A South African woman is in a critical condition after she was hit by two trains as she tried to cross a railway track in Pretoria.
A spokesman for the Pretoria Ambulance Service says the 50-year-old woman was knocked down by a commuter train and fell on the line going in the other direction.
THE Queensland Rail boss pocketed almost $1m last year as his company battled damning safety problems, train overcrowding and the Riverfire affair.
Chief executive Lance Hockridge took home a total package of $981,000 for 2008-09 after being responsible for the $25,000 in taxpayer funds wasted on a luxury Riverfire function cancelled over its largesse.
Rangpo (Sikkim), Oct 30 (PTI) Thirty four years after attaining statehood, Sikkim can finally look forward to get linked to the railway network with the foundation for the Rangpo-Sevoke line laid today.
It showed up some time between slow food and slow fashion. Slow travel is the new backpacking, a modern response to mass, "no-frills" fast travel and "must-see" tours.
So trekking, cycling and leisurely road trips are in, as are extended stays in one destination and embracing the local way of life.
Weaving your way through the North Terrace and Port Road roadworks, have you ever wondered what the workers are up to?
As the extension to Adelaide's tram system continues, project director for the latest stage of the Coast to Coast light rail development, Manuel Delgado, explained what is happening around the sites.
Two teenagers have been charged with the assault of two police officers in separate incidents north of Brisbane overnight.
Police said a 17-year-old male was charged after allegedly spitting in the mouth of a female sergeant at Gordon Park about 9.15pm (AEST) on Saturday.
Police were attending the man's Khartoum Street home regarding another matter when he allegedly became violent.
Should the Sydney CBD Metro go ahead? The NSW Government has committed funding to start work immediately on a metro rail system for Sydney. The first stage of the network will run from Rozelle to Central, the second stage will extend from Central to Westmead.
Gheringhap Sightings w/e 31/10/2009.
There were 88 sightings for this week. This is six sighting less than last week, making a total of 3672 sightings for this year to date. On day 304 last year we had recorded 4328 sightings.
We have seen nine sightings on the B/G this week, which is six more that last week.
I was on the PSS on the CountryLink Starlight Express. Thankyou to all the great comments that people have made. And some of the pictures i have seen look great!! Initial reports from Starlight and Passengers is that everyone really enjoyed the day.
A woman in Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory, has died after being hit by a freight train overnight.
IT HAS become a popular tradition in some of Australia's most plush corporate suites. As the end of the financial year approaches, the keys to luxury company cars are tossed around the office, and staff are urged to use the car for a trip to the bush or the beach.
The aim is to get the mileage up and take maximum advantage of the tax concessions on company vehicles. But the City of Sydney Council wants to reverse the tax bias in favour of public transport and cycling.
Central Queensland coal infrastructure managers have welcomed the Queensland Government's commitment to build the Northern Missing Link.
Queensland Rail says it has reached an agreement to build the 69-kilometre rail link, connecting the Bowen Basin coal fields with Abbot Point coal terminal.
NSWTRTM's Melbourne Cup Special arrived into Melbourne's Southern Cross Railway Station (SCS) this morning a little earlier than timetabled.
4916 and 4520 lead the train into Melbourne's Interstate rail terminal from the suburb of Sunshine where previously 4490 had been moved to the rear of the train.
The train is due to depart Melbourne this evening. Pictures of the arrival can be found in the Railpage Forums
A union says hundreds of workers will lose their jobs because poor planning has led to a delay in the building of a freight train line in Sydney.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) is responsible for interstate rail lines, leasing the tracks from the New South Wales Government.
WORK on a Federal Government rail project will shut down in Sydney this week, and hundreds of workers will be laid off, because of a potential cost blow-out allegedly caused by poor planning.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation has confirmed that the $309 million Southern Sydney Freight Line will be ''re-evaluated with a view to determine the most cost-effective way forward''.
A delay in the construction of a Sydney freight rail line has left hundreds of workers destitute, a union official says.
The Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) on Tuesday said it was reviewing its schedule to build the Southern Sydney Freight Line, between Macarthur and Sefton, because of several planning issues.
Contract engineer NRW Holdings Ltd says that iron ore miner Fortescue Metals Group Ltd has authorised it to recommence construction of its Cloudbreak-Christmas Creek rail spur in Western Australia.
A passenger train has collided with a cargo train on the edge of Pakistan's biggest city Karachi, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 30 others, officials said.
