A RAIL subway from the airport to the city and Norwood should be a priority, according to former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer.
This week we are four sightings up on the last two weeks at 128 for the week, making a total of 3768 sightings for the year to date.
The Southern Highlands Rail User Group says the new rail timetable is affecting tourism in the area, with the cuts to through services from Sydney to the Highlands deterring visitors.
A complete space of waste
It is 800 metres wide, more than 200 metres deep and it should take Sydney at least 70 years to fill its 25 million cubic metres with rubbish.
A BODY found near a rail line in South Australia's outback today is thought to be that of an 82-year-old Sydney woman who was a passenger on the Indian Pacific.
South Australian police say the death of a passenger who fell from the Indian Pacific train in South Australia's far north overnight was accidental.
Sydney's peak hour trains are still running late, especially in the afternoon, despite the 30 per cent cut in weekend services.
Victoria's independent rail operators have strongly backed State Government plans to make it easier for third parties to use Victoria's rail network.
RAILCORP of NSW is looking for technology to monitor train speed and help prevent tragedies such as last year's Waterfall derailment, which claimed seven lives.
VICTORIAN train drivers are threatening industrial action after their employer put back into service two trains the drivers say have defective brakes.
A RAIL worker died six days after he was allegedly attacked by a group of teenagers he had asked to stop drinking and smoking on a train on the NSW mid-north coast.
MELBOURNE rail operator Connex has been forced to implement new safety procedures after two trains with suspect brakes were put back into service.
A UNITED Airlines jet aborted takeoff at Bangkok International Airport early today after a bird got caught in one of its engines, and four passengers suffered minor injuries as they evacuated the plane, the company said.
RUTH Morrison had begun a slow retreat into dementia so she probably never noticed the warning signs she passed on the way to her death.
WORK on a unique monument commemorating railway workers killed while on duty is expected to begin within the month.
Mr Fischer picks up the first consignment of his new book on rail journeys yesterday. |
Train buff and former deputy prime minister Mr Tim Fischer has chronicled a lifetime of crazy rail journeys in his book Transcontinental Train Odyssey: The Ghan, The Khyber, The Globe. |
A new website has been launched to promote rail tourism in Canada. The site, www.canadabyrail.ca, is jointly sponsored by the Canadian Tourism Commission and the Railway Association of Canada.
SYDNEY'S embattled Millennium trains were dealt another blow today with thousands of commuters forced to catch a bus after a train broke down in Sydney's south.
The first steam train to operate in the Northern Territory has returned to Darwin in a ceremony at Berrimah this morning.
Investigations are underway into the death of a CountryLink worker who was injured in a fight at the Taree railway station last week.
The Member for Braitling, Lorraine Braham, says it is appropriate to name a railway overpass after one of central Australia's transport pioneers.
Former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tim Fischer, conducted a successful pre-launch signing of his new book, 'Transcontinental Train Odyssey: The Ghan, The Khyber, The Globe' at Lockhart Newsagency last Friday, July 30.
TWO men charged over a train crash last November in Victoria's south-west, in which more than 40 people were injured, today pleaded guilty in Ballarat Magistrates Court.
A LITANY of alleged safety breaches by the operator of the Indian Pacific train includes frequent cases of carriage doors being left unlocked, a court in Adelaide will hear today.
3 people have been killed in St Albans when their car was hit by a city bound V/line passenger service at the Furlong road level crossing.
Details of the accident are limited with police and ambulance attending. Met services have been suspended between Sunshine and Syndenham with the UP line blocked.
Leighton Holdings shares are set to tumble this morning after the construction group revealed that its losses on the Spencer Street railway station redevelopment project had ballooned by a further $60 million.
Hybrid shunter locomotive pioneers RailPower is partnering with 'Premier' Australian Railway Engineers United Goninan to market the emissions-busting, fuel miserly, yard engines in Australia and SE Asia
When the Ozback Explorer train rolled back into the Lithgow station on Sunday night it was the successful prelude to the start of a new era for Lithgow tourism.
A proposal for a controversial $12-million rail siding facility at Thornton is expected to come before Maitland City Council next month.
VICTORIA'S train drivers union today urged the Government to stop building level crossings on new roads after the deaths of three people when a train hit a car in Melbourne's north-west.
Mechanical faults in CityRail's beleaguered Millennium trains, rather than sick drivers, have forced the cancellation of services this week, stranding thousands of commuters.
