LVR takes loco delivery as MIST gets terminal land

<p>Sydney rail operator Lachlan Valley Railway will land in Newcastle next week the first five of its 16 refurbished ex-Danish Railways locos, as parent Macarthur Intermodal Shipping Terminal takes over another 3 ha of land next to its Minto facilities. </p> <p>The five 2,600 kw locos have been transported from Denmark by Balt Shipping on deck space chartered on the Spliethof multi-purpose vessel <em>Edmondgracht</em> , due to arrive in Newcastle next Tuesday (April 3). </p> <p>The locos will have further modification to Australian standards before they join LVR services.</p> <p>The new locos will allow LVR to operate interstate trains. The rail operator now has 100 newly built container wagons from China fully deployed. </p> <p>Meanwhile, MIST will on June 30 get the use of the 3 ha of land it owns next to its Minto terminal in southwest Sydney, after Bunnings decided not to extend its lease. </p> <p>The land will allow MIST to extend the single 300 metre siding at Minto, now owned by Toll Holdings and Patrick Corp interests, into two 800-metre-long sidings with an added crossover to shunt longer trains. </p> <p>The exact configuration will depend on the outcome of the takeover battle between Toll and Patrick, with Toll already offering to sell the existing siding at Minto to MIST as part of its competition undertakings to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. </p> <p>MIST has held long-term plans to develop 1,600-metre sidings for unbroken interstate trains on land owned by intermodal developer AusTrak on trackside land extending down to Campbelltown. </p> <br />