2005

<p>The Western Australian Government has banned Midwest from transporting its ore by road after only nine months of operations.</p> <p>State planning and infrastructure minister Alannah MacTiernan said Midwest could use the roads from the new Koolanooka mine to Geraldton port only until October, reports th <em>e Australian</em> .</p> <p>From November, Midwest is expected to use rail, which poses difficulty as the line is in poor shape and the Australian Railroad Group said locomotives are not available.</p> <p>The railway line is 19 km south of the mine but ARG said even if Midwest provides its own trains, it could not guarantee more than one slot a day.</p> <p>Midwest has tried to find suitable narrow gauge wagons that would allow iron ore to be discharged from bottom doors at the port, but has been unsuccessful.</p> <p>This may turn off China’s biggest steelmaker, Sinosteel, which is planning to invest $1.5bn in Midwest’s mine development.</p> <p>Ms MacTiernan has given Midwest and the Australian Railroad Group a month to sort out the issue.</p> <p>She does not agree with Midwest’s plan to truck iron ore for the seven years of operation because of the cost of road repairs and safety concerns.</p> <br />

<p>Macarthur Coal has been forced to cut production as a result of limited loading allocations stemming from the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal queue management system.</p> <p>Macarthur Coal’s vice president of strategy, Shane Stephen, said the miner would export only 4.5m tonnes this year, compared with 5m tonnes last year.</p> <p>The queue management system allocates companies a set amount they can export each month.</p> <p>The system is triggered when the demand for DBCT’s ship loading services exceeds the capacity of the coal supply chain.</p> <p>The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last month authorised the continuation of the queue management system for coal vessels.</p> <p>ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said the queue has also reduced from a peak of over 50 ships to a desirable operating level of about 15 ships. </p> <p>The queue system was to address an imbalance between the amount of coal that producers wanted to export and the capacity of the Goonyella coal supply chain and the terminal.</p> <br />

<p>The Commonwealth and Tasmanian Governments have reached an agreed position on the details of a rescue package designed to keep freight trains running on the Hobart-Launceston-Burnie line for at least the next 10 years.</p> <p>A week ago, the Federal Government said that it was willing to provide almost $87m in capital funding to help ensure ongoing rail operations in Tasmania.</p> <p>Federal transport minister Warren Truss said the offer was part of a proposed three-way rescue package with the Tasmanian Government and Pacific National.</p> <p>Tasmanian infrastructure minister Bryan Green said the agreement confirmed Tasmania’s road funding position under the recently signed AusLink deal and offered a generous contribution by both governments to the state’s rail system. </p> <p>Mr Green also said that it was now a matter for Pacific National to respond to this offer at its next board meeting (today, Monday, December 19).</p> <p>Under the rescue plan, Pacific National, which owns the Tasmanian track, passes ownership to the Tasmanian Government at no cost to the State Government. </p> <p>The Tasmanian Government may, in turn, invite the Australian Rail Track Corporation to assist in the management of the rail line on a fee-for-service basis.</p> <p>The Tasmanian Government, as track owner, establishes an access regime open to any company or group wanting to run trains in Tasmania, not just Pacific National, and puts this arrangement in place no later than June 30, 2006.</p> <p>Pacific National commits to providing a non-bulk rail freight service for 10 years and upgrades its locomotives and rolling stock within three years.</p> <p>The Federal Government will provide capital funding for upgrading the railway line at a cost of $78m over 10 years.</p> <p>The Tasmanian Government will fund maintenance costs estimated at $4m a year plus any fees to the ARTC, to ensure the line is kept in good repair. </p> <p>This cost will be offset by any amount recovered from access fees paid by track users. </p> <p>Tasmania would need to consider the fact that Pacific National had gifted the track in setting access fees, Mr Truss said.</p> <p>Pacific National’s contribution will be at least $38m, to be provided within three years, for rolling stock replacements and improvements.</p> <p>In addition to the $78m, the Federal Government is offering, it is prepared to consider a $3.75m contribution towards the cost of an expanded road and rail intermodal terminal at the port of Launceston, Bell Bay.</p> <p>The Federal Government is also willing to consider contributing up to $5m towards a proposed intermodal terminal at Brighton, as long as the Tasmanian Government matches the grant.</p> <br />

<p>A new report by an industry body warns that state and federal governments must pay close attention to physical and regulatory infrastructure if an expected doubling of Victoria’s freight volumes by 2020 is to be successfully managed.</p> <p>Victorian Freight and Logistics Council chairman John Begley said the report reflected the industry consensus that the state’s infrastructure, upon which its trade effort and economic wellbeing rested so heavily, needed substantial renewal and development if it was to keep pace with the demands placed upon it. </p> <p>Through extended and extensive consultation, industry had identified priority areas for delivery of new and improved infrastructure, and governments had crucial roles to play, he said. </p> <p>"These go beyond the physical provision of deeper shipping channels, better roads, stronger bridges and sustainable railways &#8211 they also include over-the-horizon planning for future land use, practical policy and regulation, adequate funding allocations, and strategic frameworks for private and public sector investment," Mr Begley said.</p> <p>The Council compiled the report, <em>Freight Forward: An Industry Perspective on Transport Infrastructure Requirements in Victoria</em> , to provide a statewide snapshot of current trends and future directions, from which a number of key messages to government have emerged.</p> <p>The chairman of the Infrastructure Working Group, Philip Lovel, said the logistics council study enabled governments to "plug directly in" to the concerns and forecasts of the freight industry as it strived to meet strong growth in transport, distribution and logistics and rapid changes in customer needs, for example, the shift to global rather than domestic sourcing of goods.</p> <p>"We need the government to understand where the pressure points lie over the next 10-15 years," Mr Lovel said. </p> <p>"An urgent issue right now is the future of intrastate rail freight, because the system is crumbling just at the time we’re trying to shift more freight from roads that can’t cope to rail that can &#8211 if infrastructure and access issues are properly addressed."</p> <p>The report was completed with the assistance of consultants Meyrick and Associates and is available from the VFLC website at www.vflc.com.au</p> <br />

<p>A decrease in grain traffic has driven the Australian Railroad Group’s (ARG) wagonload figures down for November 2005.</p> <p>The figures reflect a 4,421 wagonload decrease on the same month last year, which was in the grips of a record grain harvest.</p> <p>ARG also recorded a 1,276 wagon decline for iron ore traffic and that was largely the result of down time to repair track damage caused by a derailment.</p> <p>Improvements for hook and pull figures, up 1,014, and all other commodities, up 1,276 wagonloads, partially offset the decreases.</p> <br />