A false fire alarm at a signal box in Sydney's Strathfield train station this morning is causing delays across the entire rail network.
A BOURBON run by two thirsty fishermen caused a $3 million train derailment that injured 30 people, a court heard yesterday.
A RAIL safety investigation on Victoria's country lines should be extended to the metropolitan network following a triple-fatal level crossing crash, the State Opposition said today.
EVERY day, milkbar owner Arif Yalinsel expected there to be a terrible accident on the level crossing at Furlong Road in St Albans.
Auckland rail services enjoyed a 30 per cent leap in patronage in the year to June 30 - to 3.241 million passenger trips - but difficulties upgrading trains point to a tight time ahead.
The vigilance of a local resident has contributed to preventing the removal of the Tarban Creek Bridge after a group from the Rail Infrastructure Corporation began dismantling the bridge on Monday afternoon.
ONLY 12 hours after a train struck a car at a railway crossing in Melbourne's west yesterday, killing three people, the same crossing was the scene of a multiple vehicle pile-up.
A MOTORIST caught on a level-crossing made a desperate attempt to drive clear seconds before an express train ploughed into it, killing all three occupants, a paramedic said today.
Central Victorian passengers affected by delays to train services because of a crash in Melbourne yesterday will be able to seek compensation.
CityRail trains south of Wollongong will be disrupted during the next week due to major track work.
THIS week's level crossing tragedy in St Albans was not the first fatal accident for the V/Line train driver.
Patricia Murray died of natural causes on The Ghan last month.
Witnesses said her body was "pushed, pulled and dragged" out of the train and then dropped to the ground because there was no platform at Tennant Creek station.
And an 82-year-old woman fell to her death from the Indian Pacific after reportedly opening a door that should have been locked.
The FCL freight terminal in Blayney had to be "made to work", according to the Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson.
A MAN suffered shoulder and facial injuries after falling under a train in northern Sydney last night.
A WOMAN killed when a train ploughed into her car held a persistent fear of being hit on a level crossing.
Crossing tragedy was not train driver's first
A MAN is in hospital with head injuries after he was bashed at a train station in Sydney's north-west.
We have had 129 sightings for the week which is one more that last week, the total sightings for the year to date is 3897.
Australia has a $24.8 billion deficit in infrastructure spending by the public and private sectors, according to a survey by researchers Econotech and the Australian Council for Infrastructure Development.
South West Victoria's train services had suffered an "outrageous cut" from which they may never recover, a public transport users' group said yesterday.
A long-awaited upgrade of the Tennant Creek railway station, in central Australia, should be complete by October.
Lawyers for one of Britain's most flamboyant and famous thieves have sought freedom for the ailing prisoner on compassionate grounds.
V/Line announced today that it is continuing its preparations to take over from West Coast Rail on 1 September 2004.
V/Line today announced a temporary alteration to the Warrnambool-Geelong-Melbourne rail service to apply from 1 September 2004 when it takes over services to Warrnambool from West Coast Rail.
A 57-year-old man was killed when his tractor was hit by a freight train at a level crossing in north Queensland.
Glenelg council is likely to lobby V/Line over its decision to introduce an earlier start for the first train out of Warrnambool to Melbourne.
Valdals struck the Stringybark Express tourist train terminal at Wahgunyah at the weekend leaving a damage bill of $2000.
The New South Wales Opposition has accused the Government of changing the goalposts for a second time to try to maintain what it says is the illusion that Sydney's trains are running on time.
Research has begun into the withdrawal of passenger transport services from country areas in New South Wales.
A revamped CityRail timetable may be introduced five months early to ease growing frustration over cuts to weekend services and unreliable weekday trains.
The Victorian Opposition says Melbourne's train system is in turmoil with commuters enduring lengthy delays as hundreds of services are cancelled.
Sydney's public transport users may be turning away from buses in the wake of CityRail's 30 per cent cuts in weekend train services, with some companies reporting losing up to a fifth of their weekend trade.
MELBOURNE'S train system is being gutted with hundreds of services axed and Connex paying more than $1 million a month in government penalties.
More people should mean more trains more often, but history shows that in Sydney that has not been the case, writes Joseph Kerr.
Ninety-four years ago Sydney's rail system was facing collapse. Modern commuters, suffering through the dramas that have beset CityRail this year and last, might wonder if action was ever taken to remedy the situation.
Melbourne'S train system is being gutted with hundreds of services axed and Connex paying more than $1 million a month in government penalties.
