Norfolk scores BHP signalling contract

Engineering company Norfolk Group has scored an $82m contract for the design and installation of rail signalling systems for BHP Billiton’s Port Hedland Inner Harbour project.

Norfolk’s electrical and communications subsidiary, O’Donnell Griffin (ODG), will design and install new and modified rail signalling systems for BHP’s iron ore port in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Specifically, ODG will be responsible for the software and hardware design, installation and commissioning of the project.

ODG will partner with global infrastructure leader, GE, to develop the rail signalling technology, and will draw on international best-practise technical expertise in Australia, the US, Europe and India, Norfolk said.

Up to 200 technical and management staff will work on the project.

Norfolk managing director, Glenn Wallace, said the company has a strong focus on continuing to grow its rail business.

“Last year we created a National Rail Group within O’Donnell Griffin to recognise the specialist expertise we can deliver in this area,” Wallace said.

“Norfolk has built a strong relationship through our successful work on previous projects which recognises our ability to design and deliver industry-leading rail signalling technology. O’Donnell Griffin has a strong experience in delivering rail projects.”

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Milestone reached on Interstate Rail Network rebuild

Australian Rail Track Corporation’s (ARTC) project to rebuild the Interstate Rail Network between Broken Hill and Parkes – the most extensive upgrade of the 691km line since it was first opened in 1927 – reached the halfway mark as of last week.

The milestone on the $253m project – which began in January – was marked by the laying of the 500,000th new, Australian-made concrete sleeper. Just over a million (1,040,000) new concrete sleepers would be laid in total.

ARTC chief executive John Fullerton explained the upgrade of the line to concrete sleepers would improve ride quality and increase the overall efficiency of the corridor.

“By replacing old timber sleepers with newly fabricated concrete sleepers the project will deliver long term benefits to our customers which is why we are pushing forward with our plans to upgrade the East West corridor and make rail even more competitive,” Fullerton said.

“The East West rail corridor is a vital piece of infrastructure connecting capital cities across our broad continent. It’s important that this rail link is maintained as a value adding asset in the transport logistics market, not only for the benefit of our national economy, but for the benefit of local communities spread along the line.”

Other improvements being undertaken as part of the upgrade include new turnouts, safer level crossings, improved drainage, and upgraded bridges and culverts.

In the short term the delivery of the project has created jobs and generated economic activity in communities along the 700km of track as well as in other major regional centres, Fullerton said.

“In particular, Austrak in Wagga Wagga employed 53 people to produce 500,000 of the new concrete sleepers while in Grafton and Braemar Rocla employed a total of 76 people to produce another 500,000 sleepers,” Fullerton said.
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AusRAIL PLUS 2011 exceeds expectations

AusRAIL PLUS 2011 was an outstanding success on all fronts. The conference was the most highly attended AusRAIL event held to date, with over 5000 individuals visiting the exhibition across the three days and the conference agenda once again attracting over 1000 delegates.

Rail Express caught up with a spokesperson from this year’s Platinum and Gala Dinner Sponsor and long term supporter of AusRAIL, Downer Rail, about the company’s experience of the event.

REX: What was Downer’s overall experience with this year’s AusRAIL conference and exhibition?

Downer: Once again AusRail provided a unique networking opportunity to enhance customer relations that would not otherwise have been available to Downer or other attendees.

The sheer scale of the exhibition and the complete coverage of the different aspects of the rail industry were impressive. The exhibition proved to be a very productive networking environment and was very beneficial for market intelligence. It was also an effective way to bring together Downer employees from the Rail Division, Works Division and Downer Australia.

The Rail Suppliers CEO Forum on day one of the conference provided valuable insights into issues facing rail organisations now and into the next five years. The challenges facing companies like Downer, and our competitors, were of great interest in terms of how we are all going to deal the issues confronting our customers and the growing threat of an already competitive market that is seeing more and more new international entrants.

