Rail workers calling for the renationalisation of the railways are set to march through London.
Rail tunnels connecting two Kent towns will be closed for four months from Saturday as part of a £10m overhaul.
A secret plan to flog off the Goulburn railway workshop has been unearthed by a rail worker.
The scheme was uncovered when a workshop manager let the cat out of the bag to an AMWU member, said Paul Bastian, NSW AMWU State Secretary.
A FOUR lane roadway could be built beneath the world renowned Sydney Harbour Bridge under a plan to ease the city's traffic and train congestion.
Workers hauled away mangled railway cars as a massive cleanup continued at the site of Japan's worst train crash in four decades.
MELBOURNE's Commonwealth Games baton will be held high in 217 Victorian towns and suburbs next year.
The safety system chosen for the state's $1.3 billion regional fast rail upgrade was initially declared substandard.
Brisbane Deputy Mayor David Hinchliffe put the city's on-again-off-again light rail concept back on the public agenda yesterday, proposing a multi-million-dollar mass-transit system for the inner city.
COMMUTERS are choosing to drive their cars rather than use dirty, unreliable trains which are hotspots for criminals, the NSW opposition says.
Today marks the first anniversary of the return of passenger services to Bairnsdale.
Connex and V-Line are warning passengers of long delays on outbound Werribee Line rail services due to power lines downed by a truck.
Dandenong will be targeted in today's budget with transport and planning initiatives aimed at improving train services to the fast growing region and boosting residential development. The measures will include advancing the struggling Dandenong transit city project.
The number of people travelling by train has been steadily declining for the past two years, CityRail figures show.
THE slow coaches that have cost Victorian taxpayers a staggering $1.3 billion will in many cases be slower than existing rail services.
A POST-mortem examination will today be carried out on the body of a man found near a rail line on the outskirts of Perth.
ARTC will increase its planned investment in the Hunter Valley from A$153 million to A$270 million.
A train carriage carrying passengers broke free from a suburban train and continued travelling in one of two incidents involving Melbourne public transport operator Connex.
The South Australian Government has agreed to hand back to council unused rail land in Mount Gambier.
There is relief in Griffith at confirmation the rail branch line to Hillston will be upgraded by the next harvest.
High speed trains would whiz passengers and freight between Brisbane and Melbourne overnight under an alternative $3.1 billion inland rail project to be show-cased at a conference later this month.
A advocate for an inland rail expressway linking Melbourne and Brisbane says there is no need for competition amongst different groups offering proposals for the link.
A light rail line through Queen Street Mall is among proposals in a report detailing mass transit options for inner Brisbane.
Prime railway land, worth more than $1 million, has been given back to the citizens of Mt Gambier.
Connex and the State Government have struck a secret deal that will see taxpayers paying more for the $1.3 billion Regional Fast Rail project.
THE federal Government's interstate rail corporation will deploy a $62.3 million train management system and CDMA communications network developed by aerospace group Lockheed Martin under a new agreement announced today.
The driving force behind a proposed Brisbane to Melbourne inland rail link is encouraging local councils to have their say on the route.
An 18-year-old first year driver and the four occupants of her van escaped injury after a collision with a train at Glenorchy last night.
More than 350 Melbourne daytrippers took advantage of an extra Warrnambool races train yesterday morning.
Tanker trains available as Goulburn's major water users targeted
The operation of water trains to Goulburn would pose "absolutely no technical problems," says the principal of Chicago Freight Car Leasing (Australia), Ian Gibbs.
The Victorian Minister for Transport, Peter Batchelor, has introduced new laws into State Parliament to reform Victoria's rail access regime.
TWO paramilitary soldiers were injured in a blast close to a railway track, while a main powerline was bombed in a restive southwestern Pakistani province today, officials said.
The driving force behind a proposed Brisbane to Melbourne inland rail link is encouraging local councils to have their say on the route.
SPAIN'S High Court has sentenced two members of the Basque separatist group ETA to 2775 years each in prison for a plot to plant bombs on a Madrid-bound train on Christmas Eve 2003.
A bill that promises to give all freight train operators the equal right to use Victoria's privately owned rail network has been introduced into State Parliament.
Riverina councils are being asked to comment on their preferred route for the inland rail corridor for a report to be given the Government next month.
The Goulburn Railway Workshops treated its staff to a barbecue lunch on Friday to celebrate an industry milestone, 400 days without an injury.
The South Coast rail line has defied the trend across CityRail to record rising passenger numbers, prompting renewed calls to upgrade the line.
The Federal Member for the Darwin seat of Solomon says a proposed 200-kilometre train line connecting north-west Victoria to inland routes would increase freight travel between Melbourne and Darwin.
There were 92 sightings for the week which is 6 sightings more than last week. Making a total for the year to date at 1688* sightings (* One weeks sightings missing in March) (Total sightings up to day 127 last year was 2113).