Cash-strapped Sydney Ferries wants to raise its fares by 9 per cent, pushing the price of a single ticket to Manly to $6.30 and to inner-harbour suburbs such as Kirribilli and Balmain to $4.90.
Via Rail's on-time performance last year was its worst in 16 years, and the Crown corporation blames mainly Canadian National Railway Co., which provides most of the track used by the passenger rail service.
CHRIS Harris was run down by a train at Redfern station as he escaped the drunken threats of a Sydney teenager who today launched an appeal against his conviction.
Railway Adventures Across Australia and Down The Line with Scott McGregor released on DVD and Video.
Channel 7 soon to screen the Down The Line series
Melbourne train commuters face at least another 12 months of chronic delays and cancellations due to the city's rail system.
A passenger train in northwest Turkey ignored a stop signal and rammed into an oncoming train, killing nine people and injuring 74 others, officials said, in the nation's third deadly rail accident in as many weeks.
Connex will employ 108 new train drivers during the next two years in a bid to dramatically decrease train cancellations and stop paying costly fines.
The Victorian and federal governments have announced a joint study into improving the rail freight corridor between Mildura and Geelong.
Findings from a study into the feasibility of reopening a train service in northern New South Wales will be released tomorrow.
The Rail Technical Society of Australia says a light rail system on Fraser Island is a realistic possibility.
Maroochy Shire on the Sunshine Coast is the latest Queensland council to investigate light rail as a solution to worsening transport problems.
The Southern Highlands will be included in a study into the effects of rail passenger service cuts in rural New South Wales.
North Queensland passenger services will be delayed today after a freight train derailment in a railway yard.
The City of Mandurah is considering a Central Area Transit (CAT) bus system in preparation for the Southern Suburbs rail service.
As many of you may have noticed, Railpage has been out of service for approximately two days.
Hi Guy's, We have had 116 sightings this week which is thirteen sightings down on last week, which is a result of a downturn in grain trains.
Rail venture approved
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10467174%255E664,00.html
Trevor Chappell
17aug04
LOGISTICS companies Toll Holdings and Patrick Corp have won Victorian government approval for the their joint venture rail operation, Pacific National, to acquire Victorian rail operator Freight Australia.
By SARAH LIPOVAS
August 16, 2004
WARRNAMBOOL train travellers will be able to enjoy a glass of wine or a cold beer when V/ine takes over the city's train service from September.
WORK on Victoria's new high-speed country rail network will get back on track with a new owner.
The National Party says the Victorian Government has missed its chance to take back control of regional rail, by giving the green light to the sale of Freight Australia to Pacific National.
THE City of Greater Bendigo council has moved to put out a political storm surrounding the State Government's $200 million fast train project.
Hamersley Iron says it will take several weeks to determine what caused almost 80 wagons carrying iron ore to derail near the Yandicoogina mine, in north-west Western Australia, last week.
Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan says the new Prospector train service has been a success, so far.
Toll Rail is planning another round of crossing loop extensions on NZ's West Coast coal route in a bid to boost capacity.
Hopes of a high-speed train link to cope with Sydney's alarming population growth have been raised again by a leading State Government strategist.
Victoria's independent rail users have vowed to keep up the pressure on the State Government over full competition on the rail network after the $285 million sale of Freight Australia.
"A single set of tram tracks will pass through the Nolan Street-Napier Street intersection and travel along the edge of Napier Street where the footpath is presently located, in front of the public toilet blocks and the children's playground," he said.
BUS, train and tram operators have paid $2.6 million in fines for poor service since Adelaide's public transport services were privatised in 2000.
Regular rail services to the North-East will cease from October 1.
The new lease for Victorias rail infrastructure provides for the removal of the rail line from the centre of Wodonga, the Victorian Transport Minister Mr Peter Batchelor said yesterday.
Freight users have demanded the Victorian government strip control of the state's regional track network from new owner Pacific National to counter the dominance the deal gives one company over the eastern seaboard's railways.
Casey Jones-era signals north of Newcastle - a legacy of the NSW government's frugality in rail investment - keep freight trains on the Sydney-Brisbane route to a top speed of 55kmh.
A SYDNEY teenager whose drunken threats made a man run on to railway tracks where he was struck by a train has lost his appeal against his manslaughter conviction.
The Victorian Government has confirmed the regional fast rail project will not be fully operational on any of the four lines until 2006.
Bendigo council has been urged to go back over its figures on the viability of extending the city's tram line around Lake Weeroona.
