ARMY NEWS
Volume 11, No. 39, March 23, 2006
WHEN The Ghan rolled into Port Augusta from Darwin in early February – loaded with tanks and armoured military equipment – the locals could have been forgiven for thinking they were being invaded.
Melbourne's looming rail congestion crisis is about to claim it's first victim, with express services likely to be cut. EXPRESS trains on the Dandenong line could be dumped as Connex tries to fight capacity restraints and improve reliability for passengers.
The competition regulator has given the green light to Queensland Rail's takeover of Australian Railroad Group, paving the way for QR to challenge Pacific National's market dominance.
A Bendigo trader believes the $8 million plan to overhaul the Hargreaves Mall should go towards a CBD tram loop.
Toll Holdings is set to draw a line under its hostile takeover bid for Patrick Corporation, declaring that $5.2 billion in shares and cash is its final offer.
Tough new penalties have been introduced for anyone caught tampering with railway equipment or vandalising NSW trains.
Western Downs' councils says they are optimistic their two-year battle to have a new rail link built will soon come to an end.
V/Line says signalling problems on the Bendigo-Melbourne line caused Saturday morning train services to be replaced by buses.
The London Street bridge is falling down and if it needs to be rebuilt the Port Lincoln council may have to foot the majority of the $2 million repair bill.
Patrick has mounted another legal challenge to Toll's hostile $5.3 billion takeover bid, seeking to have the competition regulator's approval of the merger overturned in the Federal Court.
Member for Flinders Liz Penfold is calling for boom gates or warning lights at the railway crossing on Pine Freezers Road to make it safer for drivers after one vehicle had a close call.
Photographs depicting an `unsightly' and `dangerous' Horsham railway station have circulated State Parliament.
Media Release from the Minister for Transport 30th March 2006
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The Transport Legislation (Safety Investigations) Act 2006, which was passed by Parliament last night along with the related Rail Safety Act 2006.
“Victoria’s new Rail Safety Act 2006 is now the model legislation for all other Australian jurisdictions to follow in achieving nationally uniform or consistent rail safety regulation throughout the nation,” Mr Batchelor said.
Victoria's troubled fast rail project will arrive 12 months late and without an express train on its biggest line.
Take heart small shareholders in Patrick Corporation, an end to the la nina of paper could be at hand.
Toll Holdings chief executive Paul Little says he will declare his hostile bid for Patrick Corp final if he can't convince the Patrick board to rethink their rejection of his $5.3 million offer.
Investors are looking to Patrick Corp's new Target's Statement to gauge where the pricing battle line will be drawn in Toll's $5 billion-plus takeover bid.
Connex has defended its ticket inspectors after a passenger claimed he was assaulted at Flinders Street station.
Fortescue Metals has reported a $90 million blowout in the estimated cost of building a railway and port for its iron ore project in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
In Melbourne an elaborately decorated tram in the Pakistani motif took to the rails during the Commonwealth Games.
Chris Corrigan will ask the Federal Court next week to rule that corporate regulator Graeme Samuel and Toll Holdings both overstepped the mark by making a deal to carve up the Toll-Patrick Corp rail business Pacific National.
Patrick Corp's legal challenge to Toll Holdings' hostile $5.3 billion takeover bid will go before the Federal Court next week.
MOTORISTS could pay more to use the city's toll roads during peak periods under options being considered to ease Melbourne's congestion woes.
Under the proposal, CityLink and the operator of EastLink would charge drivers more during the morning and evening peaks but less in off-peak times.
If the plan was implemented, changes to toll prices would be negotiated as part of the contract between the road operators and the Government.
Train commuters should be hit with higher fares to help bring the ailing rail system up to scratch.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) says while its revised Hunter Valley Coal Network Improvement Strategy will cost $100 million more than originally planned, it will be money well spent.
Train crews in New South Wales have called off threatened industrial action to Sydney's weekend services.
Interest groups from Victoria to Queensland will consider joining forces to lobby the Federal Government over the proposed route for an inland rail line linking Melbourne and Darwin.
A $1 billion project to build a third rail track on the crowded Dandenong line has been given the green light in secret.
Costs of extending the tram line down King William St could face a huge blow-out because of the need to relocate hundreds of vital underground services.
Another of those decisive moments — perhaps the decisive moment — is looming in the torrid eight-month battle by Toll Holdings to win control of Patrick Corp.
