Web Dock Rail Line (posted from usenet: aus.rail)

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:10 pm

I have in the past noted discussion here about the line to the Webb
Dock being no more (well, at least a part of it).

However, until perusing my new street directory with the one that I
have used until now, I did not realise how recently the line was
built.

My old street directory (1986) shows this line as under construction.
By my calculations that means it operated for less than 15 years.

It raises for me this question: Who has made the monumental blunder -
those who thought it so necessary to build it - or those who deemed it
no longer necessary such a short time later?

--
Regards,

Stephen

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:13 pm

Having tarvelled to Melbourne many times over the last 20 years, i can't imagine that the Port of Melbourne (like Sydney) would not want rail access to as much of the port as possible. I note that container and freight volumes to the Port of Melbourne have been steadily increasing, more than say Sydney or Adelaide, yet from what I can ascertain from up here, rail access to the Port of Melbourne is quite poor.

Is it true that swanton dock was also pulled up around the same time?

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:16 pm

stephen@turboweb.splat.spam.net.au (stephen) wrote in news:xDK2NluHBVGg-
pn2-L5bs7FmLBzOq@localhost:

> I have in the past noted discussion here about the line to the Webb
> Dock being no more (well, at least a part of it).
>
> However, until perusing my new street directory with the one that I
> have used until now, I did not realise how recently the line was
> built.
>
> My old street directory (1986) shows this line as under construction.
> By my calculations that means it operated for less than 15 years.
>
> It raises for me this question: Who has made the monumental blunder -
> those who thought it so necessary to build it - or those who deemed it
> no longer necessary such a short time later?
>

My understanding (FWIW)

* it was seen as necessary in the early 80's (when was Webb Dock built?),
but it took a long time to get the route right. One of the problems was the
planners wanted to build it as an extension of the Port Melbourne line,
northwards along the foreshore. Local residents weren't happy at the
thought of a major freight route between the esplanade and the beach. Also,
by the late 80's there were already plans to turn the Port Melbourne line
into light rail (as ultimately happened) and that would have caused
problems. The route past Victoria Dock was opened in late 86 (there used to
be a plaque at the north end of the bridge over the Yarra)

* it was built to broad gauge, not standard, at the time when freight was
being concentrated on standard (V/line freight was never a very happy
operation, from what I gather). However, that could have been easily fixed
if need be.

* it was closed when it was decided that Melbourne would have a Docklands
and a Docklands Stadium - even though we had a fully functional port in
Docklands. At this stage it was *docklands* where it was thought
inappropriate to have a major freight artery (and after all, all the
freight would be running along the wonderful new City Link and Bolte
Bridge, so who needs a rail line anyway?) So Docklands Stadium was built
slap bang across the middle of the rail line.

Personally, I hate the design/location of Docklands Stadium -beg its pardon
"Telstra Dome". It is one huge concrete monstrosity located next to a main
road that makes a whole sector of the Docklands - the one closest to the
city - totally pedestrian (and bicycle) unfriendly. It is definitely vroom
vroom city there. I can see a lot of work being done in the future to try
to overcome this.

Les

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:16 pm

Fellas,
Even if the Docklands Stadium was knocked down, that wouldn't bring back
a rail connection to Webb Dock. I wonder how many waggons a day would be
needed to serve this dock? If not a great number, instead of the proposed
costly swing bridge, would a car barge system work? You're only crossing
about 100m of river, a barge with say ten container flats could probably
make two trips an hour, 160 waggons per eight hour day, that might be
enough.
Regards,
Bill.

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:17 pm

The Webb Dock only operated for 8 years.The last train I saw was Y108
running light engine on 10-1-94.

The very last train was a plant train which pushed wagons across Cowper St
Docklands on 2-8-98 to recover track,
Jeff

greg · Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2003 12:17 pm

"stephen" <stephen@turboweb.splat.spam.net.au> wrote in message
news:xDK2NluHBVGg-pn2-L5bs7FmLBzOq@localhost...

> It raises for me this question: Who has made the monumental blunder -
> those who thought it so necessary to build it - or those who deemed it
> no longer necessary such a short time later?

