News in Brief – 10-16 March 2010

Geelong has eyes on national rail freight link
By Rob McKay
Geelong's local government authority is pushing for new rail access between the city and areas to the north and west of Australia.
The rail freight push could end up linking Geelong with the tri-state Riverland/Wentworth/Sunraysia Mallee region, Darwin and Perth.
The Greater Geelong City Council this week voted to seek $2.8m in Regional Development Australia funding for a feasibility study into a Mildura to Menindee transcontinental rail link.
Mildura Rural City Council and Ballarat City Council have already commissioned GHD/Meyrick Associates to undertake a pre-feasibility study for the proposed transcontinental rail link from Mildura to Menindee, the Geelong council said.
The study concluded that the link had significant strategic importance.
The Geelong link would provide the city with access to the national interstate network and, therefore, to Darwin and Perth without the need to navigate Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au

NSW Government faces yet another transport woe
The NSW Government is reportedly facing another transport project running into financial difficulty after a Moody’s ratings agency cut the credit rating of the largest public private partnerships for rollingstock in the state’s history. The A$3.6 billion contract for the next generation of Chinese-made ‘Waratah’ trains for Sydney’s RailCorp network was running five months late and has been further undermined by a lack of confidence in debt markets, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Moody's said the consortium's financing vehicle, Reliance Rail Finance, could be exposed to a potential funding gap of $357 million from early 2012 or '”higher funding costs or both'” if its two guarantors went bust, it was reported.
However, Relaince Rail said that the Moody’s rating “has no impact” on the delivery of the fleet and the first train is on schedule to enter passenger service in late 2010.

QR shakes up Seafreighter services
By Rob McKay
QR has further rejigged its Seafreighter rail services to the port of Brisbane, with the changes benefiting Gladstone and Bundaberg.
Gladstone to Brisbane services have been increased from two to five and the number of services from Bundaberg increased from two to four.
The increased frequency, which started last week, was made possible by changes including the replacement of the twice-weekly Seafreighter rail service between Biloela and the port of Brisbane, which had also serviced Gladstone and Bundaberg.
“Because of the relatively low rail volume of freight from Biloela and the short haulage distances to major rail and road transport hubs, the rail service could not compete with the faster, more frequent and lower-cost road transport,” QR said.
The rail operator reduced services from far-north Queensland in January due to lower demand.
Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au

RISSB update
The Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) has produced a draft Code of Practice for Accessible Rail which aims to translate the intent of the relevant legislation/regulations/standards relating to providing accessible public transport for the rail industry. By implementing this Code of Practice for its stations and/or rollingstock, a rail organisation will be deemed to comply with the intent of the relevant legislation and standards.
The Code of Practice will be available for its first round of public consultation for six weeks on the RISSB website from March 15th. Visit: www.rissb.com.au