The promises ran faster than an out-of-control express train. Premier Jeff Kennett was full of steam in 1999 and the public transport sell-off was the most exciting game in town.
Privatisation of Melbourne's public transport has cost taxpayers $1.2 billion more than if the system had remained in public hands, according to a analysis by transport experts.
Privatisation has been a disastrous failure, but the Premier can do something to put transport back on track.
Some Sydney trains are operating with flawed emergency braking systems which fail to activate as designed once a driver leaves the controls.
RailCorp has rejected claims that Sydney's trains are operating with faulty emergency braking systems.
Hundreds of Queensland Rail coal wagons are sitting abandoned on lines in southeast Queensland and New South Wales.
Sydney trains were safe, said RailCorp, despite a train driver's concerns over an allegedly flawed emergency braking system.
Patrick Corporation will test the limits of the competition regulator's powers this week in a Federal Court challenge to undertakings made by hostile bidder Toll Holdings.
The Victorian Government has been urged not to renew its contract with the private operators of the public transport system, with a transport expert saying it has been an expensive failure.
Train watchers might be highly surprised when they see Australia's most famous and best-loved steam locomotive 3801 in Dubbo over the Easter weekend.
Private operators are running trams and trains badly, costing Melbourne its "most liveable city" title, and being paid a lot for doing so, transport academics claim.
Enjoying the magic of Puffing Billy on weekends and public holidays from Gembrook to Emerald Lake Park is now possible as the railway introduces its new Gembrook Rambler service.
Toll Holdings has upped the ante against Patrick Corp, taking official action to force its takeover target to take a stand on Toll's revised $5 billion-plus bid.
Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) announce a round of consultations with the coal industry on its updated Hunter Valley Coal Network Capacity Improvement Strategy for the next 5 years.
Residents pushing for a train service to South Morang are claiming a small victory after the State Government said it plans to address capacity issues on the Epping railway line.
The Member for the western New South Wales state seat of Dubbo, Dawn Fardell, is demanding an investigation into what she calls the "inhumane treatment" of CountryLink passengers travelling from Dubbo to Sydney earlier this month.
In a sign Katherine is slowly returning to normal after major floods, the Alice to Darwin railway has brought tourists back to town.
There were 133 sightings for this week, which were three sightings more than last week. Making a total of 1742 sightings for this year to date. On day 98 last year we had seen 1304* sightings (* 1 weeks sightings missing March 2005).
State Member for Burrinjuck, Katrina Hodgkinson has taken the plight of Oolong residents to parliament following plans to close their local railway level crossing.
The Lilliputian world of model trains has a huge following and generates prices that are, frankly, er, loco.
The Victorian Government will announce today a $1 million campaign to tackle graffiti on the metropolitan rail network.
Patrick's latest legal challenge to Toll's hostile takeover bid received a substantial setback yesterday, when the Federal Court ruled it would not hear the matter until after the Toll bid is scheduled to close.
Patrick Corp shareholders are free to sell their shares to Toll Holdings - but they will do so with the possibility of litigation hanging over their heads.
Patrick's blitzkrieg of legal action appears designed to frustrate, if not destroy, Toll's bid.
A new report shows Australia stands to lose billions of dollars in exports and investment if resources companies are forced to share private iron ore railways.
Rio Tinto lobbed the latest grenade in the fight to deny others access to its railway system in the Pilbara yesterday - but it may be too late.
There has been a third official blow-out in the cost of the Perth to Mandurah railway project.
One of the largest rail infrastructure programs in Queensland history is closer to reality with the appointment of constructors Thiess United Group as partners to construct four major projects.
A UN meeting has adopted a resolution on an agreement to construct the ambitious Trans-Asian Railway Network connecting 28 countries from Asia to Europe, paving the way for its signing in November.
Lynbrook Railway Station will be built at Aylmer Road after the State Government confirmed the new site.
Patrick Corporation has been given the all-clear by the competition regulator to acquire freight forwarding company FCL Interstate Transport, after offering to split up its rail joint venture with Toll Holdings.
Patrick is taking a big risk if it buys freight forwarder FCL while fending off Toll.
THE February announcement by Premier Iemma that the Newcastle rail line would not be closed, was greeted with relief. However, Save Our Rail and other groups are concerned about the Government interest in the Hunter Business Chamber proposal, which would ultimately achieve the same result as the Broadmeadow plan - of closing the line after all.