The Mayor of the northern NSW Tweed Shire says his council would like to see the NSW Government investigate extending the eastern rail line to the Queensland border.
I do try, now and then, to write on something other than the pageant of NSW planning. But what a fabulous pageant it is. Carl Hiaasen once likened the Miami development scene that is his daily bread to those Keystone Cops movies, where your heroes tumble one by one from the back of the paddy wagon and spend the rest of the film trying to get their arms and legs moving in a forward direction.
Network Rail, the operator of Britain's rail infrastructure, will hold a roadshow in Australia this month.
Western Australia's claim that it has been massively short-changed by the Federal Government in the distribution of freight rail infrastructure funds has been firmly rebuffed by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, John Anderson.
Building the so-called "missing link" between Queensland's two main coalfield railways was no quick "silver bullet" solution to freeing up the state's infrastructure bottlenecks, Queensland Rail chief Bob Scheuber warned yesterday.
Savvy Victorian motorists who are late to work may soon speed their arrival by catching the tail of a bus running behind time. But other drivers may have to wait longer at traffic lights to allow buses and trams to stick to their schedules. Part of a $7 million contract to supply smart transit systems to Melbourne's public transport network includes technology from Brisbane wireless logistics designer Technisyst, which requests late buses be given priority at controlled intersections - changing lights to green to speed a vehicle's passage. Similar notions are being investigated by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority and in south-east Queensland, where a tender is soon to be let.
TheState Government will spend an additional $10 million on local road and rail infrastructure with the intent of boosting the grain industry on Eyre Peninsula.
Extract from the Aust. Federal Govern't Department of Transport & Regional Services Portfolio - Budget 2005/06 Press Release
AUSLINK INVESTMENT PROJECTS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Building Our Transport Future in Victoria:
Victoria Rail Projects:
# Rail links to the Port of Melbourne
# Melbourne to Albury rail standardisation
# Geelong to Mildura rail standardisation
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
THEY should use Newcastle as a role model," the head of the world's biggest coal port shouted over the noise of a coal loader.
Frustrated rail commuters on the troubled inner-west lines may begin to arrive home on time, with CityRail's upgrades of the network easing congestion and minimising delays in the notoriously late evening peak period.
The Australian Government will spend $2.2 billion on the land transport system in 2005-06. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, John Anderson, and the Minister for Local Government, Territories and Roads, Jim Lloyd, made the announcement today.
A SNAP strike by 300 rail workers threw Sydney train services into chaos late today, creating delays and cancelled services throughout the network – with more of the same expected tomorrow.
Travel agents will be able to book online and dynamically package holidays through Queensland Rail following the operator’s selection of World.Net technology as a basis for its new holiday booking system.
THOUSANDS of commuters will be late for work today after train maintenance workers called a snap strike last night, protesting random drug testing procedures.
Two weeks ago the State Government announced an investigation into the future of the state's red gum forests along the Murray River.
SYDNEY rail commuters faced train cancellations and delays during this morning's peak period because of a snap strike by rail workers over a dispute about random drug testing.
The rail service to Scone will not be cut permanently but will be reduced for an extended period of time, according to City Rail Hunter regional business manager James Adam.
It has been revealed two of the nation's biggest rail companies are behind the proposal to reopen the Tumut to Cootamundra rail line for freight.
The Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce is calling on the city council to show more enthusiasm for the proposed Brisbane to Melbourne inland rail link.
Wodonga's Mayor is in Melbourne today for talks on moving the railway line out of the city centre.
THE 2005/2006 Federal Budget did not contain good news regarding the request for $20 million to secure the future of rail transport on Eyre Peninsula.
THE Ten Network's outdoor advertising business Eye Corp and French outdoor group JC Decaux are teaming up to bid for Australia's second-biggest outdoor advertising contract, worth up to $100 million.
Transport Minister Peter Batchelor denied Opposition claims yesterday that the price tag for the embattled regional fast rail project would blow out to more than $1 billion.
Crisis talks between the New South Wales Government and Sydney rail workers have averted further strike action over a dispute about random drug testing.
The official start of works on the Hume Highway upgrade at Wodonga has descended into mud-slinging between politicians.
Something happened to my good, close, personal friend Ernie that I have to tell you about with some urgency. First, though, I must tell you that I love Ernie. I love him like no other human being, and the reason I love him in this very special way is reflected in the affectionate nickname I have for him.
More dangerous even than the train crash that killed 107 people in Japan three weeks ago was what lay behind it: a frightened driver, a brainwashed rail network and a nation under pressure.
A 24-year-old woman has been stabbed during an attack by a group of teenage girls at Flinders train station in Melbourne.