"So far we have recovered the bodies of 12 passengers and rescued 38 injured people and sent them to hospitals," Muzaffar Shaikh, a senior railway police official, said.
The State Opposition says uncertainty over Victoria's rail freight capacity is worrying farmers ahead of this season's harvest.
Some parts of northern Victoria are expecting their biggest grains yields in 10 years, but some reports say there will not be enough freight trains to handle the load.
FORTY-FIVE rail lines across NSW, including two in metropolitan Sydney, have been earmarked as ''non-operational'', leaving them open to being ripped up and redeveloped under controversial legislation before Parliament.
The list of vulnerable lines is contained in answers to questions on notice, asked during State Parliament estimates committee hearings in September and released late last week.
US billionaire investor Warren Buffett has unveiled a deal to take over Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the largest rail operators in North America, calling it a huge bet on the future of the US economy.
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding group on Tuesday announced it would purchase the 77.4 per cent of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) that it does not currently own for $US100 per share in cash and stock.
The Transport Department is investigating why a tram passenger was fined when he was unable to validate his ticket.
Muru Gappan was fined $172 when two machines on a Glen Huntly tram failed to accept his ticket, despite the fact there were still three trips on it.
The New South Wales Government is facing a fight in the Upper House to pass its Rail Trails Bill, even though the Transport Minister David Campbell has promised that the state's disused rail lines will not be sold off.
The government says it introduced the bill to allow community groups to turn 3,000 kilometres of disused rail lines into bicycle paths.
Victorian Road Minister Tim Pallas announces that RACV has won a contract to provide a bicycle hire service in Melbourne. Similar schemes elsewhere in the world attract advertising. That racks in Melbourne won't have advertising other than for the RACV and acknowledging government funding, attracts ridicule.
Read the Bicycle Feasibility Study - Part 1 and Part 2.
NORTHERN Sydney councils have urged the State Government to build a light-rail line between the booming residential and employment hub of Chatswood and the northern beaches, completing a project the Greiner government proposed in 1990.
In its submission to the Herald-backed inquiry into public transport, the Northern Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils also backs a second harbour crossing to allow extra CityRail services for the north shore and north-western suburbs.
Melbourne is set to have 7 million people by 2049, and a plan is needed.
IN 1949, Australia's population was 8 million, and Melbourne's about 1.25 million. Treasury secretary Ken Henry is now predicting populations in 2049 of 35 million and 7 million, respectively.
We have struggled to manage our transport systems, water supplies, pollution and urban expansion during moderate growth since the 1940s. How will we manage a growth explosion that Henry says will demand ''the largest structural adjustment in Australian history''?
Minutes before he was stabbed to death, a teenage boy stalked his attacker through a Sydney train and threw the first punch in the fatal brawl, a court has been told.
Andrew Motuliki, 17, of Marrickville, died after being stabbed in the chest during a fight between two groups of teenagers on a train at Campsie railway station on December 21 last year.
A 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with murdering Motuliki.
Queensland Rail is under fire over the number of regular faults and delays on the city network.
There were 60 services affected this morning because of a major fault on the Ferny Grove line between Bowen Hills and Mitchelton.
There was another fault between Central Station and Roma Street.
Queensland Rail has apologised for the recent spate of track faults and delays on the city rail network.
Yesterday the rail network operated at just 66 per cent of on-time performance.
The ARHS ran a tour to Yandina in the Sunshine Coast hinterland using BB18 1/4 4-6-2 1089. It passed Caboolture on time at 10.17am.
Most of the workers building BHP Billiton's new rail line in Port Hedland have returned to work this morning after the company stopped work for safety reasons.
URGENT upgrades to the public transport network are running alarmingly late, putting commuters at risk and fuelling doubts about the Brumby Government's ability to deliver major projects under the $38 billion Victorian Transport Plan.
Project delivery has fallen to its lowest level this decade - at a time when demands on the public transport network have never been greater, the Transport Department's annual report shows.
Commuters on a city-bound Belgrave-Lilydale train experienced minor delays during peak hour this morning after a passenger became sick.
Connex spokesman Lanie Harris said the train was stopped near Blackburn station for about 20 minutes.
MORE than 900 armed security guards would patrol every train station in Melbourne and Victoria's main regional cities from 6pm to the last train under a Coalition state government.
The police transit safety squad would also be expanded by 100, bringing to 350 the number of officers patrolling the train, tram and bus networks.
The Liberals' $200 million public transport safety pledge is designed to give the party a much-needed momentum boost in the lead-up to next November's state election.
