Leasing company Porterbrook is to supply Rail Operations Group with two Flex electro-diesel multiple-units equipped to carry postal and other just-in-time light freight traffic.
Sadly there's lots of bad memories of post getting stolen and reliability problems when Australia Post used rail. I doubt it'll happen again here.Theft, delays and damage was a key driver for many shippers leaving rail in the govt hey day. Put it on your own truck or at least a contractors truck and the number of people who can interfere with your goods is greatly reduced and delays mostly eliminated.
At what speeds do these units usual travel between cities?
Sadly there's lots of bad memories of post getting stolen and reliability problems when Australia Post used rail. I doubt it'll happen again here.Theft, delays and damage was a key driver for many shippers leaving rail in the govt hey day. Put it on your own truck or at least a contractors truck and the number of people who can interfere with your goods is greatly reduced and delays mostly eliminated.
At what speeds do these units usual travel between cities?Both the Class 319 and Class 325 have maximum speeds of 100mph.
The biggest problem for rail when it comes to winning business from the logistics sector is that stuff spends way too much time sitting around not going anywhere.Sadly there's lots of bad memories of post getting stolen and reliability problems when Australia Post used rail. I doubt it'll happen again here.Theft, delays and damage was a key driver for many shippers leaving rail in the govt hey day. Put it on your own truck or at least a contractors truck and the number of people who can interfere with your goods is greatly reduced and delays mostly eliminated.
Were delays to be dealt with, logistics and shipping companies might return to rail. It's a lot harder to break into a container which is on the move.
Of course no one has evidence from what happened 20-40 years ago, I can quote a few examples of what drivers in both Tas and Qld told me over the years as well as those in the logistics chain, but no point as no more proof. However to say there was no theft is also incorrect considering the outcome to a number of internal inquiries over the years. The SRA in the mid 80's copped a scathing report at one stage of theft of its own equipment.Sadly there's lots of bad memories of post getting stolen and reliability problems when Australia Post used rail. I doubt it'll happen again here.Theft, delays and damage was a key driver for many shippers leaving rail in the govt hey day. Put it on your own truck or at least a contractors truck and the number of people who can interfere with your goods is greatly reduced and delays mostly eliminated.
I think you and Carnot must be mistaken. I read continually on Railpage that things were so, so much better on the railways in the old days
(Although I must admit I've never heard the 'theft' angle very much, and I bet neither of you can produce proof that it was rampant - just regurgitating old urban myths methinks.)
How much coastal shipping trade still remains in Australia?
Were delays to be dealt with, logistics and shipping companies might return to rail. It's a lot harder to break into a container which is on the move.
Yet they are happy to use foreign crewed ships to move plenty of domestic stuff around our coastline. I think most trains can easily beat those transit times, delays or no delays.
Probably explains why some container trains are mostly empty boxes being returned after delivery by truck.At what speeds do these units usual travel between cities?Both the Class 319 and Class 325 have maximum speeds of 100mph.
It remains to be seen what the Flex rebuild can do when running on diesel though.The biggest problem for rail when it comes to winning business from the logistics sector is that stuff spends way too much time sitting around not going anywhere.Sadly there's lots of bad memories of post getting stolen and reliability problems when Australia Post used rail. I doubt it'll happen again here.Theft, delays and damage was a key driver for many shippers leaving rail in the govt hey day. Put it on your own truck or at least a contractors truck and the number of people who can interfere with your goods is greatly reduced and delays mostly eliminated.
Having a 15 km/h higher top speed than a truck has is not enough to account for the fact a truck can be in the next state before a load on a train even pulls out onto the mainline.
Trucking bosses will be rolling around in laughter at the thought of 3600m long intermodal trains on Inland Rail.
Were delays to be dealt with, logistics and shipping companies might return to rail. It's a lot harder to break into a container which is on the move.
If anyone was wondering on my source - it's from an acquaintance (now retired) senior manager with Australia Post.
I think post could travel by rail again for the inter-capital trunk routes if there's decent electronic tracking and efficient transfer from mail centre to train to mail centre.
Were delays to be dealt with, logistics and shipping companies might return to rail. It's a lot harder to break into a container which is on the move.
Yet they are happy to use foreign crewed ships to move plenty of domestic stuff around our coastline. I think most trains can easily beat those transit times, delays or no delays.How much coastal shipping trade still remains in Australia?
http://www.portsaustralia.com.au/aus-ports-industry/trade-statistics/?id=104&period=15
The attached is for the whole domestic shipping tonnages by port, why don't you go through and remove the tonnages that are not suitable for rail, no rail option or not in competition with rail, ie across Bass Strait, Weipa bauxite to Gladstone and others and then see whats left, answer almost SFA!
For some logistics options, such as Roseberry Mine Zinc concentrate to Hobart via rail rather than rail to Burnie then ship to Hobart, but once you understand how the whole logistics works you will see its not cost effective due to the way they move acid, lead and zinc concentrates around between their various sites. ie the ship would be still running, but half loaded.
What saved the interstate rail corridors was rail taking over the coastal shipping logistics in the 90's and 2000's with the end of ANL and others. Remember there was a study or report done by NSW to considering closing the interstate to Qld prior to the coastal modal shift to rail.
If anyone was wondering on my source - it's from an acquaintance (now retired) senior manager with Australia Post.
I think post could travel by rail again for the inter-capital trunk routes if there's decent electronic tracking and efficient transfer from mail centre to train to mail centre.
Australia Post use rail extensively... in inner Melbourne at least!There was a major main line derailment adjacent to the Olympic Way level crossing at Bethungra about 1970. It was one of TNT's hotshot overnighters and vans and containers had spilt their contents across a wide area. Lots of people came to have look and many helped themselves to 'stuff', (I remember picking up a few bags of lollies). A container spilled its load of domestic airmail. This was back in the days when you could pay extra for supposedly faster delivery via airmail. Anyway, the PMG got caught sending airmail by train, but I don't remember any fuss about it.
Through the middle of the day it’s a common sight to see postal workers with mail carts travelling between inner-city stations. Makes a lot of sense given how congested those roads are all day.
No, they are not lying and neither am I, read what I posted, not twist it.
So when SCT complain about the impact of single and continuous voyage permit foreign shipping impacting upon their business, they are either lying or don't have a clue what they are talking about
"On the east-west corridor between the eastern states and Perth, rail’s market share is estimated at around 70%. Unlike the east coast network, rail’s major competitor here is sea where domestic freight travels on foreign ships using a permit system for coastal freight.
Smith argues that this type of open-access is not consistent with other western nations such as the United States.
“It is difficult, if not impossible in some circumstances, for any landside operator governed by the laws, taxes and wage structures of that jurisdiction, to compete against international ships with foreign crews and marginally-costed vessels using our waterways free of charge,” Smith says. “The federal government’s future policies in this area will have a profound influence for rail on this corridor.”
Geoff Smith, MD, SCT Logistics - IRJ January 2017
https://www.railjournal.com/in_depth/sct-logistics-hopes-to-capture-freight-from-road-with-new-east-coast-service
I'm guessing that chart is either Australian flagged coastal shipping or doesn't include intermodal tonnages
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