The presentation on “What the Rail Customers Want”, given by Ben Newton, Logistics Strategy &amp Business development manager, Woolworths, on day three of the conference was excellent and gave real insight into the customer’s perspective and what will be required from the rail industry going forward. It also highlighted that the industry needs to continually improve our asset management approach to provide a reliable and effective service.

Both the Queensland Rail (QR) and QR National presentations on the final day of the conference were very interesting, particularly with respect to the direction of the organisations and their changes in structure (See this week’s separate stories).

The unique venue and entertainment at the Gala Dinner provided a fitting and spellbinding conclusion to a rewarding week of business and customer engagement.

The RTAA Yellow tie Dinner was also a particular highlight. With over 1000 delegates from all different rail sectors, from suppliers to end users, this event was a great networking exercise and to be able to put names to faces and gain market intelligence and expert opinions on the future of the rail industry in Australia.

REX: How did this year’s conference themes, Innovation &amp Customer Relations, play out over the three days?

Downer: The plenary sessions and technical streams linked well together covering customer relations while highlighting the demand for more innovation from all parties in the rail industry.

The customer relations theme was very much at the forefront of the exhibition and the associated papers given at the exhibition’s seminars.

REX: In your view, how is the industry faring in these two areas?

Downer: The industry has moved forward in the area of customer relations and customer focus – such that rail organisations are being shaped to match customer and their customer’s demands.

The industry needs to improve its approach to innovation to both hold and grow its market share. Suppliers to the industry compete in a global market place and must clearly understand the needs and servicing requirements especially with the continuing introduction of local and global innovation.

The demands of the passenger and freight rail operators in Australia are certainly changing dynamically as they are required to compete with other transport modes. With the growing introduction of rail employees from other industry sectors such as defence and aerospace, new and improved ideas are being implemented. Asset management with innovation is a continuing demand for all operators.

REX: Any final comments?

Downer:
The AusRail exhibition and conference is only as good as the preparation for it by all companies in attendance and the presence of representatives from all the major rail passenger and freight operators throughout Australia, Pleasingly, the quality of the exhibition was first class and many rail operator representatives were in attendance.
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AusRAIL 2012 will be held from November 27th-28th at the National Convention Centre, Canberra. See www.ausrail.com

The exhibition space is almost completely sold out. To book your stand contact Deborah Bocock on deborah.bocock@informa.com.au or call (+61 2) 9080 4348 for more information.
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Middlemount Coal rail spur opens to first coal train

The completion of a rail spur linking the Middlemount Coal project to QR National’s Goonyella rail network and enabling exports through Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal marks for the first time the delivery of a privately-owned rail line that connects to Queensland’s publicly-owned rail network.

Constructed by John Holland as part of the Middlemount Early Rail Alliance, the Middlemount Rail Spur was officially opened last Friday.

The 16.5km electrified rail spur will enable the Middlemount Coal project – a joint venture between Gloucester Coal and Macarthur Coal – to transport up to 5 million tonnes per annum of coal to the port for international export.

Richard Stewart, general manager of John Holland’s Rail Australia business, said the new infrastructure represents an important milestone for both John Holland and the mining and rail industries.

“The Middlemount Coal Project is the first greenfield project since 2007 to commence production in the Bowen Basin, and the first time a private company has delivered a privately-owned rail line that connects to the publicly-owned rail network in Queensland,” Stewart said.

“The successful completion of this project sets a new benchmark and provides an alternative to the traditional procurement and delivery models for new rail spur projects in Queensland.”

Middlemount Coal chief executive Michael Gray praised the Middlemount Early Rail Alliance (which also includes GHD as the project’s designer) for completing the construction of the rail spur ahead of schedule.

“While the project’s timing was impacted by the extensive wet season in 2010/2011, the rail alliance was able to accelerate development of the line with completion occurring a month ahead of the revised schedule,” Gray said.

Middlemount Coal chairman Tim Crossley said while initial exports from the project will be via existing port capacity allocation at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal, the project will have long term port capacity access at the Abbott Point Coal Terminal following QR National’s completion of the Northern Missing Link, which is expected to be commissioned in January next year.