The public transport smartcard, myki, is proving a political headache for the State Government. Clay Lucas reports on the much-maligned ticket system.
MYKI. It is meant to be short for "my key". But for Kate Leckey from Creswick, near Ballarat, the $1.35 billion smartcard isn't so much a key to getting around her town as a colossal waste of money. Since mid-year, myki has been operating on buses around Ballarat in what Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky describes as a smooth roll-out. Soon, Kosky won't say precisely when, myki will come to Melbourne.
MELBOURNE'S new tram operator KDR is pushing for its fleet to be given greater priority than cars at city traffic lights and for suburban clearways to be extended.
A ''COMMONSENSE'' approach should have been taken by inspectors to a tram passenger fined $172 after his valid ticket failed to work, Premier John Brumby and Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky have said.
Commuter Muru Gappan said yesterday he would fight in court the $172 fine he received after his multi-trip ticket failed aboard a Glen Huntly tram despite repeated attempts to validate it.
An Australian Transport Council decision to replace state based rail watchdogs with a single national regulator in Adelaide would jeopardise safety and put lives at risk the Rail, Tram and Bus Union warned today.
IT'S going to be another long hot summer for train commuters it seems, with Connex already cancelling 34 services so far today, many due to the heat.
Cancellations started becoming more frequent this afternoon after temperatures hit 33 degrees at noon.
It has since climbed to 34.5 degrees — the temperature at which Connex earlier this year told the Brumby Government the city's train fleet would start to fail.
Expressions of interest are about to be called from companies wanting the contract to electrify Adelaide's rail network.
A $1.4 billion electric rail service is expected to be in operation by 2013, with work on the Seaford and Gawler lines due to start in 2011.
he Victorian Opposition has promised security officers for the Bendigo, Eaglehawk and Kangaroo Flat train stations, if it wins government.
The Opposition released its transport security policy yesterday.
An exclusion zone along rail lines could be required for all future development in the mid-western region of New South Wales.
Councillors have recommended a 50-metre landscaped buffer be introduced to protect homes and businesses from the noise and potential dust generated by coal trains which are set to return to the area.
The proposal will now go to the next council meeting.
The state member for Lismore, Thomas George, says amendments to the state government's controversial rail-trail bill are a significant win for the north coast community.
The original bill was slammed by pro-rail groups and The Greens, who believed it would be used to allow the sell off of disused rail lines.
A drunk woman who fell on the tracks at a Boston train station has walked away without injury and is now resting at home.
People flagged down the train driver to alert him the 26-year-old unnamed woman had fallen onto the tracks on Friday night.
Public transport fares in Victoria will be frozen until the end of next year.
Fares normally increase in line with the consumer price index.
A rash of cancellations on Melbourne’s train network yesterday was the result of a maintenance backlog, not the city’s spring heatwave, according to Transport Minister Lynne Kosky and Connex.
As city temperatures peaked at 35 degrees yesterday afternoon, Connex cancelled dozens of trains, delaying thousands of commuters.
A run-in with ticket inspectors that led to a passenger with a paid ticket being fined because a tram’s validation machines didn’t work was "ridiculous", according to a public transport advocate.
Muru Gappan was handed a $172 fine by tram ticket inspectors in September because he had been unable to validate his pre-paid multi-trip ticket.
Geelong bus passengers who have acted as myki guinea pigs are predicting a transport "nightmare" when the new ticketing system rolls out across Melbourne.
The travel cards were introduced on Geelong buses at the end of last year and are expected to be up and running in Melbourne this month.
There were 81 sightings for this week. This is seven sighting less than last week, making a total of 3743 sightings for this year to date. On day 311 last year we had recorded 4424 sightings.
We have seen five sightings on the B/G this week, which are four less that last week.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) says it had no prior warning about job cuts announced by a Newcastle train manufacturer yesterday.
More than 40 jobs are set to go at United Goninan's Broadmeadow operation, mainly in roles like engineering.
The state member for Lismore is apparently reconsidering his stance on the State Government's amended Rail Trails bill.
In a news release circulated yesterday, Thomas George described the amendments as a win for the north coast community.
In a news report this morning, planners from Vicroads appear to be workng on yet another freeway for Melbourne. This time is it an 8 lane outer ring road which will move Melbourne's growth boundary yet again.
The latest installment of the "alltracks" google earth layer is now available. The version 20090918 (18th September 2009) is available in Railpage Downloads and is approximately 3meg in size.
