News in Brief – 3-9 February 2010

DBCT and WestNet Rail deliver profit gains
By Sineva Toevai
The pre-tax earnings of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) and WestNet Rail rose 59% and 23% respectively in the first half of the financial year.
DBCT's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose to $111m from $70m in the six months ending December 31st due to a full-six month contribution by its expansion project, owner Prime  nfrastructure said.
A solid grain harvest helped lift WestNet Rail's ebtida to $50.6m from $41m in the previous corresponding period.
“Each of our assets has performed in line with expectations,” Prime Infrastructure chief executive Jeff Kendrew said.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au

Faiveley Transport continues expansion in to New Zealand
Faiveley Transport Australia has signed a lease for a new office and equipment repair and maintenance facility in Wellington, New Zealand.
The new facility will be fully functional by the end of February in preparation for the delivery of the first Matangi EMU trains for the Wellington train network, currently being produced by HYUNDAI ROTEM in Korea. The new trains will come equipped with Faiveley Transport supplied Brake, Air Conditioning and Coupler systems.
“We have opened this facility as part of our ongoing commitment to developing our rail business within New Zealand,” managing director Mark Carling said.
“The New Zealand market is demonstrating very strong growth in all areas of rail, including new passenger vehicles and new freight rolling stock, and we want to ensure that we are well placed to support our customers in New Zealand as they move forward”.
There is already a considerable amount of Faiveley equipment used by the New Zealand rail industry, and this utilisation will increase significantly with the delivery of the new Wellington trains.

New fare structure for greater Sydney
The NSW Government has announced a new fare structure for greater Sydney – MyZone – that it hopes will make using public transport fairer, simpler and easier.
MyZone, that is scheduled to commence on April 18th, will apply across the entire CityRail, State Transit, Sydney Ferries and private bus networks in the greater Sydney region including the Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Illawarra, Central Coast and the Hunter.

ACFS acquired Sydney’s Freight Central
By Sam Collyer
Australian Container Freight Services (ACFS) has acquired one of its Sydney rivals, Freight Central.
ACFS said the move would strengthen its position in the container freight depot market and add less-than-container-load and airfreight transport capabilities to its service.
Freight Central's operations will be moved to ACFS's 10ha facility at Port Botany and all permanent staff will be offered jobs.
ACFS operates in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne with more than 100 trucks and 80,000 sq metres of warehousing space.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au