The $385m Northern Missing Link is the cornerstone of QR National’s $1.1bn Goonyella to Abbot Point (GAP expansion project) and will see some 69km of track join the existing Goonyella and Newlands coal rail systems.

John Holland is currently involved in a number of rail alliances across Australia including:

.Hunter 8 Alliance (NSW)
&nbspPartners: John Holland, Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) and GHD

.Trackwork Services Alliance (NSW
&nbspPartners: John Holland and RailCorp

.South Improvement Alliance (Vic)
&nbspPartners: John Holland, Australian Rail Track Corporation, MVM Rail,&nbsp
&nbspO’Donnell Griffin

.South Morang Rail Extension Alliance (Vic)
&nbspPartners: John Holland, AECOM, Department of Transport, MTM, VicRoads

.Tracksure for Adelaide Rail Revitalisation (SA)
&nbspPartners: John Holland, Coleman Rail, York Rail

.Perth City Link (WA)
&nbspPartners: John Holland, Public Transport Authority, GHD
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UGL, GE launch ‘clean, green’ PowerHaul loco

Last week’s AusRAIL PLUS 2011 saw UGL and its partner GE Transportation introduce their most fuel-efficient and emissions capable diesel-electric freight locomotive yet – the new PowerHaul Series locomotive (PH37ACmai).

UGL chief executive Richard Leupen said the introduction of the 3700HP AC locomotive – which would be suitable for both heavy haul and high speed freight requirements across Queensland’s and Western Australia’s narrow gauge rail networks – was another example of the company’s commitment to provide customers with cleaner, more efficient rail technologies in the Australian resources and freight industries.

“Even before the announcement of the carbon tax in Australia, meeting emissions requirements was a critical consideration in the locomotive design process and was driven by the increasing focus of emissions and new regulatory requirements from other parts of the world” Leupen said.

The PowerHaul Series has been designed to meet the emissions requirements stipulated by EU Stage IIIA and can be adapted to meet Stage IIIB and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 6% compared to current operating fleet averages.

The locomotive can also deliver a 6% reduction in fuel consumption compared to current operating fleet averages in its class.

Leupen said UGL and GE had undertaken significant investment to develop a narrow gauge locomotive product that represented a “considerable advancement” in locomotive power technology.

“The PowerHaul Series locomotive will provide customers with substantial improvements in haulage capability, emissions, fuel-efficiency, power and reliability,” he said.

GE Transportation has already delivered PowerHaul Series locomotives to the UK for Freightliner, which labelled it the Class 70.

While this UK version of the PowerHaul is different in appearance to the PH37ACmai – which will be built by UGL in the company’s Australian based manufacturing facilities – the two locomotives’ technology is the same.

The PowerHaul Series would be the second locomotive available to the Australian rail market from UGL’s portfolio of freight rolling stock products to be GE “ecomagination” qualified.

Ecomagination is a GE-wide commitment to developing technology designed to help its customers satisfy environmental challenges, maximize performance and reduce cost, GE Transportation managing director ANZ &amp Asia Pacific William Kovacs, explained.

“GE has developed a wide variety of rail-specific, enivornmentally capable technologis which are ecomagination qualified and available through UGL in Australia. These include among others the Evolution Series locomotive, and now, the PowerHaul Series locomotive,” Kovacs said.

Since 2008, UGL and GE have delivered close to 70 advanced heavy haul Evolution Series locomotives to Rio Tinto Iron Ore who recently ordered an additional 13 to support its mining operations in Australia’s Pilbara region.
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QR chief resigns to join QR National

The shock announcement last week that Queensland Rail (QR) CEO Paul Scurrah will resign to join QR National would come as quite a blow for QR. Scurrah has driven an incredibly strong culture of customer service throughout the organisation and under his leadership, QR is officially now the only public transport company in the world to be certified under the International Customer Service Standard.