The NSW government has withdrawn draft legislation, known as the rail trail bill, after it raised community ire. Asked why the government has gone back on its stance, the transport Minister stated it was simply due to lack of support from the Greens to pass the bill, and due to growing number of legislation the Government is also trying to have passed.
Plans have been lodged for a $100 million freight hub in the Bathurst region, just weeks after the same company announced the closure of its Patricks terminal in the city.
The Department of Planning is considering the application to build an intermodal facility and warehouse east of Kelso.
The Gateway Land Corporation says it will cater for on-site customs, grain silos, fuel storage and maintenance, which it hopes will be open by the end of next year.
The North West Iron Ore Alliance's (NWIOA) hopes of accessing the rail lines of BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have received a boost after the Premier met the two companies on Tuesday.
Colin Barnett met BHP's Marius Kloppers and Rio's Tom Albanese to discuss the proposed merger of the Pilbara iron ore operations.
THE Premier, Nathan Rees, plans to mark his first appearance as leader at the state Labor conference today by announcing that work will start next year on the $1.36 billion south-west rail link.
Almost one year after shelving the Glenfield-to-Leppington project in the mini-budget, Mr Rees will announce that work will start on the rail line next year and conclude by 2016.
Hundreds of arrests have been made on NSW's railway network in a police crackdown which found crime and antisocial behaviour to be a major problem, the government says.
The possession of drugs in train corridors has been particularly rife, with 106 people cautioned since September 21 for possession of cannabis.
In the first seven weeks of the three-month Operation Vision Five, more than 40 knives and other similar weapons have been confiscated, and 563 people have been arrested.
Announcing a new book recently released called Western Australian Steam the South Western Corner with 56 pages of very good quality pictures.
There were 108 sightings for this week. This is 21 sighting more than last week, making a total of 3861 sightings for this year to date. On day 318 last year we had recorded 4509 sightings.
We have seen eleven sightings on the B/G this week, which are six more that last week.
The last fuel-carrying rail wagons will make their way along the Dubbo to Tamworth route today.
In August, Shell Australia announced plans to transport fuel from Parramatta to Dubbo, Canberra and Tamworth via road, instead of rail.
The Dubbo Shell depot will close at the end of the month, leaving seven people out of work.
Shell spokesman Paul Zennaro says the move will eliminate double handling and offer efficiencies.
Workplace health and safety charges against one of Queensland Rail's (QR) highest ranking officials have been dropped.
QR executive general manager Glen Mullins was facing one charge of failing to discharge a safe workplace after the death of two rail workers west of Mackay, in the state's north, in 2007.
Queensland Rail's (QR) $65 million upgrade of the West Moreton rail system has reached the Toowoomba district on the state's Darling Downs.
QR spokesman Tim Ripper says it is changing the old timber and steel sleepers to concrete to accommodate coal trains travelling to mines at Jondaryan.
The State Opposition says the Government's decision to revive the south-west rail link shows the plan should never have been dumped in the first place.
Premier Nathan Rees has been hinting for weeks that he would soon make a big-ticket transport announcement. He will formally make that announcement later this morning at the State Labor conference.
A Gold Coast business leader says delays in getting the rapid transit project off the ground are jeopardising jobs in the city.
The regional chairman of the Property Council says the light rail initiative has missed key dates set by Premier Anna Bligh and the Gold Coast rapid transit team.
Farm lobby group AgForce says substandard roads are preventing farm products from regional Queensland from getting to ports efficiently.
The group's state council has decided to make lobbying for regional infrastructure projects one of its key focuses for next year.
Queensland police and the railway squad have launched an investigation after rocks were thrown at an electric train on the Gold Coast yesterday morning.
A service heading to Brisbane Airport hit a crate of rocks placed on the tracks at Coomera about 6:10am (AEST).
Police say the driver stopped the train and was pelted by rocks from people hiding in bushes on both sides of the track.
Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese says it will be up to the private sector to get a fast train between Newcastle and Sydney up and running.
Federal Newcastle MP Sharon Grierson wants the fast moving train line back on the agenda, despite estimates that it would cost $20 billion.
THE running of the last regular freight train to Tamworth yesterday was a sad indictment of years of flawed transport policy, Member for Tamworth Peter Draper said.
“It is unbelievable that as congestion on highways increases and the world is concentrated on environmental concerns, regular movement of freight by rail to a major city like Tamworth has been removed,” Mr Draper said.