Webb Dock was built in the 1950's and has been expanding ever since.
The Kennett factor determined that Developers at Docklands were to come
first so the line was abandoned. It was not a particularly busy line, being
a single track, but had long container loads regularly moving along it
during daylight hours (there are sidings on the north side of Williamstown
Road). These trains were replaced by road transport container carriers which
helped Kennett's mates in the trucking and oil industry increase their
profits.
The tracks are still intact from the Bolte Bridge to Webb dock. The latest
proposal is for the rail to cross from Port Melbourne by low level bridge
just downstream from Bolte Bridge to again access the state rail system.
This would also keep the railway in the Fishermens Bend industrial precinct
as the city side of Bolte Bridge on the Port Melbourne side is reserved for
high rise apartments. (I saw recently that these residential areas may in
future be linked across the river to Collins Street by Light Rail)

Bob

deaftech · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2003 2:44 pm

According to today's Age it is due to be reactivated on the next 10 years!

See

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/01/12/1041990180593.html

Cheers,

John Kerley

bevans · Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2003 4:21 pm

January 13 2003
By Philip Hopkins

Picture: CRAIG SILLITOE
A ship in Port Phillip Bay.

The Victorian Government is drawing up far-reaching plans to deal with huge trade growth through the Port of Melbourne, which is expected to double by the end of the decade.

Swanson Dock could be extended inland, and Footscray Road elevated or moved further north. The government has already signalled that the wholesale fruit and vegetable markets, which lie between the port precinct and the Dynon rail yards, will be relocated. These works are expected to cost more than $100 million.

There are now 7000 truck journeys to and from the port a day, but these will reach 14,000 a day by 2010. The port handled 1.4 million containers in 2001-02, and this number will double in the same period.

"There is a sense of urgency," said Melbourne Port Corporation's managing director, Chris Whitaker.

The initial focus is on the Dynon precinct - the plan has been dubbed Melbourne Port@L - but this forms part of a longer-term strategy to expand the port's capabilities and ensure Victoria's economic development. The channel deepening project is part of this process.

"We need a view on where we will be in 20 years' time," Dr Whitaker said. The number of containers handled at the port is expected to quadruple by 2030.

The Port of Melbourne handles $68 billion worth of trade a year and contributes about $5.4 billion a year to the state's economy.

Dr Whitaker said that the full integration between the docks and the Dynon rail precinct was at the heart of the immediate strategy.

The precinct includes South Dynon, the national standard gauge terminal previously run by National Rail and now owned by Pacific National; the broad gauge Dynon terminal, owned by Freight Australia, which services Victoria; and north Dynon, used by a few small operators.

Dr Whitaker said the wholesale fruit, vegetable and fish markets generated a lot of traffic that did not need to be there. "Relocating the markets will take the pressure off the immediate vicinity of the port," he said.

A key question is whether to extend Swanson Dock. The dock, which is operated by the stevedores Patrick and P&O, is about 900 metres long and has room for four ships either side.

A possible small extension of 150 metres would cost $44 million, while a longer extension of 300 metres is estimated to cost more than $70 million. The latter would require the relocation of Footscray Road further north.

"We have been in discussions with Patrick and P&O but no decisions have been made," Dr Whitaker said.

Key topics included whether extending Swanson Dock by a small or large amount would increase the capacity of the terminal, whether capacity at Swanson was land or berth limited, and how many of the new generation of longer and wider ships would come to Melbourne.

The largest vessel to visit Melbourne was the Mette Maersk, which was 294 metres long. Three such vessels visiting at the same time would not fit at the current berths.

"There is no question that if Swanson Dock is extended, that would give significant flexibility to the operations of the terminals on either side," Dr Whitaker said.

"The capacity of the terminals is a complex issue and overlooks the fact that the use of the berths is highly peaked. More flexibility would help to manage the peaks better, otherwise ships would have to wait to be unloaded, and we don't want that to happen.

"The key question is whether the extensions are value for money for creating the extra flexibility."

Dr Whitaker said Footscray Road was an essential feeder to the port but also a physical barrier hindering rail movements between the port and the Dynon hub. Currently, it cost about $90 to move a container by road the few hundred metres between Dynon and the docks.

Elevating part of Footscray Road would allow the use of internal transport vehicles - big tractors that can carry at least 10 containers, or 20 if double-stacked. The ITVs are not road registered and cannot use Footscray Road.

"If Footscray Road is elevated, the ITVs will travel underneath and never need go on the public road. That will be a big plus and the cost will come down dramatically," he said.