By Jennifer Perry

Scurrah was also recently awarded CEO of the Year at the Customer Service Institute of Australia (CSIA) Awards.

Upon announcing Scurrah’s appointment at QR National last Thursday at AusRAIL PLUS 2011, chief executive Lance Hockridge said the company was “truly exited” to have him on board.

“We all know and respect the fantastic job that Paul has been doing at QR in recent years and the accolades that he has received, particularly as CEO of the Year just a couple of weeks ago,” Hockridge said.

QR chairman Stephen Gregg praised the significant work Scurrah delivered as the organisation’s chief executive.

“In conjunction with the QR Board, Paul has led the executive team in delivering first class results for Queensland Rail Limited since the complex and challenging separation from QR Limited – the largest in Australian corporate history – through to the new vibrant, customer focused organisation we have today,” Gregg said.

“Under Paul’s leadership, Queensland Rail has been recognised widely for its performance, particularly in its customer service focus and delivery. Customer satisfaction has achieved an all time high rating and will continue to be the driving factor for Queensland Rail.

“While this is a loss to our organisation, the Board would like to publicly acknowledge Paul’s stewardship in putting in place the corporate structure, the leadership team and the focus on safety and customer service which will form the foundation for QR’s future success.”

Gregg said that an executive recruitment process was already underway for a replacement.

In the meantime, QR chief financial officer, Jim Benstead would assume the role of acting chief executive officer. Benstead has played a key role in QR’s leadership since the company’s inception, Gregg said, adding that he would be supported by an outstanding executive leadership team and had a “talented and committed workforce”.

Scurrah’s resignation at QR is effective as of December 2.

For an in-depth profile of Paul Scurrah see the March 2012 print edition of Rail Express .

Murchison pulls out of Oakajee

Murchison Metals announcement last week that it will sell its stake in the $5.94bn Oakajee Port and Rail (OPR) project to its joint venture partner, Japan’s Mitsubishi, has well and truly opened the door to Oakajee becoming an “”Australian-Chinese-Japanese” project.

By Jennifer Perry

Murchison announced last Thursday that it had entered into a $325m agreement with Mitsubishi to sell its interests in the OPR project and Crosslands Resources, which owns the Jack Hills Expansion project in Western Australia’s Mid West. The deal would be finalised by February.

Murchison and Mitsubishi hold 50:50 shares in OPR as well as Crosslands – a foundation customer of the OPR project, along with Sinosteel Midwest and Karara Mining.

Murchison’s announcement did not come as a surprise. The company admitted in July that it would be unable to fund its share of the Oakajee project and two months later conceded that completing a strategic review of the project by December 31, as demanded by the state government, was “unrealistic”.

It also came as no surprise that since Murchison’s announcement, speculation has further intensified over whether the Chinese would become involved in the project.

China is a major investor in the Mid West region and has an obvious vested interest in seeing the Oakajee infrastructure up and running.

The WA premier Colin Barnett has been clear that China needs to become formally involved in order for OPR to go ahead and bank their project.

In September the premier signed a significant trade and investment agreement between the WA Government and China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). While the MoU did not specifically cover the Oakajee project, Barnett reportedly said at the time that the Chinese were “keen” to invest in the infrastructure.

The ABC last week reported Barnett as saying that Mitsubishi’s announcement could “open the way for Chinese investment to come in” so that OPR would be a “genuine Australian-Chinese-Japanese” project.

The OPR project would see a deepwater port at Oakajee, 25km north of Geraldton, linked to regional mines by a “Pilbara style” 570km standard gauge heavy haul rail line.

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Telling words for industry from QR National chief

Ahead of announcing several senior leadership appointments to support QR National’s massive organistional restructure next month, the company’s CEO Lance Hockridge had some frank words to say about the rail industry’s “insufficient regard” for its customers at AusRAIL PLUS 2011 last week.

By Jennifer Perry

In his address on the final day of AusRAIL PLUS 2011 in Brisbane last Thursday, Hockridge did not hold back on sharing his views on this year’s conference theme, customer relations, as it related to both the rail industry generally and the company he heads up, QR National.