He said one ex-rail employee, who had worked on the railway at West Tamworth, had told him that when he started work in the mid-1980s there were about six freight trains a day to Tamworth.
The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) has called for major investments in infrastructure to help the state cope with a predicted population boom.
Victoria's population is expected to reach 7 million by 2036 and VECCI is calling on the Government to invest in infrastructure now to make sure the states economy stays strong.
At its annual Victoria summit, VECCI has outlined a series of short, medium and long-term infrastructure projects.
The summit has heard traffic congestion is affecting Victoria's liveability and economic competitiveness.
VECCI has called for major investment in roads and public transport including the upgrading of Melbourne rail tracks which a prone to buckle in the heat.
The State Government has confirmed some passengers will have to pay extra when trams and buses run late, under the new myki ticketing system.
The additional charges will affect commuters who plan to take two or more trips in a two-hour period and one of those trips is delayed or cancelled.
Small freight between Brisbane and north Queensland could be transported by road instead of rail under changes to Queensland Rail's (QR) business operations.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union says members from Bowen to Cairns were told by QR managers that small freight will be transported by road and not rail from January 4 next year.
Union spokesman Les Moffitt says motorists will be affected if more trucks are placed onto the state's roads.
The upgrade of the North Melbourne Station concourse has been completed so people can now move around the station at either end of the platforms.
Also as part of the upgrade, the station has new passenger information displays, lifts and escalators and canopies to protect you from the weather, and it's safer, with resurfaced platforms and new digital CCTV.
Train services are operating normally on the Ipswich line after a truck which hit a rail bridge at Graceville in Brisbane's inner-west left passengers stranded for nearly an hour this morning.
The crash occurred just after 8.40am and caused significant damage to the truck, which became wedged underneath the bridge on Long Street.
It is not believed the truck driver was hurt.
A PLAN to turn Port Melbourne's Webb Dock into the city's next major container terminal should eventually include expanding the dock into Port Phillip Bay, lobbyist and former Labor minister David White will tell a conference at Parliament House this morning.
The Port of Melbourne Corporation is expediting plans to bring large volumes of container shipping to Webb Dock, next to the Yarra River mouth in Port Melbourne.
AUSTRALIA will not have a high-speed rail link for another 10 to 15 years, despite having the technology ready to go.
Queensland Rail (QR) says it does not have plans to move small freight from the state's north to Brisbane off trains and onto roads.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union says its members have been told changes to the movement of small freight would come into effect from January next year.
Engineer UGL Ltd says it has secured $108 million in new supply and maintenance projects.
The new orders include the design and manufacture of 10 C44ACi locomotives, incorporating technology from GE Transportation, for Xstrata Coal, a 10-year maintenance program for the locomotives and a further 300 wagons.
The U.S. Congress has raised a monetary Bill, in which funding for Amtrak is contingent on passengers being allowed to take guns onto the train. Guns had been banned from Amtrak services in 2001, in response to terrorism fears.
Rail commuters are facing a second day of disruption after a crash led to a train derailment in Leeds.
The collision, between two empty East Midlands trains at the Neville Hill maintenance depot, took place in the early hours of Tuesday.
Northern Rail said services between Leeds and York were affected and bus services were running on some routes while the carriages were removed.
A FREIGHT train has derailed in central Queensland, causing delays for passenger, coal and freight train services throughout the region.
The 33-wagon Queensland Rail (QR) driver-only freight train was carrying fruit from Cairns to Brisbane when it derailed near Raglan, between Gladstone and Rockhampton, at 2pm (AEST) today.
Waratah Coal says the Federal Government's declaration of major project status for the China First project is an important step forward.
The $7.5 billion project at Alpha, in Queensland's Galilee Basin, includes a new coal mine, clean coal power station and new rail line from Alpha to Abbot Point near Bowen in the state's north.
The National party is keeping pressure on the Victorian Government to standardise the rail network, despite a major grain freight company moving to ease pressure on the system.
The Australian Wheat Board is doubling its grain train fleet in Victoria by commissioning 90 extra wagons to come into service early next year to move this year's big grain harvest.
AWB has commissioned construction of 90 additional grain wagons, which will more than double its fleet of the 68-tonne capacity rail wagons.
The decision to expand the fleet was taken after the excellent operational performance of the original 84 wagons brought into service earlier this year, and with better seasonal conditions in much of south eastern Australia. The expansion of the rail fleet will allow AWB to deliver on its strategy of ensuring supply to its high value customers.
