News in Brief ? 6-12 January 2010

Floods continue to hamper Queensland freight By Rob McKay Queensland Rail’s central and northern inland tracks remain extensively disrupted by floodwaters, with freight services still unable to get past Emerald to Longreach. QR has organised road services to take freight beyond the town until the rail line reopens. The road is currently open from Rockhampton to Winton with all towns on route, including Winton, being serviced. &quotWe hope freight services will be back to normal when the line reopens later this week,&quot a QR spokeswoman said on January 11th. &quotThe full extent of [the] damage is still being assessed in the west but there are significant areas where the ground has washed away under the rail line between Emerald and Longreach, requiring major repair work.&quot Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News - <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au">www.lloydslistdcn.com.au</a>Crucial WA grain rail network decision looms By Sineva Toevai The Western Australian Government is expected to reveal its course of action for the state’s decaying grain freight network within the next three weeks. The government has been mulling over the recommendations outlined in the Strategic Network Committee’s report for the past month. The grain freight report recommended that the state spend about $170 million on the rail network. WestNet, the operator of WA’s grain rail network, believes the government needs to invest at least $200m million in the network upgrades. A spokesperson for WA transport minister Simon O’Brien would not be drawn on when the government planned to reveal its decision. However, Lloyd’s List DCN understands that the government is aiming to have the review completed by the end of this month. Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au">www.lloydslistdcn.com.au</a>Nunawading station opens ahead of schedule Victorian Premier John Brumby opened the new Nunawading Railway Station on January 11th, marking the completion of the major works of the $140 million Commonwealth and Victorian government project to eliminate the Springvale Road level crossing and build an underground railway station. “More than 50,000 drivers each day will now find it far easier to get through what was regularly voted by RACV members as Melbourne’s worst traffic snarl,” Brumby said. &quotMore than 200 trains pass through the level crossing each day, so its removal will significantly improve safety for local road users, train passengers and pedestrians.RISSB update The Rail Industry Safety and Standards Board (RISSB) has invited the public&nbsp and stakeholders to comment on the Stage 2 drafts of the Australian National Rules and Procedures (ANRP) Project or the National Rulebook Project as it is more commonly known. The Stage 2 Rules and Procedures principally deal with “Train Operations”. The draft Rules and Procedures will be posted on the RISSB website until January 29th. For more information visit: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.rissb.com.au ">www.rissb.com.au </a>or contact Mark Felstead at:&nbsp <a href="mailto:mdfelstead@optusnet.com.au">mdfelstead@optusnet.com.au</a>Trade gap narrows but GFC fallout continues By Sineva Toeva Australia’s trade deficit narrowed in November as the value of goods imported declined more than exported products. The country’s trade deficit fell to a seasonally adjusted $1.7 billion in November from $2.08 billion in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Federal trade minister Simon Crean said the latest figures, although an improvement on the previous month’s results, were a sign of the ongoing fallout of the global downturn. “This month’s trade deficit is further evidence that the Australian economy is not immune from the impact of the financial crisis,” Crean said. “It should be noted that the November trade deficit came as the Australian dollar rose by 1 per cent for the month to average 92.02 US cents in November.” The value of imports dropped 3 per cent from October to $20.7 billion from $21.4 billion, outweighing exports, which slipped 2 per cent from the previous month to $19 billion. Imported capital goods fell 8 per cent, non-monetary gold imports slumped 34 per cent, the government agency said. Meanwhile, coal exports in November dipped 5 per cent in value and metals fell 14 per cent. Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/">www.lloydslistdcn.com.au</a>China’s biggest rail investment ever China is reportedly set to make its highest rail investment ever in the coming year – US$120.6 billion, up from up from US$87.88 billion in 2009, according to Railways Minister Liu Zhijun. Nearly 70 new railway projects are expected to get started in 2010 and China’s total length of railways would exceed 110,000km by 2012. “The years from 2010 to 2012 are key in the modernisation of China’s railway system. The industry’s development is entering a new phase and will face tough new challenges,” Liu reportedly said.Sleepers laid in record time Investment in the upgrade of the Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane rail corridor continues unabated with the recent completion of a project to lay 33,000 new concrete sleepers in the Metro freight connection between Tottenham and Somerton in Melbourne. The $6 million project was undertaken by Australian Rail Track Corporation and was completed in just 5 days. “The efficient movement of freight trains through the Melbourne Ports district and the Metro system is essential in increasing the capacity of the Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane rail link,” ARTC chief executive David Marchant said. “By moving freight trains more efficiently through the Metro system we will be able to free up more train paths, which will ultimately mean an increase in rail capacity. “This upgrade is part of ARTC’s North South strategy to reduce transit times between Melbourne and Sydney to as low as 10 hours 40 minutes and 15 hours 35 minutes between Sydney and Brisbane.” The project was completed in partnership with the South Improvement Alliance.Viterra moves on ABB Grain logistics structure By Rob McKay Viterra has streamlined its Australian supply chain since taking over ABB Grain in September. The Canadian agribusiness said it had restructured the grain operation “to align storage and handling, transportation, logistics and grain marketing into a single pipeline model that focuses on shared objectives”. “We have been working hard to implement changes in Australian operations to strengthen business processes and accountability for bottom-line results,” Viterra chief financial officer Rex McLennan said. “We are confident that our Australian operations will achieve significant earnings recovery in 2010 given the larger than average crop in the region, leadership changes in key positions and a more disciplined, sharper focus on business execution to achieve its financial performance targets. A head for its Australian and New Zealand business would be appointed “in the coming weeks”, the company said. Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au">www.lloydslistdcn.com.au</a>Asciano gets debt in order with coal in mind By Rob McKay Asciano has met its debt due in May and will have no further repayments for 30 months, the rail and ports firm said yesterday after brokering a deal with its banks. The new agreements will leave the company with $846 million in undrawn balance as of November 30, giving it “significant financial flexibility to pursue our strategy,” Asciano managing director Mark Rowsthorn said. The new facilities comprise a $500 million revolving credit facility and a $140 million working capital facility (both maturing in December 2013), and a $500 million term loan facility (maturing in December 2014). “[This] represents the completion of the first stage of our balance sheet restructuring – a process that began with our capital raising in June,” Rowsthorn said. “We have now secured long term funding for the growth of our coal haulage business in Queensland and the Hunter Valley, and have delivered on our commitment to our security holders to refinance our debt facilities and address our 2010 maturities during the current half-year. “Looking ahead, we will move proactively to expand our access to markets, diversify our funding and lengthen our maturity profile in advance of our next debt maturity in May 2012”. Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – <a target="_blank" href="http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au">www.lloydslistdcn.com.au</a> &nbsp

No Results