“My own view is that frankly as an industry we have been beleaguered in recent times with looking too much within, and of having insufficient regard for the customer in our business,” Hockridge said.

“There is a renaissance of the customer being at the forefront of our businesses … generally though, I have to say that as much as there are those pockets of excellence I think we need to be sufficiently honest with ourselves to say that as an industry, and indeed speaking as a company, we’ve still got an awful long way to go before we would really describe ourselves as a customer friendly industry or company.

“Certainly our friends in the road industry, in my view, have benefitted from the fact that we’ve not been as customer centric as an industry as we ought to have been.”

From a QR National perspective, Hockridge said “sadly”, when he thought back to four years ago when he started with the company, not unnaturally, it was a business that was still very much a government owned business which had a “sense of entitlement”.

“… Train schedules were put together in a way that was meant to optimise the operations of the company, rather than that of the suitability that they represented for our customer base,” he shared with delegates, “Contracts didn’t share risk or incentivise high levels of performance,” he added.

“To put it mildly, not a pretty picture.”

Four years on, and Hockridge said a lot of work had gone into QR National’s relationship with its customers.

“Listening to and engaging actively with our customers and meeting their basic requirements, frankly is in my view, just the entry point into the game,” he said.

Speaking of QR National’s privatisation, some 12 months ago, Hockridge said the IPO meant the company could now focus squarely on the things that were important to the business.

“Most importantly, the customer, rather than necessarily having to always have an eye on the political and social obligations that inevitably came with government ownership,” he said.

“Hopefully [the IPO] does mean that we can now pull all the levers – and the right levers – that make the required change right across our business, and at the heart of that has to be the customer in everything we do first and foremost.”

Massive restructure
Hockridge said as QR National “looked to the future” it was focused on increasing the momentum of reform in the company.

Central to this was the company’s transition as of next month from its existing business unit model to a functional model (similar to that of the Class 1 Railroads of North America), along with several senior leadership appointments to support this transition.

Hockridge said QR National sees enormous opportunity to grow its business and the change in structure combined with the new appointments, “will provide a platform for that growth”.

“I’m confident that the new structure and the appointments that [I’m announcing] today will help accelerate the improvement of the operations and the performance of our company, but particularly reflecting back on the theme of AusRAIL PLUS – customer relations – of putting the customer squarely at the front of everything we do,” he concluded.

QR National structure
As of next month, QR National will move to its new functional model under eight functions:

  • Marketing
  • Operations
  • Network
  • Strategy and Business Development
  • Business Sustainability
  • Finance
  • Human Resources
  • Enterprise Services

New appointments
QR National has announced the following new senior leadership appointments to support the company’s transition to its new organisational structure.

Marketing
Current QR chief executive Paul Scurrah (see separate story) has been appointed as the executive vice president commercial and marketing and will have responsibility for customer and related commercial matters with the exception of the Queensland below rail matters.

The function will include key account management, commercial and planning, strategy, supply chain planning, market intelligence and customer service.

Operations
Hockridge announced that the executive previously responsible for QR National’s coal business, Marcus McAuliffe, will be leaving the company.

QR National is currently undertaking a global search for the position of executive vice president operations. In the meantime, Lindsay Cooper will act in the role from December 1 and will be responsible for operations including scheduling, service delivery, maintenance and fleet planning.

Ed McKeiver will assume the role of senior vice president service delivery coal markets. He was previously group general manager rolling stock services, and as of next month, McKeiver will assume most of the operational responsibilities previously undertaken by Marcus McAuliffe.

All other key executives in the coal part of QR National’s business will remain the same.

Chris Gregg will assume the role of senior vice president service delivery bulk
markets. Previously group general manager freight east, in his new role, Gregg
will assume most of the operational responsibilities previously undertaken by Ken Lewsey.

