FreightLink exceeds first-year freight expectations

<p>FreightLink is on course to reach 600,000 tonnes of freight in its first year of operation on the Adelaide-Darwin railway.</p> <p>The operator has already hauled 500,000 tonnes, well in excess of its first-year target of 350,000 tonnes, a FreightLink spokesman said</p> <p>The three-year target of 800,000 tonnes now looks well within reach.</p> <p>FreightLink started operations on January 15, 2004. </p> <br />

No grain ships means no Portland grain train: Pacific National

<p>Pacific National has defended its decision not to run its grain service into Portland after criticism that it was forcing freight onto road.</p> <p>A Pacific National spokesman said the grain service, which also takes some containers out of Portland, was not presently running because there are no grain vessels in at port.</p> <p>Earlier this week the company also pointed to farmers’ decision to keep grain in silos rather than hauling it to port because of uncertainties over the current grain harvest.</p> <p>The spokesman said that once the ships returned to port, the grain train would resume and the availability for railing boxes will return.</p> <p>Pacific National also said the average number of containers a month the service hauled out of Portland for 2004 was just 45 &#8211 about 20 wagons’ worth.</p> <p>"In some months it has been as low as five containers," the spokesman said.</p> <p>So far in December there have been no grain vessel calls at the port of Portland after five vessel calls for November 2004.</p> <p>It is understood there might be one grain ship call in January.</p> <p>It is not unusual for the grain vessel calls to fluctuate over a year &#8211 during 2003&#4704, no grain ship called in November or December 2003, but two called in January.</p> <p>A total of 23 grain ships called at Portland in 2003&#4704.</p> <br />

Michael Beard settles NZ insider trading case

<p>Former Tranz Rail chief executive Michael Beard has agreed to pay NZ$155,691 to settle an insider trading case brought against him by the New Zealand Securities Commission.</p> <p>Mr Beard was one of several executives named in the proceedings, which relates to the trade of Tranz Rail stock in the years before the company was bought by Toll Holdings.</p> <p>He will pay NZ$55,691.84 plus NZ$100,000 of the commission’s claim for penalty and costs.</p> <p>"Mr Beard has agreed to make this payment without any admission of liability," the commission stated.</p> <p>"He acknowledged at that time that he was or may have been in possession of inside information when he traded the shares in question as a result of his position as an officer and director of Tranz Rail."</p> <p>The commission said Mr Beard had acknowledged that the commission had a case against him but also considered that he had a defence.</p> <p>Mr Beard has agreed to assist the commission with its case against the remaining defendants.</p> <p>In August 2001, the Tranz Rail board gave Mr Beard 70,496 shares in lieu of a cash bonus .</p> <p>The board approved the sale of a portion of the shares to pay for a tax liability created by the grant, the commission found, and in March 2002,Mr Beard sold 35,248 shares to fund the tax payment.</p> <p>At the time, Mr Beard held 270,496 shares of which 200,000 were acquired when he joined the company in May 2000.</p> <p>"Mr Beard believes that he sought and obtained the consent of the board for the sale of the shares in question," the commission said.</p> <p>"In seeking that consent, Mr Beard retrospectively submitted the required documentation in which he indicated at that time that he was or may have been in possession of inside information." </p> <p>It found that Mr Beard did not sell any other shares and continued to accumulate shares in the company until the Toll takeover of October 2003.</p> <p>At that time, he sold all his holdings &#8211 a total of 513,133 ordinary shares, 790,000 options and 1,200,000 redeemable preference shares &#8211 "incurring a significant loss".</p> <p>Mr Beard is also a former chief executive of Australia-New Zealand Direct Line. </p> <br />