The additional wagons will be delivered early in 2010 and will mean AWB owns four complete grain trains, with one additional train on lease. AWB’s trains are hauled by specialist freight operator El Zorro.
Rail companies from all over the world are lining up for the chance to move WA's grain by rail.
In a major policy shift, the Cooperative Bulk Handling Group will call for interested parties to bid, but CBH itself may end up deciding to invest in locos and rolling stock.
Current arrangements will remain in place this year, with ARG or the Australian Rail Group continuing to provide the trains for grain freight.
CBH's Michael Musgrave is overseeing the tender process for next year and he says companies from all over the world are showing interest.
The chief executive of Fortescue Metals Group, Andrew Forrest, says Australia is losing its global dominance in the iron ore sector because of poor infrastructure planning.
Mr Forrest's comments follow yesterday's speech by BHP Billiton CEO, Marius Kloppers, in which he said he is still not certain the global financial crisis is over.
Light rail was on the agenda for Brisbane, but Premier Anna Bligh ruled out a return to trams on the city's streets.
Rather, the Premier today launched a vision for an underground light rail project linking Toowong, West End, the CBD, Newstead, Bowen Hills, Bulimba and Bowen Hills by 2030.
Premier Anna Bligh says asset sales will allow the Queensland Government to invest in new projects, such as an underground metro rail system in Brisbane.
She says Brisbane's booming population will need a public transport system like the London Tube by 2030.
Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan has rejected suggestions the Gold Coast's light rail project could be up to two years late.
Gold Coast Mayor Ron Clarke says he believes the 2014 starting date for services may be ambitious and the Property Council's Peter Trathen says he is concerned about delays in early works for the project.
THREE youths caught red-handed daubing graffiti on the back of a moving train have been branded halfwits by Connex.
The male skylarkers were captured on film standing on the back of a train leaving Seddon station.
Dressed in singlets and shorts, they appeared to be putting graffiti on the back window, which Connex spokesman John Rees said would have put the train out of action until it could be removed.
There were 98 sightings for this week. This is ten sighting less than last week, making a total of 3959 sightings for this year to date. On day 325 last year we had recorded 4593 sightings.
We have seen only five sightings on the B/G this week, which are six less that last week.
Sydney is experiencing transport gridlock. Public transport services in the CBD are overcrowded, even though train services are inadequate and in many suburbs non-existent. In response, transport plans are announced and then reannounced. New rail lines are proposed but then abandoned, and governments blame increasing costs and global financial problems.
Sound familiar? Welcome to Sydney in the early 1900s, when the city's congestion problems first emerged. The present transport debates bear a striking resemblance to those of a century ago - right down to the obsession with providing major infrastructure in the CBD and the arguments about the merits of metro-style services versus heavy rail.
The New South Wales Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian says major delays this morning on Sydney's rail network should not have happened. Major lines across the city were affected when overnight track work at Homebush failed to finish on time. Cityrail says there were delays of up to 30 minutes on the Airport-East Hills, Bankstown, Inner West, North Shore, Northern, South, Western and Blue Mountains lines.
Infrastructure company ATEC says it will be able to complete two major rail projects in southern Queensland on time.
The company has won approval to build a border railway between Toowoomba and Moree.
It is also part of a consortium that is about to build the Surat Basin rail link between Toowoomba and Gladstone.
The Queensland coroner will on Tuesday start an inquest into the death of three boys struck by a train in Brisbane in 2006.
Hayden Duncan, 11, his brother Glen Duncan, 8, of Mount Gravatt East, and their nine-year-old cousin Reggie Fisher, of Carole Park, died instantly when they were struck by a passenger train between Goodna and Redbank stations in Brisbane's west about 6.40pm (AEST) on March 11, 2006.
They were killed just 40 minutes after police cautioned them for standing too close to the edge of the platform.
IN WHAT many commuters will see as a fitting end to its decade running Melbourne's rail system, the last train Connex will run is to be replaced by a bus.
Connex - which began running trains in Melbourne in 1999 when Victoria's railways were privatised - will hand over the rundown network to new operator Metro Trains in the early hours of Monday.
But due to track works around Laverton station, the final Connex service in operation will be a bus, leaving Newport station at 12.32am.
After a period of strong growth, patronage on Melbourne's public transport network is easing.
The number of trips taken on metropolitan trams, trains and buses grew by seven per cent in the 12 months to the end of September.
That compares with an increase of 13 per cent over the year to the end of March.
Connex, Melbourne's outgoing passenger train operator is going out with a whimper when it finishes up its contract at the end of the month.