Strategy and Business Development
Ken Lewsey will head up the new strategy and business development function. Currently in charge of QR National Freight, Lewsey will be responsible for growing the company through enterprise strategy, business development and projects including mergers and acquisitions, solution and design support, and intermodal and iron ore.

Finance, Human Resources and Enterprise Services
Deborah O’Toole will continue to lead the finance function as chief financial
officer, John Stephens will continue to lead the human resources function as chief human resources officer, and Greg Pringle will head up the enterprise services function which includes areas such as legal, internal audit and information technology.

Network
Mike Carter will continue on in the network function which includes the operations, maintenance and expansion of the QR National rail network.

Business Sustainability
Greg Robinson, former general manager at Lysaght, the rollforming business of Bluescope Steel, joins QR National and will lead the business sustainability function.

This function will strive for best practice operations and business improvement across the organisation including areas such as safety, health and environment, procurement, innovation and capital excellence.

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Momentum builds for high-speed rail

The implementation of a high-speed rail network in Australia is most certainly back on the national agenda, and to the delight of many in the rail industry, it looks as though it might stay that way.

By Jennifer Perry

The Federal Government’s address on high-speed rail (HSR) yesterday at AusRAIL PLUS 2011 given by David Williamson, executive director, policy and research division, Department of Infrastructure and Transport, gave delegates the strong impression that the implementation of HSR in this country is no longer a case of “wishful thinking”.

“Once the second phase of the government’s strategic study is completed around this time next year, it will paint a very evocative picture of what a HSR network could look like if implemented,” Williamson said.

He emphasised that the study is focused on the “immediate feasibility” of HSR and the east coast route it has identified, and takes a “deliberate long-term view”.

Acknowledging that federal minister for infrastructure and transport, Anthony Albanese, has been clear that Australia’s biggest challenge in implementing HSR is its cost – between $61-$108bn at today’s prices as indicated by the study (capitol cost only) -Williamson also told delegates that the minister has also been “pretty clear” that the government is taking the possibilities of HSR “very seriously”.

Williamson said that with many complexities surrounding implementation, the government is also clear that HSR needs to be looked at in the “broader context”.

“[HSR] needs to be thought of as part of an overall transport and land use planning agenda: how it could integrate with Australia’s existing transport network, how it could impact on regional development, and where it should be factored into the government’s broader investment in transport,” he said.

The study’s second phase will take a more in-depth analysis of an east coast HSR network, with the minister due to announce the successful tenderer for this stage over the next couple of days.

Williamson told delegates that this stage of the study will comprise six modules detailing the market needs for HSR a preferred alignment the full capital and operational cost of the network an environmental, social and economic appraisal the development of a finance model for the projected life of the network and the specifics of implementation (staging, procurement, governance and regulatory arrangements).

Unsurprisingly, Williamson noted that HSR involved many complex issues regarding its commercial financing.

Two European experts on HSR that Rail Express spoke with at AusRAIL PLUS – Christoph Bruns, Siemens head of acquisition, high speed and intercity Germany, and Jean de la Chapelle, managing director Alstom AUNZ – both pointed out that governments the world over were all grappling with the high cost of implementing HSR networks.

“Governments overseas, and I believe this is also the case for the Australian Government, are trying to find a solution together with the private sector – Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) – to finance HSR the main factor here is a fair and realistic risk allocation,” Bruns said.

“Europe does have some successful examples of PPPs. In Amsterdam for example, a HSR line between this part of the Netherlands, Belgium and onto Paris, was done via a PPP and this seems to be working well.”

De la Chapelle, a passionate advocate for HSR in this country, believes that after much talk and debate HSR will become a reality for Australia. He said that the opposition to its implementation – for example, that we do not have the population to support it – has now been overturned.

“When you look at the Melbourne-Brisbane HSR corridor identified by the government’s study and consider the forecasts that 50% of Australia’s population will live on the east coast, this is no longer an issue,” he said.

De la Chapelle pointed out that Australia has much to draw from the benefits that HSR has brought Europe firstly, that HSR has become a part of the &quotdaily lives&quot of Europeans who now would seldom think of catching a place from Paris to London, for example.