Helensburgh railway station can descend into chaos during peak morning and afternoon periods as cars, buses and pedestrians jockey for position.
Mel Jack is sick of waiting for tragedy to strike on Towradgi Road's railway bridge.
AMID suggestions of a Budget blowout, the State Government is adamant its Oaklands Park bus and rail interchange is going ahead.
Rail services in Sydney's east and on the NSW south coast are set to receive a boost with the opening of a new $77 million tunnel in Sydney, the NSW government says.
RAIL commuters in Sydney's southern and eastern suburbs will have to endure trips up to eight minutes longer in a bid by the Government to resurrect its dented punctuality record.
Temora's station master has paid tribute to his deputy who died on Saturday when crushed between two rail wagons at Ariah Park.
The views of commercial property developers are likely to be sought for ongoing discussions on the future of Mount Gambier's rail lands precinct.
It's 200km shorter, there is no flood plain to cover, the Government owns the land and the infrastructure already exists are just some of the reasons why the New England rail line should be considered for the lucrative Melbourne to Brisbane rail link.
QUEENSLAND Rail is in the market to buy the Linfox transport business in an attempt to build up enough muscle to compete with the Toll Holdings behemoth following the takeover of Patrick.
The devil could be in the detail of the State Government's decision to keep the rail line into Newcastle, with rail supporters believing the plan could still lead to the closure of Newcastle station.
The signs don't look good as our car climbs the steep hill to our weekend retreat. The place seems like an industrial junkyard, with odd bits of railway memorabilia strewn across the hillside. Then we turn the corner and see our accommodation. The bemused voice of our three-year-old pipes up from the back seat. "Oh, my goodness. Is this it?"
Let's start with the obvious: infrastructure, or the lack of it, significantly influences the value of retail property.
THE first plank in the State Government's rail clearways project has been branded a $77 million face-saver that will allow CityRail to "fudge" on-time running figures.
More than 1,000 bike riders are expected to take part in the official opening of the High Country Rail Trail east of Wodonga this Sunday.
Plans are under way to establish a private commuter service on the Casino to Murwillumbah railway line.
Some of Australia's largest transport companies are considering forming an alliance that would allow them to compete head-to-head with the behemoth created by the Toll Holdings acquisition of Patrick Corp.
The market yesterday responded to the Easter takeover of Patrick Corp by Toll Holdings by driving a 12 per cent rise in the transport group's shares.
QUESTION: At what point does public transport become more attractive than the convenience of a car? Answer: $1.32.
A proposed rail link between Western Australia's iron ore and Queensland's coal, feeding blast furnaces at each end, has fired interest overseas.
V/Line is under fire for announcing it will substitute trains for buses on the Gippsland line for the next four months.
Queensland Rail (QR) is not interested in buying Linfox — but it is talking to the national logistics giant, and others, about strategic partnerships as it steels itself for the fight against a merged Toll-Patrick.
Ivan Venning has countered the positive message portrayed by the South Australian Tourism Comission, claiming South Australia's tourism has dropped to a "new low". And the Liberal stalwart has maintained his attack on Tourism minister Jane Lomax-Smith for the lack of a passenger train service operating to the Barossa.
There were 117 sightings for this week, which were 16 sightings less than last week, due to the Easter holiday. Making a total of 1859 sightings for this year to date. On day 105 last year we had seen 1398* sightings (* 1 weeks sightings missing March 2005).
FOUR out of seven major metropolitan lines failed more often than not to meet CityRail's peak afternoon reliability targets since new timetables were introduced in September.
REPLACING trains with buses between Penrith and Central next month could add almost two hours to the round trip to the city for Blue Mountains commuters.
VICTORIA'S corporate regulator has rejected Pacific National's plan for competition on the state's rail network, accusing the company of overcharging and a lack of commitment to rail quality.
PRIVATE rail and trucking operator SCT Logistics has brushed aside fears about the power of a bigger Toll Holdings and is gearing to expand in the national rail freight market.
A group of historians calling themselves TOOTS has sounded the horn of approval for Queensland Rail's plans for Townsville's north rail yards redevelopment.
The competition regulator has given its tacit approval to an alliance of second-tier transport operators to compete with the logistics giant that will emerge from the marriage of Toll Holdings and Patrick Corp.