It has been revealed that one of the last trains will be partially replaced by a bus, because of ongoing track work.
An inquest has been told that three boys struck and killed by a train west of Brisbane had been warned to keep away from railway tracks.
Hayden Duncan, 10, his eight-year-old brother Glen Duncan and their nine-year-old cousin Reggie Fisher were killed when they were hit by a train in the Ipswich suburb of Goodna in 2006.
MELBOURNE'S trains are being taken out of service because of empty window-washer bottles, rail maintenance reports from the past fortnight show.
The leaked reports show reasons for trains being sent to the repair yards by drivers include a cracked plastic cover on a train's high-beam light switch, a lack of soap in a window-washer bottle, several empty window-washer bottles, and window washers pointing in the wrong direction.
Dr Rolf Bergmaier, credited with designing the Zurich transport network, calls for an increase in capacity for suburban services through the city and new railway services for densely populated areas in Sydney's southern suburbs.
A 31-YEAR-OLD West African man was attacked by a bus driver and eight other men after the driver locked him in a parked bus, police were told.
The driver summoned the men on his mobile phone.
They arrived shortly after in two cars, boarded the bus and kicked and punched the man, he said in a statement to police.
The Gold Coast will get another rail service next month.
Queensland Transport Minister Rachel Nolan says trains will leave the new Varsity Lakes station for the first time on December 14.
LARGE amounts of contaminated soil built up over more than a century are being removed from former railway land in Wodonga to allow for further redevelopment. High levels of arsenic, copper, nickel zinc, sodium chloride and nitrate were discovered in and around the former station and goods shed from testing done in late 2011.
The driver of a train hit and killed three boys near Ipswich, west of Brisbane, has asked to be exempted from giving evidence at the inquest.
State coroner Michael Barnes is examining the circumstances of the deaths of Hayden Duncan, 10, his eight-year-old brother Glen Duncan, and their nine-year-old cousin Reggie Fisher, who were struck and killed by a train at Goodna in 2006.
National Express underlined its focus on expanding its position in Germany, as it looked to build on its initial success in Europe’s largest rail market by bidding for new tenders that could bring in annual revenues of €900m.
The company declined to specify the number of tenders it was bidding and said it would not expect to win all the contracts. The German regional rail market is being gradually liberalised, with 35 contracts expected to be let over the next two years
ALMOST 350 commuters were left locked in crammed carriages for about three hours late yesterday after a Geelong-bound train broke down near Little River.
The South Australian Opposition is pressing ahead with its plan to build a sports stadium at the city railyards site.
It has unveiled a billion-dollar plan for the city west area, including a 50,000-seat undercover stadium, along with cafes and shops.
The Government plans to build a new hospital at the site and says work on a new medical research facility will start at the railyards site in February, before the state election on March 20.
Queensland Rail (QR) has been fined almost $800,000 over the deaths of two workers in central Queensland in 2007.
QR employees Jamie Adams and Gary Watkins were killed in December 2007 near Mindi, west of Mackay, when they were struck by a track machine while working on the line.
The Victorian government provided funding for a new city freeway this week but spurned a new rail line. It’s important to understand why governments continue to favour roads over rails
The State Opposition has criticised a Government plan to put only one new train station along the soon-to-be-extended Joondalup train line.
The Government yesterday announced it would go ahead with the rail extension to Butler, in Perth's northern suburbs.
PREMIER Colin Barnett continues to push for commonwealth funding in the federal budget for WA rail plans, despite its historical backing of roads. When asked what he hoped to see in next week's federal budget, Mr Barnett mainly nominated contributions for various CBD transport projects promised during the recent state election.
ARTC have a new Chairman of the Board, Mr John Caldon formerly Deputy CEO fo Macquarie Bank.
Mr John Caldon has been appointed the new chairman of the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), the wholly government-owned company that manages the nation's interstate rail network.
A MULTI-million dollar program to upgrade level crossing safety and restore trains to the Gippsland line between Traralgon and Bairnsdale has been approved. Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder yesterday announced Public Transport Victoria had approved V/Line's plan for a permanent solution to the safety issue which has caused the suspension of train services since late March.
Twenty-five people are dead and 87 injured after a Russian train crashed in what officials said could have been an act of terrorism.
Four carriages of the luxury train travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg were derailed at 9:30pm local time near the town of Bologoye, 350 kilometres from Moscow.