The rail line that enables direct access to Swanson dock and other parts of the port crosses Footscray Road just under City Link.

"The Footscray Road separation is becoming more urgent," Dr Whitaker said. "In about five years' time, the conflict between the amount of traffic expected on Footscray Road and the number of trains we expect to come to the port will be unsustainable."

Double-stacking of containers to and from the port is impossible due to the Bunbury Street tunnel in Footscray, located near the bridge over the Maribyrnong river. The track and tunnel are owned by the Australian Rail Track Corporation, which has investigated altering the tunnel to enable double-stacking.

The ARTC's general manager, engineering and infrastructure, Malcolm Owens, said a 1995 study had estimated that work enabling double-stacking would cost up to $30 million. This was quite cheap given the huge transport benefits.

"However, we concluded that the work would be too disruptive to residents in the area," he said.

Mr Owens said the ARTC was looking at alternatives, such as another tunnel that could take double-stacking. The Victorian and Federal Governments were also finalising a brief for a study into double-stacking containers into Melbourne, he said.

Dr Whitaker said rail access would be installed in the new Victoria Dock general cargo terminal, and also returned to Webb Dock. For the latter, a low-lying bridge just downstream of the Bolte Bridge was the most likely option.

Dr Whitaker said the Dynon project would be completed in stages. He expected the Victoria Dock rail terminal to be operating within a couple of years, possibly within one year.

"Webb Dock? We haven't got to a timing on that yet. I think it absolutely must be there in about 10 years' time, but there may be very good arguments for doing it quite a lot earlier than that."

Integral to the strategy is the identification of strategic metropolitan locations for satellite intermodal terminals. Containers would be shifted from these sites to the port with a shuttle train.

kuldalai · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 12:37 pm

V/Line Freight in the late 1980's and early 1990's were never great users or proponents of rail access to the docks. They preferred road truck access from Dynon . This led to abandonment of rail access to West Swanson Dock which is in the process of being re-instated now as dual gauge. The Webb Dock line was put in by Labor State Government but again was never really used by VLF to anywhere near its potential. Thankfully new State Government and PMA have far more positive attitudes concerning rail access to Swanson Dock (East & West), Webb Dock and the new Victoria Dock. The earliest possible standardization of country freight network will encourage new rail freight operators in Victoria and generate more traffic on rail, and more interstae rail freight exported through the Port of Melbourne.

greg · Posted: Tue Jan 14, 2003 12:47 pm

kuldalai · Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2003 3:32 pm

Yes the Kennett Government saw the Webb Dock rail line as an obstacle to their grand plans for Docklands and they were happy to see it go . It went with little fuss because it received very little usage, and therefore was easy to disconnect . If it had been used more then a replacement bridge would have been built downstream of the Bolte Bridge and it would be operating today. In the 1990's VLF had a great enthusiasm rightly or wrongly for road freight as an answer to reduce their costs , but in recent years there has been a move back to rail . In reality the Webb Dock line was probably built a few years ahead of it's time by an enthusiastic Labor Government , but it's potential was always going to be limited so long as it was only broad gauge, (the construction allowed for it to be dual gauged). It will come to life again, as the Port will choke with road traffic unless raill takes a greater share in serving alll the majors - West & East Swanson, New Victoria, and Webb .

deaftech · Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2003 5:36 pm

spottyrahr · Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2003 12:07 am

ok, im not that good with roads n stuff
but last yr, i saw work men, replacing the track was was next to i think its footscray rd, across the road from the fruit markets. and i also like to bring up the cargosprinter, did anyone think about that? i heard that were were gonna open some of the lines that were closed that went to the docks, and use the cargosprinter(s) to move cargo from dynon to the docks, docks to dynon?

Rossco T · Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2003 10:56 pm

michaelgreenhill · Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2003 11:16 pm

From what I've seen from car drives in my dads car (seein as I'm only 14 I kinda cant have a car Laughing

) its complete to the crossing loop on Footscray Rd (soz if I spelt Footscray wrong its 12:12 in the morning and my brains not working, lol)

They're in the process of clearing the rest of the formation and gradually laying ballast along it.

Does anyone have any idea of the re-opening date?

Michael Greenhill
RP2 System Lord, RP3 Lead Developer
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