Councillor Peter Garnham remembers childhood days when he went along to work with his dad at the South Maitland railway workshop.
A private company says it is close to lodging a development application with Jondaryan Shire Council for the establishment of a multi-million dollar road and rail terminal.
THE Territory's economy took another giant step forward yesterday when the first shipment from a new manganese mine was exported to China from Darwin.
Up to 600,000tonnes of ore a year will be shipped through East Arm Port after being freighted by rail from Bootu Creek, 110km north of Tennant Creek.
Toll New Zealand is putting its TranzAlpine and TranzCoastal South Island railway services up for sale.
Yesterday, Toll NZ announced it was seeking expressions of interest in its two long-distance South Island tourist trains – the TranzCoastal between Picton and Christchurch and the TranzAlpine between Christchurch and Greymouth.
Lismore council is eager to see a light rail service established between Casino and Byron Bay and says it will look at how it can help in the preparation of a business plan.
QUEENSLAND Rail has asked Qantas to join a national alliance and will invite P&O to take over management of Brisbane's Acacia Ridge rail terminal as part of its plan to build a major transport competitor to the new Toll-Patrick combination.
Police have made 39 arrests during a two-week blitz on anti-social and criminal behaviour on Perth trains.
The Essential Services Commission (ESC) wants Pacific National to guarantee it will keep its rail network in working order.
South Melbourne's Railway Hotel has an interesting recent history. Back in 2000, the owners of Fitzroy's Builders Arms Hotel sold out to brewing giant Lion Nathan. Shortly after the takeover, the Builders underwent a character change, with the formerly grungy pub denying entry to people who weren't wearing dress shoes.
Seven silos in the New England and north-west NSW operated by Graincorp are to close.
Steamfest puffed into Maitland with the homecoming of the No 10 class steam engine on Thursday.
Queensland Rail chief Bob Scheuber likes to use cricket analogies when he talks about expanding the company he has loyally served for the past 31 years.
A new system of fare integration will allow country train travellers to get around easier in Melbourne.
Access to the Port of Melbourne (PoM) is to undergo a makeover, with the Federal and State Governments today announcing the $120 million-plus Dynon Port Rail Link upgrade project.
Last week's big swell may have proved a boon for surfers, but rail enthusiasts at Illawarra Live Steamers in North Wollongong have not been so lucky.
How tremendous: Deputy Premier and Transport Minister John Watkins has been out inspecting the new Bondi Junction rail works; promises of extra trains to follow, with the new timetable coming in May. Golly, how terriffic.
The public is being offered the chance to step back in time and take a ride in a 55-year-old railcar, as part of today's 150th anniversary celebrations of rail to Port Adelaide.
Commuter train schedules were thrown into disarray after a quarter of Adelaide's train fleet was withdrawn from Friday peak hour services.
Transport giant Toll Holdings is anxious to fix up its ailing rail business, Pacific National, now that the Patrick takeover has been approved.
DOZENS of passengers are bashed every week and sex attacks on public transport have jumped, as crime hits Melbourne's trams, trains and buses.
Crime is rife on public transport in Melbourne, with dozens of passengers bashed every week and sexual assaults on the rise.
Unions are calling on transport company Toll to give a long-term guarantee for workers' rights as it takes over its rival Patrick.
Toll Holdings chief executive Paul Little believes forecast cost savings from the $6.2 billion acquisition of Patrick Corp are "conservative".
Tamworth Regional Council is to be asked to lobby for the retention of a pedestrian railway crossing near the Robert Street level crossing in the city's south-west.
Organisers of Maitland's annual rail festival, Steamfest, say this year's event attracted more than 75,000 people from all over the state.
Veterans relying on public transport to travel from the Southern Highlands to Sydney for ANZAC Day have been let down by inadequate local train services, according to Member for Southern Highlands Peta Seaton.
There were 105 sightings for this week, which were 12 sightings less than last week, due to the Easter holiday. Making a total of 1964 sightings for this year to date. On day 112 last year we had seen 1495* sightings (* 1 weeks sightings missing March 2005).
UP to 14,000 commuters are being put off broken down trains every day as CityRail's maintenance and reliability performance slides back towards the horror days of 2004.
Jeffrey Manser has seen hundreds of trains pass through Maitland railway station.
Whether it's because of the onboard bar or a result of skyrocketing fuel prices, one thing is certain - train travel is becoming popular again.