"A one metre-diameter hole has been found next to the railway track," Interfax news agency said, quoting an unnamed source in Moscow's law enforcement agencies.
" Witnesses heard a loud slap before the accident. All of this could point to a possible act of terrorism."
LONDON (Reuters) - Transport group National Express beat off opposition from its largest investor to win shareholder approval for a 360 million pounds rights issue it needs to cut debt and restructure after losing rail franchises.
National Express said more than two-thirds of shareholders voted in favour of a cash call at an extraordinary meeting on Friday, a move which will allow it to repay some of its 1 billion pound debt pile and avoid breaching loan terms.
Russian investigators say two bombs went off at the scene of a train derailment that killed at least 26 people and injured about 100 others.
The head of Russia's federal security service, Alexander Bortnikov, says preliminary findings indicate a bomb caused the derailment of the Nevsky Express as it travelled between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
IT SEEMS the need for an internationally recognised icon has again crept on to Melbourne's ''to do'' list. Not satisfied with being one of the world's most liveable cities, the cultural capital of Australia, and, according to a recent vote, the world's best sports city, what Melbourne feels it really needs is a symbolic structure, instantly recognised the world over. Unfortunately, McDonald's has already taken the big yellow ''M''.
Caltrain commuters accustomed to facing long delays without warning will finally be able to check ahead and see if their train is running on schedule.
Caltrain officials said this week they have reached a deal with a private vendor to install global positioning system trackers in their locomotives, and use the sensors to provide real-time delay information to riders.
The expected arrival times of trains will appear at existing electronic signs at all station platforms from San Francisco to San Jose, on 511.org and by calling 511. The project should allow riders to determine ahead of time whether they should instead drive or take comparable routes such as BART north of Millbrae or Valley Transportation Authority light rail south of Palo Alto.
The project will cost $1.8 million and is part of Caltrain's $8.7 million initiative to install a new rail operations control system. The agency's board of directors is expected to approve the contract Thursday, though it is unknown when the system will start running.
RTBU branch secretary Nick Lewocki retires with optimistic expectations for New South Wales' railway and public transports. He calls for a co-ordinated strategy for Sydney transport and less easy cost-cutting.
The State Government has revealed its final plans for the Northbridge Link.
The government will sink the rail line and bus station, and redevelop the 13.5 hectare site, to include a town square 25 per cent bigger than Melbourne's Federation Square.
Melbourne's new train operator is investigating a spate of cancellations on the company's first morning in charge.
Metro took over the rail network from Connex at 3:00am, running its first service from Frankston, just before 4:30am.
Metro chief executive, Andrew Lezala, says they have had too many cancellations this morning and staff are trying to fix the problems.
The Queensland Government says the booming suburbs in Brisbane's south-west will soon get a new rail line and upgraded roads.
Transport Minister Rachel Nolan says a four kilometre section of the Centenary highway will be widened to four lanes by next year from Richlands to Carole Park.
Workers will spend the next two months drilling boreholes along the Yarra River to plan for the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel, despite the project being sidelined in the state budget. The project received only $10 million for further planning in the 2013-14 Victorian budget, compared with $294 million for the east-west link, despite Infrastructure Australia assessing the nine-kilometre rail tunnel as ''ready to proceed''.
There were 130 sightings for this week. This is two sighting more than last week, making a total of 2237 sightings for this year to date. On day 131 last year we had recorded 2190 sightings. This is 47 sightings up on the same time last year.
THOUSANDS of seats will be removed from Melbourne's existing trains over the next two years by new operator Metro to squeeze in more passengers.
And the trouble-plagued air-conditioning units on the city's 92 Comeng trains - which failed dramatically in last summer's heat - will not need to be completely overhauled for another six years.
A train bound for Pakenham broke down at 4.30pm this afternoon at Berwick, blocking peak-hour services on Metro Trains’ first day of operating the Melbourne rail system.
The breakdown has forced the new operator to run buses between Dandenong and Pakenham in both directions. It has advised patrons to expect major delays.
TASRAIL has warned of Friday madness on the state's railways as motorists and pedestrians foolishly risk their lives with moving trains. Last Friday an impatient motorist overtook a waiting vehicle at a railway crossing and missed a moving train by just three metres.
A bomb has exploded under a passenger train in Russia's troubled Dagestan but no one has been killed, police said.
The attack comes just days after a similar blast killed 26 passengers on a train from Moscow to St Petersburg.
A train with eight passenger carriages was travelling from Siberian oil town Tyumen to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, when the bomb went off.