News in Brief – 24-30 June 2009

Track condition contributed to derailment: ATSB
By Sam Collyer
An investigation has found that worn tracks contributed to the derailment of 21 wagons from an Interail Australia freight train in Victoria last year.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said the train was travelling at 98 kph when it derailed near Pura Pura, about 190 kilometres west of Melbourne, on March 30th.
The ATSB found no fault in the actions of the two drivers, instead identifying track faults as having contributed to the derailment of the Adelaide-bound train.
"Examination of the wagons revealed no mechanical defects before the accident which could have contributed to the derailment," the bureau said.
13 wagons were destroyed, while about 1,300 metres of track and 26 wagons were damaged.
The line was closed for five days.
Testing carried out nine months before the derailment concluded "there was no sizable defect in the rail, even though the evidence suggests that the fatigue cracks existed (to some degree) at the time," the ATSB said.
The bureau made reference to a 2002 derailment in Canada in identifying a number of issues related to cracks in the track.
The bureau said Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), which manages maintenance of the line, had since addressed the issues raised in the report.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au

Tasmanian rail freight back on track
By Rob McKay
Tasmania's north-south rail line opened to freight on June 23rd with the completion of track repairs following a derailment last month in the Rhyndaston area.
State Infrastructure Minister Graeme Sturges said that extreme weather conditions had caused some delays in completing the program.
"The magnitude of this task should not be underestimated," he said.
"It involved the insertion of 500 new railway sleepers, and the replacement of 1293 lengths of rail, totalling 17.7 kilometres.
"The work also included the upgrading of 45 curves over 50 km from Bridgewater to Rhyndaston."
Work crews from Pacific National (PN), Queensland Rail (QR), VEC Civil Engineering and Downer EDI Works participated in the rectification program.
Much of the works program involved bringing forward work already started by QR as part of a contract for the replacement of 160,000 sleepers across the Tasmanian rail network.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au

Committee calls for national level crossing changes
A House of Representatives Standing Committee has called for an 80 km/h speed limit at level crossings on major highways with a current speed limit of 100 km/h or more.
In a report tabled in Parliament, the Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government said the number of collisions at level crossings in Australia was “unacceptably high”.
The Committee has concluded that there is no single cause for all level crossing crashes, and therefore no single solution.
"The most significant factor leading to level crossing collisions is the behaviour of motor vehicle drivers, including drivers of heavy vehicles," the Committee found.
"As such, methods to adapt and improve this behaviour have the potential to drastically reduce the number of level crossing crashes across Australia."

Toll announces JV to run Cambodia's rail network
By Sineva Toevai
Australian logistics services provider Toll Holdings has formed a partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia to operate the country's rail network.
The joint-venture between Toll Holdings and Royal Group will see both parties operate the Cambodian rail network and related freight logistics operations.
Toll will take a 55 per cent stake in the joint-venture with the Royal Group - which consists of a group of Cambodian businesses, including media and banking - owning the remaining 45 per cent.
"This agreement complements Toll's existing presence in Cambodia through its oil and gas logistics operations," Toll managing director Paul Little said in a statement.
"As the operator of the railways, we now have a strong strategic partnership with the government of Cambodia which will see future benefits for Toll and the Cambodian people."
The agreement is subject to the injection of about US$145 million from overseas investors.
The Asian Development Bank has committed to being a principal investor in the deal.
Toll and the Royal Group will use the capital to improve Cambodia's rail network and develop a modern intermodal facility on a 98 hectare plot in Phnom Penh.
"Over time, the Cambodian railways are likely to become a vital part of the planned rail link between Singapore and China which will include Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam," Little said.
"As the long-term operator of the Cambodian railways through its involvement in the joint-venture, the Toll Group will be excellently placed if the planned expansion occurs."
In recent months Toll has increased its footprint in Asia with the acquisition of logistics operators ST Anda Logistics in China and India's BIC Logistics.
Toll also recently announced it planned to buy Perkins Shipping in the Northern Territory.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au

Freight councils look for national efficiencies
By Rob McKay
Freight councils from Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia have launched a project designed to extract the most from the nation’s transport modes over the next 15-20 years.
The Multimodal Australia Responsiveness Project (MARP) will examine the benefits of a broader modal spread to meet freight demands, particularly for inter-capital movements, with the aim of delivering improved cost and efficiency levels for the transport industry and lessening negative impacts on the community, the Victorian Freight and Logistics Council (VFLC) said on June 23rd.
Conceived by the VFLC’s Freight Intermodal Efficiency Group, MARP aims to compare and contrast various modal alternatives and determine the most appropriate for any given task, with the goal of gaining optimum efficiency from the system.
"Very few domestic freight forwarders or company logistics managers have experience across different modes - so are they selecting the best mode for the job, or are they captive to their experience?" council chairman John Begley asked.
"Which mode best suits which supply chain - does a particular product really need to be handled with 24-hour, 48-hour or just-in-time delivery, or could the system’s capacity be better used?"
Begley said it was crucial that the freight transport industry plays its part in finding workable solutions.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au

Alstom unveils its new generation locomotive
Alstom, a long-time player in the locomotive market and manufacturer of over 2000 locomotives at its sites in Belfort, France, has unveiled its Prima II locomotive prototype.
The Prima II will be transferred from Belfort to Wildenrath in Germany for a series of running trials this month and will then move into the certification phase.
It is scheduled to be commissioned in 2011, in time to take advantage of the anticipated pick-up in freight and passenger traffic.
The Prima II design has focuses on ease of use and maintenance by public and private operators and can operate perfectly between the different national rail networks.
It offers operators the possibility of adjusting its configuration during its lifetime and retains great modularity to meet increasingly specific customer requirements.
Developed using equity capital, the locomotive combines simplicity of manufacture with the standardisation of main equipment.
It is equipped with the latest developments in power electronics (IGBT inverter) and can operate on four different voltages (25 kV, 15 kV, 1,500 V and 3,000 V) allowiting it to easily cross borders in Europe.
On these voltages, and depending on the configuration selected by the customer (goods or passenger transport), the locomotive has a power output of 6.4 MW and runs at speeds of 140 to 200 km/h.
The buffers on the frame absorb the energy of impacts, ensuring the safety of onboard personnel and equipment.
Alstom said that particular attention has been paid to the cab interior to improve driver comfort including noise insulation and air conditioning. Driving ergonomics are optimised to meet the future UIC612 standard, which aims to standardise drivers’ desks for improved interoperability.
Even before the prototype was delivered, 20 Prima II locomotives were ordered by Morocco's Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF) in November 2007, where they are intended for use in freight and passenger transport operations. Delivery is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2009.