A Queensland rail worker was seriously injured when he was struck by a load of timber being used to repair a footbridge at the Wacol railway station in Brisbane.
The Victorian Opposition says the State Government could push new work the way of the Ballarat railway workshops to prevent the loss of 33 jobs.
THE City of Greater Bendigo council has moved to put out a political storm surrounding the State Government's $200 million fast train project.
DUBBED an "eyesore" by Bobs Street residents, this derelict locomotive lies abandoned, while vandals run wild in its empty carriages, smashing windows and covering it with graffiti. The eight carriages are a far cry from their former glory, with residents living in the Bendigo street frustrated by the unsightly presence of the train on a disused train track near their homes.
The company managing Rio Tinto iron ore's rail lines in the Pilbara, in north-west Western Australia, says equipment failure rather than human error is to blame for a major derailment last week.
FEDERAL Labor has promised to restore the Casino to Murwillumbah train line in northern NSW, four months after the State Government axed the service.
A federal Labor government would commit $150 million over 10 years to restore the Murwillumbah to Casino rail line in northern NSW.
A minor scuffle involving a Federal Government minister almost overshadowed a Labor policy launch in northern New South Wales today.
Shunted off: QR says it will offer voluntary redundancies.AFP
TasRail has denied the suspension of its north-east rail service from October is a sign of things to come.
Federal Labor has promised to throw $15 million at NSW's ailing country rail network to restore a train line abandoned by its state counterpart three months ago on the grounds it was a waste of money.
A Syrian and an Algerian have been arrested in Spain in connection with the March 11 Madrid train bombings, the Spanish interior ministry said.
Queensland Rail (QR) expects to lose about half its business on the Brisbane to Cairns line when a new player enters the market.
Two rail workers who made corruption complaints to the ICAC have been shut out of their offices and forced to undergo psychological evaluation.
An angry mob set fire to a passenger train in central Bangladesh yesterday, injuring at least 20 people, in retaliation for a grenade attack on an opposition rally that killed 22 people and wounded hundreds, police said.
Fortescue Metals Group chief Andrew Forrest has declared his proposed $1.85 billion independent iron ore project in the Pilbara a certainty, after China's biggest construction group agreed to fund and build a dedicated railway for the venture.
Andrew Forrest's grand plan to become the "third force" in Western Australia's iron-ore rich Pilbara region moved a step closer to reality after his Fortescue Metals Group signed an agreement with China's largest construction group.
The UK's longest rail route, the CrossCountry route which links Scotland to south-west and south-east England, could be broken up following the failure by Virgin Rail to secure the extension of its franchise, rail user pressure groups have warned.
Today really is D Day for the launch of the Ozback Explorer - a rail tour to Darwin and return. It is a nervous wait today for the people who have worked hard over the past year to bring an exciting new tourism venture to reality.
A plan for a tourist tramway spanning the Hobart waterfront has finally been put to rest.
Kim Smith is the Superintendent of Trams for the Bendigo Trust, and you might think it's a little odd that he was relieved by the weekend's rally against the extension of tram tracks around Lake Weeroona.
Queensland Rail's (QR) union workforce has agreed to work towards competition efficiencies in the wake of state-wide job cuts.
The Federal Government says it will provide funding to re-open the Casino to Murwillumbah rail line on the New South Wales north coast but has backed away from putting a figure on it.
The Cootamundra Herald reported in May that the jobs of rail workers were under threat from a deal struck by the Rail Infrastructure Corporation and the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).
THE proposed Hobart railyard-botanical gardens tram link puts at risk a valuable transport corridor and associated sites, says a transport expert.
Local government leaders have responded favourably to news the Western Australian Government will begin negotiations with Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) to facilitate its iron ore project in the east Pilbara.
Lessons have not been learned by Network Rail following the Tebay rail tragedy earlier this year, the RMT union claims.
The Member for Warrego, Howard Hobbs, is predicting jobs will be lost in southern Queensland as part of the Government's restructure of Queensland Rail.
The first round of briefings about cuts to Queensland Rail's (QR) northern workforce starts today.
The Mayor of Tweed Shire Council in northern NSW says the Federal Government's offer of $15 million is the best way to get the Casino to Murwillumbah rail service back on track.
Chief Minister Clare Martin said she was unaware of any problems with the ramp, paid for by Territory taxpayers. But she said it was the responsibility of station operators SCL.
The Victorian Opposition says another delay in the Bendigo-Melbourne rail line shutdown is confirmation the fast rail project is slipping further behind.