Sydney suburban train safety device installed early

<p>RailCorp has completed a $33m program to install vigilance systems on all Sydney CityRail suburban trains one month ahead of schedule.</p> <p>The vigilance control systems &#8211 which are an emergency braking system backup for the deadman’s pedal &#8211 were a key safety recommendation from the Waterfall train crash inquiry’s interim report, New South Wales transport services minister Michael Costa said.</p> <p>"Vigilance control is now operational on all RailCorp trains with the exception of the 620&#47720 Hunter Valley rail cars, which will now be replaced towards the end of the next year with modern rollingstock that includes vigilance control," Mr Costa said.</p> <p>The system would provide extra protection against driver illness or incapacitation, he said.</p> <br />

Powell, Deegan to become NTC Commissioners

<p>Two former senior state transport officials, Des Powell and Michael Deegan, have been appointed as National Transport Commissioners.</p> <p>Mr Powell is a former executive director for Freight, Logistics, and Marine at the Victorian Department of Infrastructure, while Mr Deegan is a former director general of the New South Wales Department of Transport. </p> <p>They will join commissioners Virginia Hickey, Erik Finger, and NTC chairman Stuart Hicks. </p> <p>The National Transport Commission develops regulatory reforms for all forms of Australian transport and intermodalism, and also works to make sure that reforms are applied consistently among the states. </p> <br />

PN grain train suspension puts boxes on road, says freight firm

<p>A Melbourne-based logistics firm says a Pacific National decision to suspend grain services to Portland will force it to send boxes on road at much greater cost.</p> <p>Anchor Logistics is a company that has been using the service, which has run a mix of grain and container wagons, to send boxes out of Portland via rail.</p> <p>But the service was suspended last week, pending a decision in the New Year, with Pacific National citing a lack of grain volumes as the reason for its decision.</p> <p> Anchor Logistics customer service manager David Maltman said his company placed orders through the Portland-based Kalari firm to pack Alcoa Aluminium smelter ingots into containers to be railed to Melbourne.</p> <p>They would now have to go by truck at greater cost &#8211 the rail option was $12.97 a tonne cheaper, Mr Maltman said.</p> <p>"I thought we were trying to keep trucks off the road," he said.</p> <p>"We are going to have a lot of cargo in January and we are going to have to pay through the nose to do it by road, especially with all the contracts we have."</p> <p>Mr Maltman said the company presently sent about 80 containers of the ingots a month on rail from Portland.</p> <p>The company also ships another Alcoa product, Bath&#47cryolite, which is packed in one-tonne bags into containers to be railed for export to other smelters around the world.</p> <p>That will also now have to go by truck &#8211 if it remains viable to continue taking the product from Portland, he said.</p> <p>Pacific National’s sudden decision to suspend services had given rail freight users little time to arrange alternatives, he said.</p> <p>Mr Maltman said the previous operator, Freight Australia, which Pacific National bought earlier this year, had kept the service regular.</p> <p>"While it was Freight Australia we always had a service," he said. "Even when it was reduced during the drought, we still had a service."</p> <p>Pacific National said it had suspended the service because of uncertainty about grain volumes out of the western grain region.</p> <p>The present harvest is being affected by unseasonal weather, a company spokesman said. </p> <p>"The uncertainty of the current harvest is leading farmers to retain their grain on site in storage until it is clear what the outcome of the harvest is," he said.</p> <p>The status of the service will be reviewed in January when the company has "clarity on grain volumes".</p> <p>The Portland service is primarily a grain train, which also hauls some container wagons &#8211 it is not a stand-alone container service, the spokesman said.</p> <br />