There were 92 sightings for the week which is the same number of sightings
as last week. Making a total for the year to date at 1780* sightings (* One
weeks sightings missing in March) (Total sightings up to day 134 last year
was 2254).
The survey series has shown that the support for the rail link has if anything grown over
the period from December 2002 to May 2005. It is interesting to note that the current
supportive findings come from a survey conducted over May 2-4 2005, a week after the
Minister for Planning & Infrastructure announced probable cost overruns in the order of
$45 Million.
Could Lithgow become 'home' to some of the State's most treasured historic steam locomotives?
The Australian Agricultural Company says it will be able to use the Adelaide to Darwin railway to export cattle if the Federal Government invests in a truly national rail network.
The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) begins its fourth "smart train" tour with its first stop in Toowoomba this morning.
While Victorian Transport Minister Peter Batchelor claims the Wodonga rail relocation is a Wodonga council problem, documents that he signed in August, 2001, clearly suggest otherwise.
Cooloola Shire's Mayor says he wants the Department of Transport and Regional Solutions to hand over the money it promised the Mary Valley Heritage Railway (MVHR) almost a year ago.
The Mayor of Wodonga says the Victorian Government has agreed to help move the railway line out of the town centre.
A proposal to consider the New England rail line through Armidale, Glen Innes and Tenterfield as part of a new national rail transport corridor has won the support of local federal MP Tony Windsor.
Rail authorities are considering using red-light cameras at level crossings after two accidental deaths and a spate of near-misses this year.
The Industrial Relations Commission has suggested a rail manufacturer in Maryborough and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union try to resolve an industrial dispute on their own.
A big to build a $100 million tower of flats on the old Jolimont railyards site may finally win approval.
TRAINS will stop for more than three hours in Adelaide today while drivers attend a stopwork meeting.
It's a task that once would have required a veritable army of surveyors armed with an array of measuring instruments.
Regulated fees for access to South Australia's rail network may be abolished.
NEW England and the north-west are braced for a long battle as each draws up plans for bragging rights for the proposed inland rail route through northern NSW.
Independent Member for New England, Tony Windsor met with the New England Local Government Group in Armidale this week to discuss the proposed Inland Rail route from Melbourne to Brisbane and beyond with a view to putting the New England route up as a viable possibility.
The union representing employees of a Goulburn rail workshop says it is hopeful about their future following a meeting with New South Wales Transport Minister John Watkins.
A $2 million rail infrastructure project planned for Dubbo could be lost because roads minister Michael Costa won't give Dubbo businessman Roger Fletcher five minutes of his time.
TRANSPORT Department officers will begin a six-month feasibility study to determine just how far the Glenelg tram line will be extended north of the city.
The South Australian Opposition has accused the Government of making policy on the run, after flagging a further extension to the Glenelg tram line.
Deep within the cavernous Don River Railway train shed, among the idle carriages and engines, Geoff Brown spends a couple of days a week indulging his passion for rail.
Transport company Patrick will continue to invest heavily in expanding its ports and rail businesses and does not plan to change the business model at budget airline Virgin Blue.
THREE years after its preferred route was announced, the State Government is going back to the drawing board on the $1.4 billion northwest rail link.
A solution to the wine trains return is near according to Member for Schubert Ivan Venning.
TRAIN commuters on the Cranbourne line have been hit hard by delayed trains, figures released last week suggest.
Department of Infrastructure figures showed more than 15 per cent of Cranbourne line trains were late in April, more than any other metropolitan train line in Melbourne.
Cranbourne resident Irene Zentay, 57, said the delays were affecting her family and her daughter was sometimes half an hour to an hour late for work in the mornings, time she had to make up for at night.
Australia's biggest port cargo handler Patrick Corp Ltd will continue to heavily invest in the expansion of its ports and rail businesses, earmarking an initial $425 million for development.
Three years after its preferred route was announced, the State Government is going back to the drawing board on the $1.4 billion northwest rail link.
Shares in Chris Corrigan's Patrick Corp rallied to their biggest gain for 2 1/2 years yesterday, as the diversified transport group outlined plans for "massive" investments in its port and rail infrastructure to take advantage of the export boom.
The Sydney Morning Herald's travel writer Ben Cubby rides the rails from Sydney to Darwin via the Indian Pacific (which went via Goulburn!) and The Ghan. A long read.
SYDNEY's 7km light rail system is in financial strife and may be forced to shut or rely on taxpayer funds if a proposed CBD extension is refused.
The Royal Mail plans to use trains to transport about a million letters a day between Scotland and London.
There were 99 sightings for the week which is seven sightings more than last week. Making a total for the year to date at 1879* sightings (* One weeks sightings missing in March)
(Total sightings up to day 141 last year was 2403).
The Deputy Prime Minister says the capacity constraints at Australia's shipping ports are not at a crisis point but more needs to be done to ensure the country can meet an expanding export market.