The proposed Hobart railyard-botanical gardens tram link puts at risk a valuable transport corridor and associated sites, says a transport expert.
Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson says the Federal Government is committed to restoring the Casino to Murwillumbah rail link in northern NSW, but will not offer any more money until he sees the plans to upgrade the line.
CFCL Australia has agreed to purchase the locomotive fleet of pioneer private rail operator West Coast Railway, which ceases operations at the end of this month.
The deal, which also includes a substantial spare parts inventory, will add another nine locomotives to CFCLA's expanding lease fleet, which now totals over 65 locomotives.
Visiting representatives from the Rail Infrastructure Corporation (RIC) were caught on the hop regarding the heritage listing of the Tamworth to Wallangarra rail line at Tuesday's meeting in Tenterfield.
In the Railway Budget for 2004-2005, the target for electrification has been fixed as 375 Route kilometres and Rs. 237.49 crores has been allotted for electrification. In year 2003-2004, 504 Route kilometre were electrified as against the target of 350 Route kilometre.
Toll Holdings, fresh from a record profit in 2003-04, has forecast another record in the 2004-05 financial year and allayed fears that rising oil costs will affect its performance.
PREMIER Steve Bracks has met the Rail Tram and Bus Union to discuss the future of Ballarat's ALSTOM workshops.
A MAN was hospitalised with a suspected fractured arm and fractured leg after a collision between a car and tram in Melbourne last night.
A small but prominently displayed message led the XPT into Orange yesterday as part of a workers' bargaining campaign.
As my commercial jet touched down at Peshawar airport, the main airport for the region, in 1998, I noticed a set of double-track railway lines running right across the runway and, in the distance, two steam engines heading towards the Khyber Pass. This is absolutely unique, a point where steam trains intersect with jet planes.
The first six months of FreightLink operations on the Adelaide to Darwin railway delivered freight volumes in line with expectations. CEO Bruce McGowan said by the end of July the service had carried around 270,000 tonnes of freight, of which 10,200 tonnes had been exported out of Darwin by ship to destinations throughout South-East Asia.
Toll NZ is very close to doing deals with Fonterra and Solid Energy that will increase the volume of goods being moved by rail.
Russian crude oil exports by railway are growing and could climb to 10-mil mt/year, Viktor Khristenko, minister of industry and energy said Wednesday during an official visit to Beijing.
A $5.4m upgrade of Wellington's ageing electric train carriages was announced today. Greater Wellington Regional Council (WRC) Transfund and Toll NZ have agreed to fund a limited refurbishment of 36 carriages used on the Johnsonville and Melling lines.
Users of the Latrobe Valley rail line may have to put up with coach services for another week in October as the State Government prepares the line for the fast rail project.
Federal Transport Minister John Anderson believes he and his New South Wales counterpart can find a way to get a train service in northern NSW back on the tracks.
Japan's Foreign Minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, has signed a US$150 million loan to Uzbekistan to help link Asia and Afghanistan's rail systems.
A 23-year-old man narrowly escaped death this morning when a train crushed the car he had just got out of in the Melbourne suburb of Toorak.
Japan's Foreign Minister, Yoriko Kawaguchi, has signed a $US150 million loan to Uzbekistan to help link Asia and Afghanistan's rail systems.
BHP Billiton is challenging an application to the National Competition Council aimed at freeing up its extensive Pilbara rail network for use by other companies.
BALLARAT'S fast train has become the slow train with the 64-minute journey to Melbourne not expected to arrive for commuters until 2006. The State Government has been accused of misleading Ballarat residents after it originally promised the service would be finished in 2005 - five years from its September 2000 pledge.
Hi Guy's, We have had 136 sightings this week which is 33 sightings more than last week, the grain trains have come back with a bang with 12 grain trains on Tuesday alone. The total sightings for the year to date is 4252.
Operational and maintenance service provider Transfield Services is looking at five potential acquisitions, including French company Alstom's Australian rail engineering unit.
AN3 trailled NR74 on 1AD8 to Darwin; 29-8-2004
"It's about deciding whether you want two hats or one," he said.
QUEENSLAND Rail stands out like a relic from a bygone age in a business landscape brimming with competition reform and increased privatisation.
AN3 ON 1AD8 TO DARWIN!!!!
The Ozback Explorer is on its way!!!
A celebration is being held to mark the centenary of an event which changed the face of travel in the North East.