PWCS gets three-year extension to coal capacity system

<p>Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) has won interim approval to extend its capacity distribution system for a period of three years to the end of 2007.</p> <p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has granted interim approval for a revised system that will prevent the sort congestion that saw a peak vessel queue of more than 56 coal bulkers off the port of Newcastle on March 14, 2003.</p> <p>The present operating level has a queue of around 10 vessels.</p> <p>In addition to the capacity distribution system, the ACCC has also granted interim approval for PWCS to begin tonnage tracking and to decline to load vessels that exceed the first quarter’s allocation from January 1.</p> <p>ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said the new medium-term system would help address the imbalance between demand for Hunter Valley coal and the capacity of the coal chain.</p> <p>"The system essentially reduces the amount of coal each producer can export through the port on a pro rata basis so that the overall amount handled by the port better matches the amount that can be delivered by the coal chain," Mr Samuel said.</p> <p>"This is designed to substantially reduce demurrage costs that arise from an excessive queue."</p> <p>Estimated demurrage savings from the present distribution scheme will run to about US$173.5m by the end of 2004.</p> <p>Similar savings are estimated for 2005.</p> <p>ACCC said it was satisfied that the system would not reduce the total volume of coal exports nor would it deter further investment in coal chain capacity expansion.</p> <p>PWCS chairwoman Eileen Doyle said the company was delighted with the ACCC decision because it has given all stakeholders a level of certainty going forward.</p> <p>"In principle everyone is happy &#8211 there is nowhere near the opposition we had the first time," Ms Doyle said.</p> <p>The system will only be triggered where the demand exceeds the coal chain supply capacity, Ms Doyle said.</p> <p>For 2005, PWCS estimates its capacity will be 84.3m tonnes and demand is estimated at 95m tonnes. </p> <p>This compares with an estimated throughput of 80m tonnes for 2004 against a demand level of 88m tonnes.</p> <p>With the improvements elsewhere in the coal chain &#8211 rail bottlenecks for example &#8211 dictating the pace of capacity expansion, PWCS estimates that the Hunter Coal chain could reach a capacity of 102m tonnes a year by the end of 2007, when the system is due to expire.</p> <p>"We have a long-term solution in place," Ms Doyle said.</p> <p>"We are doing major work now to try and get 120m tonnes [a year&#93 out of that."</p> <p>But this relied on a whole of coal chain approach, she said.</p> <p>"Unless we are all expanding there’s no point," Ms Doyle said. "If everyone spends the money then the whole chain can grow significantly."</p> <p>The port is also advocating a move towards stricter contracts in the Hunter Valley, "take or pay" contracts that give committed tonnages for coal.</p> <br />

Interisland Line awaits crucial ferry speed ruling

<p>Marlborough District Council is expected to decide this week whether Toll New Zealand’s Interisland Line ferries must slow down in the Marlborough Sound.</p> <p>The ferries only just manage three turnarounds a day and a council decision to impose speed restrictions in the Marlborough Sound was restrict the operator’s turnaround ability.</p> <p>The decision could come as early as tomorrow (Tuesday, December 21).</p> <br />

Investigators seek level crossing fatality answers

<p>Queensland police and QR are investigating the cause of a level crossing smash between a freight train and a car that killed an elderly man in Brisbane this weekend.</p> <p>John Henry Horton, 84, was killed about 8.30 am on Saturday (December 18) when a 32-carriage wheat train struck his car at a level crossing at Murarrie, in Brisbane’s east.</p> <p>The train pushed the car about 200 metres along the track.</p> <p>An 81-year-old female passenger in the car was also injured in the accident.</p> <p>The train’s two drivers were not injured but have received counselling, a QR spokesman said.</p> <p>The train, which was going to Fisherman Islands at the port of Brisbane, was not damaged.</p> <p>The crossing is protected with boom gates and flashing lights.</p> <br />

Newcastle city rail link needs to stay open: rail society

<p>The Railway Technical Society of Australia (RTSA) has criticised a New South Wales Government plan to axe the railway link between Broadmeadow and New Castle Heritage station as contrary to future suburban strategy.</p> <p>"We need to realise that Newcastle is home to the nation’s sixth largest population centre," RTSA spokesman Philip Laird said.</p> <p>"If this short-sighted decision is taken to facilitate a quick land grab, future generations are likely to take a dim view of this action."</p> <p>The decision would also work against a future strategy for Sydney headed by the NSW infrastructure ministry &#8211 a plan that would include the Hunter Valley, Dr Laird said.</p> <p>The RTSA wants the government to defer a decision until a proper cost-benefit assessment is made. </p> <br />