris does not have the frequency of trains that the SCL does.

[mufreight]

2nd sentence doesn't read right - seems like the passing loop is 1669km at first.

Besides, the shortest passing loop isn't the determinant of train length on the corridor.  Many passing loops on Sydney-Brisbane are 900m , but 1500m trains are run by ignoring those loops.

There are sufficent numbers of loops exceeding the 1500m spaced so as to allow the operation of trains of 1500m length in opposing directions, the NCL does not have this facility avaliable and with few locations where trains of such length can cross is extremely limited.
Yes fleeting of trains does occour where over a set period overlength trains operate in one direction then for a set period operate in the opposing direction, if a train gets out of course and off timetable major conflicts occour with consequent delays and costs.

[somebody]

The difference is that the other loops north of Beerburrum are only slightly longer than the Palmwoods one.

[Fares_Fair]

2nd sentence doesn't read right - seems like the passing loop is 1669km at first.

Besides, the shortest passing loop isn't the determinant of train length on the corridor.  Many passing loops on Sydney-Brisbane are 900m , but 1500m trains are run by ignoring those loops.

Sentence sorted.
Home of the shortest rail passing loop in the approx. 1669km from Brisbane to Cairns.


Please go to top of this page (aka thread) for report.

[somebody]

In many parts of "developed" Europe and even middle east, trucks are relagated to the outer land(s) of a multi lane hwy and then limited to 80km/hr, Why? because if you were to do a HAZOP today of building a road to be used by trucks and car blind Freddie would tell you a 1t sedan and 40t truck don't belong on the same road and completely incompatible.

Very low?  I'd say zero.  The only kinds of collisions which would be survival would be the glancing kind.  That's actually worse than hitting an immovable object.