<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> At the beginning of the year a new era for ARTCâs management of rail maintenance began with maintenance services for Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) infrastructure being delivered in-house from 3 January. </span> <p>Previously, rail maintenance services were largely delivered on a contract basis by various alliance partners under medium term contracts.</p><p>The move follows on from the decision ARTC made in June 2012 to bring maintenance in-house.</p><p>With most current contracts with alliance partners expiring at the end of 2012, also coinciding with the end of a significant period of investment into the network, the company says it is shifting its focus from growing the network to maintaining the network and improving the service offering to customers.</p><p>“Our alliance partners have handed us a safe and well-conditioned network and we would like to thank them for the stewardship they have shown for the nation’s interstate railway over the last 14 years,” ARTC CEO John Fullerton said.</p><p>“We are reaching the end of a significant amount of investment into the interstate rail network, and with that change comes a fresh focus on maintaining this improved and modern asset base.</p><p>Eleven new regional work centres have been created by ARTC across the country – each tasked with the care and maintenance of the standard gauge rail network in their respective areas.</p><p>“Insourcing maintenance is an exciting period of change for the company, and the decision is a reflection of the condition of our asset base and the need to have a consistent approach to maintenance across the company,” Fullerton said.</p><p>“This month we welcome more than 200 new staff to the organisation and build on our current connection with rural Australia through our regional work centres – local centres of expertise with skilled and experienced rail maintenance staff.</p><p>“Many of the new staff have transferred over from our previous alliance partners, so they bring with them their extensive knowledge and experience of the local network, conditions and needs of the track,” Fullerton said.</p><p>“Rail is intrinsically tied to this country’s history and the land, and it’s great that those with the greatest connection to the land in regional Australia are now part of the ARTC team looking after our rail corridor.</p><p>“Our assets have grown, and they’re in great shape – our focus is on keeping them that way and innovating as we continue to mature as a company,” Fullerton said.</p><p>ARTC says that the change affords it the opportunity to have a consistent approach to maintenance across the company (other areas of the company, in NSW and the Hunter for example, already have in-house maintenance arrangements in place), and the decision to bring maintenance requirements in-house means it will be better placed to take control of asset condition and have the ability to respond quickly to incidents when they occur.</p><p><strong>Summary of changes by area</strong> <br />New ARTC maintenance depots have been established at (staff numbers in brackets):</p><ul><li>Western Australia: Kalgoorlie (10)</li><li>South Australia: Port Augusta (32), Snowtown (5), Murray Bridge (7) and Edwardstown – Adelaide (9)</li><li>Victoria: Seymour (8), Wangaratta (6), Geelong (10), Ararat (14)</li><li>NSW: Parkes (14), Broken Hill (15)</li></ul><p>They join existing in-house arrangements ARTC has in place for track maintenance in the Hunter Valley and in parts of regional NSW.</p><p><strong>Melbourne to Sydney</strong></p><ul><li>All track and civil planning, inspection and reactive maintenance is now in-house.</li><li>Signalling maintenance in Victorian sections now in-house in line with the rest of the organisation.</li></ul><p><strong>Melbourne to Kalgoorlie </strong></p><ul><li>All track and civil planning, inspection and reactive maintenance is now in-house.</li><li>Signalling maintenance in Victorian sections now in-house in line with the rest of the organisation.</li></ul><p><strong>North Coast between Telarah and Brisbane </strong></p><ul><li>No change to the current model</li></ul><p><strong>Hunter Valley rail network </strong></p><ul><li>No change to existing internal arrangements continue to use contractors for track shutdowns</li><li>From 2013/2014 ARTC will be tendering annually for geographic packages of works.</li></ul><p><strong>Nationally</strong></p><ul><li>ARTC will continue to award national contracts for specialised rail tasks such as ultrasonic rail flaw detection, rail grinding and turnout grinding and explore the option of a national face tamping contract and regional maintenance tamping contracts.</li></ul>
