Rail takes increasing share of transnational freight task

Rail’s slice of east-west trade had risen markedly in the 33 years to 2005, according to a Federal Government report released yesterday (Wednesday, June 13). Releasing Australian Rail Freight Performance Indicators, 2005-06 , the deputy prime minister and minister for transport and regional services, Mark Vaile, said yesterday at the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics (BTRE) Transport Colloquium that the market share of rail rose in NSW-Western Australia from 33% to 53%, Victoria-Western Australia from 38% to 59%, and Queensland-Western Australia from 11% to 36%. &#8220Another indicator of the health of the Australian economy is the growth in the total freight task for the North-South Corridor, between Brisbane and Melbourne, which rose from an estimated 9bn tonne kilometres in 1972 to about 60bn in 2005 &#8211 an annual growth rate of about 6%,&#8221 Mr Vaile said. He said the new annual publication – jointly prepared by the BTRE and the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) – made available Australian rail freight statistics previously not readily accessible to the public. The report highlights include: &#8226 Average transit time between Sydney and Melbourne is 15 hours, which is 4.5 hours longer than the Australian Transport Council target of 10.5 hours &#8226 The highest level of intercity service trains on the national network occurs between Sydney and Cootamundra, and between Melbourne and Adelaide &#8226 Track renewal and enhancements commencing on the North-South Corridor are expected to significantly improve track quality &#8226 Brisbane-Sydney trains spend about one quarter of their scheduled transit time as dwell time but this is expected to decrease following signalling and track investments and &#8226 The cost per gross tonne kilometre of accessing the rail network has declined. Mr Vaile also flagged changes to federal infrastructure spending, putting the onus on states to curb cost blowouts. &#8220AusLink 2 will include three new rules to stop the cost of projects running out of control,&#8221 he said. &#8220My department will become more involved in generating the initial cost estimates for projects rather than leaving the job up to the states and territories. My department will cast a critical eye over the costings and make sure they are robust and realistic. &#8220The state and territory governments will be required to contribute to the cost of all new projects, including projects on the former National Highway. &#8220The Australian Government’s funding will be capped at a defined dollar figure for each project, which we will set just before the project goes to tender and the cost estimate has been calculated to the 90% probability level. &#8220The state and territory governments will bear any residual financial risk, which will give them a strong incentive to get their costings right from the start.&#8221

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