<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) has denied claims by the Victorian Government that it has failed to deliver on its commitment to improve the Melbourne to Sydney rail corridor with a number of speed restrictions still in place on the Southern Cross to Albury section of the line. </span> <p>Victorian minister for transport Terry Mulder last Thursday released a scathing statement about ARTC’s failure to remove the majority of speed restrictions on the Southern Cross to Albury section of the corridor by June 30.<br /><br />Mulder said that as of July 2, the Southern Cross to Albury standard gauge line still had a total of 26 individual speed restrictions imposed by ARTC, which saw most trains slowing to 60 or 80km/h though along smaller sections of track trains were forced to travel at just 20 or 40km/h.<br /><br />Mulder blamed the speed restrictions on the condition of the ballast, specifically, the existence of mudholes along certain sections of the line and cited eight examples of trains being slowed along the rail line that connects Melbourne, Seymour, Benalla, Wangaratta, Albury, Wagga Wagga and Sydney.<br /><br />“Four and a half years after V/Line’s passenger trains were withdrawn in November 2008 to allow the tracks to be gauge-converted, the numerous mudholes that have plagued the line have yet to be all removed,” Mulder said. <br /><br />ARTC was quick to defend the speed restrictions and affirmed that its Ballast Rehabilitation Program was on schedule as planned.<br /><br />ARTC CEO John Fullerton pointed out that V/Line recently lifted its speed restrictions to normal running speed of 115km/h between Benalla and Seymour on the East track and the single line section between Seymour and Southern Cross.<br /><br />“We’ve been open about our commitment to complete the majority of the work as part of the five-year $134m Ballast Rehabilitation Program by the middle of this year and we have seen significant improvement on the North East Line in Victoria since the program began in January 2012,” Fullerton said.<br /><br />“ARTC continues to meet its commitments to improving the Melbourne to Sydney rail corridor and returning the track condition to a level that all train services, passenger and freight, are operating within their timetabled schedules.”</p><p>Mulder called on federal minister for transport and infrastructure Anthony Albanese to state when the ARTC imposed speed restrictions would be removed so that V/Line passenger trains could operate at their normal speed of 115km/h. <br /> </p>
