Rail freight doubles, on track for further growth

bevans · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:23 am

THE volume of freight moving east-west by rail has doubled in the past decade and transit times are faster, figures show.

Rail has also become generally cheaper than road, but there are still problems with punctuality and north-south rail freight is still struggling.

Measured in billion gross tonne kilometres (bgtk), rail freight between the eastern states and Western Australia increased 103.5% from 14.68 bgtk in 1998 to 29.88 bgtk in 2007, according to the Australian Rail Track Corporation. ARTC, a Commonwealth-owned entity, administers the interstate rail network.

Transit times have been cut by a minimum 4.5 hours between Melbourne and Perth, and 3.5 hours between Sydney and Perth, says an ARTC review.

Trains are also longer. More crossing loops between Adelaide, Parkes and Perth mean trains can be up to 1800 metres long. Average train lengths on the corridor have increased by 67%.

Rail freight traffic between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane has been relatively static for the past three years, but rose by 5% between 2005 and 2006. ARTC figures show that rail accounts for only 6.8% of Melbourne-Sydney freight and 28.4% of Melbourne-Brisbane freight. However, ARTC chief executive David Marchant said the efficiency and reliability of the north-south corridor would be increased by the ARTC's $2.1 billion network upgrade, scheduled for completion next February. This includes new sleepers, new passing lanes and loops and signal upgrades.

The recently announced upgrades — the standardisation of the second track between Seymour and Wodonga, and new passing loops on the standard gauge track between Melbourne and Seymour — will start about November. They are expected to be completed about June or July next year.

Once the works are completed, Mr Marchant said Melbourne-Sydney transit times would be as low as 10 hours and 40 minutes. Melbourne-Brisbane transit times, now 32.9 hours, would come down to 26 hours by 2010.

The ARTC then expects rail's share of freight to rise. By 2015, Melbourne-Sydney would be 10% (low) to 15.3% (high). The respective figures for Melbourne-Brisbane would be 44.4% and 57.7%.

The review found that, averaged over all corridors, rail is about 20% cheaper than road.

On the Perth-Melbourne corridor, truck freight costs 6.75¢ per net tonne kilometre (¢/ntk) compared with 3.65 ¢/ntk for rail.

Rail access charges on the ARTC network between Sydney and Melbourne are estimated at $5.79 per 1000 net tonnes per kilometre. Big truck vehicle charges consisting of registration and fuel excise are $5.10 per 1000 net tonnes for a typical B-double truck on the same journey.

http://www.artc.com.au

Source: The Age

RP2 - Project Director

"Victoria, the home of world class project blowouts and overruns" Mr. Bachelor, hang your head in Shame!

bevans · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:32 am

With more trains and more capacity, is Melbourne looking at yet another rail yard required to cope with the demand?

Where are all the trains going to stable/load/unload?

Regards,
Brian

RP2 - Project Director

"Victoria, the home of world class project blowouts and overruns" Mr. Bachelor, hang your head in Shame!

MD · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:29 am

Firstly ARTC havnt the foggiest idea of how much actual freight is going east - west.
All they know is how many GTKs are going east - west which isnt the amount of actual freight , or they would have also included the NTKs which are never published.
Also why are the Melb - Sydney Access charges estimated.
Doesnt ARTC know their own charges, or is it they just dont want to tell anyone.
Anyone noticed that there are no access charges published anywhere for
ARTCs trains in NSW.
I wonder why not.

SEMartin · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:26 am

bevans · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:37 am

Does ARTC do any volume forecasting on its routes?

Regards,
Brian

RP2 - Project Director

"Victoria, the home of world class project blowouts and overruns" Mr. Bachelor, hang your head in Shame!

ParkesHub · Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:24 pm

I think ARTC would have a pretty good idea of the NTKs hauled. PN and other railways use a base rate (2.5t for a 20'er, 4t for a 40/48'er) and then apply a per tonne amount onto weights in excess of the base. That's how they generate the invoice to the forwarder. Presumably, PN could provide figures to the ARTC of loading summaries.

As well, I understand ARTC have on track weighbridges and axle counters so gathering stats wouldn't be too hard (if they, in fact, do have these facilities!)

The article came from ARTC via The Age.