One of Melbourne's most enduring problems is about to be tackled by some of its most influential people. Flinders Street Station is now the target of the powerful Committee for Melbourne - a private body of prominent corporate, scientific and academic figures instrumental in such projects as City Link and Docklands.
CityRail's 200 trains broke down 1242 times in the first three months of the year, the shadow minister for transport, Peter Debnam, said today.
Traffic will be able to use the Flinders Street overpass at King Street until the first weekend in June, when the first of three weekend closures will allow it to be demolished.
Removing the overpass will open up the intersection and allow right-hand turns. Trams have been re-routed, and the changes are expected to be in force until late November.
The State Transport Minister, John Watkins, has given the Young Shire Council an assurance there are no plans to close the Greenthorpe to Koorawatha rail line.
The union representing EDI Rail workers at Maryborough says a number of employees are looking for work elsewhere because of a protracted industrial dispute.
A Manildra Flour Mill freight train was delayed yesterday morning following a two-car accident near the railway crossing at Borenore.
Passengers were locked on a train for more than an hour yesterday as police negotiated with a man who said he was armed with a gun.
Responding to recent industry focus on rail networks, P&O Ports today commenced its own dedicated rail service on the Melbourne–Adelaide rail corridor.
Residents of Bundanoon and Exeter are joining together to oppose the cuts in rail services that the State Government is planning for the southern villages from September.
Public Transport Authority spokesman David Hynes confirmed the PTA expected to have the ballast and track removed [from Geraldton] within about three weeks of the finish of GSTC work.
The train journey to Sydney will be more comfortable after funding in yesterday's State Budget for new South Coast train carriages.
ABOUT 100 people have been evacuated from a passenger train after it smashed into a car, causing a gas leak, north of Melbourne.
THE New South Wales Government has strengthened the powers of the state's transport regulator to ensure a safer and more reliable rail system.
A train was evacuated after it hit a car at a disused crossing in Melbourne's north about 7:00pm AEST yesterday.
NEARBY industry should not be the sole determining factor in the establishment of an interstate rail freight route through the New England or Gwydir areas, according to the Member for New England Tony Windsor.
The fatal train wreck in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, has revealed how JR train drivers are under constant pressure to make up any delay, prompting the public to have second thoughts about a society obsessed with punctuality. running may have caused that fatal accident.
The Forbes Shire Council is lobbying the group behind a proposed inland railway to include Forbes on the line.
TRANSWA officials continue to be frustrated by ongoing mechanical problems plaguing the new Prospector rail service between Kalgoorlie and Perth.
The Transport Legislation (Further Amendment) Bill passed its second reading in the Legislative Council this week. It sets out to implement a third-party access regime, which requires track owner Pacific National (PN) to provide the Essential Services Commission (ESC) with standard terms and conditions of access, including price.
It has taken hard working, dedicated volunteers, long hours and the town's support, but the Tailem Bend railway station has finally been restored to its original state.
MELBOURNE transport operator Connex has angered customers by revealing the email addresses of 350 subscribers in a promotional newsletter.
Well known TV presenter and train aficionado, Scott McGregor, is teaming up with The Ozback Explorer, Australia’s newest long haul passenger train, to host a seven day tour exploring some of Australia’s most famous and little known Outback Icons.
Scott hosted Railway Adventures Across Australia on Channel 10 and recently followed it up with adventures by train in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam in a 6 part series, “Down The Line” screened on Channel 7 over Christmas. He is a well-known face from his work as the host of the ratings winning show Room For Improvement and as the DIY guy on Better Homes and Gardens. “My adventures on the tele have inspired me to share my passions with other fellow travellers” he said.
Train guards in Merseyside were staging a 24-hour strike on Saturday in a dispute over working hours.
Almost all commuters in Sydney's newest suburbs drive to work, but up to 91 per cent of these workers are given few other options.
Sydney is in desperate shape. There are many signs, but you only have to look at the weather to see something is badly wrong.
Fifty years ago the American economist John Kenneth Galbraith observed a paradox in advanced economies - how private wealth grows alongside public squalor. Frustrated commuters might think he was writing about Sydney in 2005. Despite unprecedented private riches, much of the city's public infrastructure is deteriorating.
The Howard Government will have to change the way it funds the states and adopt a more co-operative approach with the Labor premiers to tackle the nation's bottlenecks in road, rail, ports and electricity.
Coal trains should be running on a new central Queensland rail line by the end of the year.
Melbourne's train service has been slowly starved by a lack of cash.
Connex has more train carriages than it needs to cope with peak-hour demand, but too many are sitting in maintenance sheds, industry experts say.
Jammed in like sardines or reading the sports section in comfort? Your experience of commuting depends on which the line you travel on.