Nambour is on track to have the first operational light rail system on the Sunshine Coast.
Babcock and Brown Infrastructure Group (BBI) will beef up its asset portfolio with $3.5 billion worth of acquisitions in the energy and rail sectors in the US and Australia.
CityRail, again....not that the appalling performance of the trains is newsworthy any more but how can an express train from Burwood to Central (stopping only at Redfern) take almost 30 minutes?
Transport Minister John Watkins today blamed fare evaders who did not pay fines for driving up rail ticket prices.
A law reserving train carriages exclusively for women during rush hour in Brazil Rio's Metro and suburban train routes has had a rocky start.
CRIME does pay - at least for the state's serial fare evaders. Three out of four fines for fare evasion are not paid and the number of repeat offenders has almost tripled since 2000, a report by the NSW Auditor-General has found.
THE intersection of Rouse and Rafferty Roads with Fremantle Road could be temporarily closed as part of the Southern Suburbs Railway construction.
A heritage train trip to Cobar during the June long weekend (June 10-12) is being planned by the Patterson based NSW Rail Motor Society. The Society which is located near Newcastle, proposes to run two CPH class 'Tin Hare' rail motors to Cobar via the cross country Ulan line.
Work is currently under way to demolish the former railway barracks in Muswellbrook, after it was partially destroyed by fire in February this year.
V/Line trains will be replaced by buses on the eastern line for the next four months starting from tomorrow.
Commuters had a reason to smile last week after their outcry forced RailCorp to postpone mid week trackwork, just two weeks before it was due to begin.
MEMBER for Avon Max Trenorden has said the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure's track record on the AvonLink service leaves little to look forward to in the Perth to Mandurah rail link.
THE New South Wales government has rejected opposition calls for it to freeze train fares to give families financial relief from rising petrol prices.
The Victorian Opposition has warned country travellers face several more months of inconvenience at Southern Cross railway station in Melbourne.
Queensland Rail (QR) has confirmed a deal for stevedore P&O Ports to operate the Acacia Ridge rail terminal in Brisbane.
A Velocity passenger train has derailed at Trawalla after colliding with a farm truck. There are many injuries and two confirmed fatalities.
The train consists of 2 Vlocity cars and is partly derailed.
Two people have died after a collision between a train and a truck caused the train to derail in central Victoria.
Parking and the fragmentation of Naracoorte's shopping district were concerns raised at a public meeting on the future of Naracoorte's railway land last night.
V/Line advises that there will be no trains running between Ballarat and Ararat until further notice. Coaches will replace all services between these stations.
TWO people were killed and a man was fighting for his life last night after a horror train smash.
THE much-maligned fast rail project will meet its overall budget despite revelations of a further $3.9 million blowout, the State Government said.
QUEENSLAND Rail has hired ports giant P&O Ports to run its key rail terminal in Brisbane, deepening their alliance in a bid to challenge the power of the new Toll Holdings goliath in the national freight market.
Family members of two people killed in a horror train crash in north-west Victoria are expected to visit the site today as investigators continue to pick through the wreckage.
Another contract dispute has broken out between the Western Australian Government and construction company Leighton Holdings over the Perth to Mandurah rail line.
The Victorian opposition has called for an independent inquiry into a train crash in the state's west in which two people have died.
AAP reports that Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said the collision between the new VLocity passenger train and a semitrailer carrying a load of bluestone at an unprotected level crossing highlighted ongoing safety concerns and called into question the government's plans for high speed services in the area.
A long and complex police investigation has begun into a train crash in Victoria which killed two people and left dozens injured.
The Western Australia Opposition believes more cost blowouts are on the cards for the Perth-to-Mandurah rail line and is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the project.
THE much-maligned fast rail project will meet its overall budget despite revelations of a further $3.9 million blowout, the State Government said.
ONE of two passengers who died in Friday's horror V/Line crash was the train driver's mother.
A snapshot of Melbourne's passenger rail system shows that almost 50 of the city's 322 trains were out of action during a 48-hour period last year.
The driver of a train that hit a truck in rural Victoria, killing two people, remains in a critical condition in a Melbourne hospital.
There are calls to review safety at level crossings across Victoria after Friday afternoon's fatal accident involving a fast train and a semi-trailer.
A Melbourne man is in a critical condition after being struck by a tram.