“Secondly, there are inherent and well-proven environmental benefits of HSR. As the price of oil rises, and road congestion increases, there is a very compelling social case for HSR and we need to think in terms of our social responsibility,” he said.

“Last but not least is the level of comfort that HSR can provide to the traveller’s journey – the journey becomes an experience and a good one.”

Bruns said that Australia can not only learn from the experience of HSR around the world but leverage off the technology developments that have already occurred.

“Australia will need to have very fast trains – 350 km/h – to connect the long distances along the east coast corridor. With developments that have improved the efficiency of trains, for example, this is a very good opportunity and chance for Australia to have an even better system with better trains and newer technologies than we have in Europe,” he said.

Considering that Australia is the only continent left – apart from Antartica – that does not have a HSR network, the words of Bryan Nye, chief executive, Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and chairman at AusRAIL PLUS, were very encouraging indeed.

“I’ve spent a lot of time at parliament house talking to politicians and every single one of them – the Coalition, Labour, the Greens – have all me asked questions about HSR,” Nye said.

The public sentiment for HSR is equally as strong.

“The ARA has looked at some recent polling on HSR conducted through the ABC and The Age in Victoria which showed it had an 87% approval rating, 12% of the public wanted to know more, with only 1% of people against it,” he said.

“HSR is back on the national agenda and the ARA is here to make sure that it stays that way.”

New locos to upgrade and expand Genesee &amp Wyoming fleet

At a ceremony in Adelaide last week Genesee &amp Wyoming Australia (GWA) took delivery of the first of 16 new high-horsepower locomotives to be delivered to the operator over the next eight months.

The commissioning ceremony was held at the Parklands Passenger Terminal, Keswick, attended by GWA customers and senior management, as well as board members and management of GWA’s parent company, US-based Genesee &amp Wyoming Inc (GWI).

Locomotive GWA001, the first unit to be delivered and commissioned, is a 4,300-horsepower, energy-efficient, standard-gauge locomotive manufactured by Downer Rail in Newcastle, NSW. The Model GT46C-Ace locomotive is the first of seven units to be delivered by Downer and is the most advanced example of its type operating in Australia today.

The new GWA class locomotives are equipped for in-line refuelling and Wire Line Distributed Power – WDP – to allow remote controlled deployment of locomotives at more than one point in the train consist.

They are also fitted with dual mode braking ECP (electronically controlled pneumatic) and standard pneumatic airbrake mode when non-ECP wagons form part of the train consist.

Intelli-Train locomotive health diagnostics and monitoring capability provides on-board and remote analysis of locomotive health, with e-mail alerts sent to key maintenance and operations staff when faults arise while performance data can be incorporated with similar locomotive fleets worldwide.

GWA managing director Bert Easthope said the new units will allow the company to better serve its existing customers and provide additional capacity to support new freight customers.

“Australia is an investment priority for Genesee &amp Wyoming worldwide. These new locomotives represent an investment of more than $100m and are just the early stages of a major, long-term commitment to South Australia, the Northern Territory and beyond,” Easthope said.

GWA001 has already commenced work on GWA’s intermodal services between Adelaide and Darwin.

The new locomotives were ordered shortly after Genesee &amp Wyoming acquired the 2200km Tarcoola-to-Darwin railway in December 2010. There are approximately 20 mining projects in various stages of development along the corridor, for which GWA hopes to provide rail services.

GWA signed a contract for the first of these projects in April 2011, to transport iron ore for a subsidiary of WPG Resources that has since been acquired by OneSteel, also a major GWA customer. In conjunction with that contract, GWA announced orders for nine additional high-horsepower locomotives that will be supplied by UGL Rail commencing next year.

President and chief executive of GWI, Jack Helmann told guests at the handover that following the purchase of the Darwin railway in 2010, the arrival of the first new locomotive represents “the next chapter” for the company’s Australian operations.
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